New BCR chairman by end of month

The new chairman of the Supervisory Board of Banca Comerciala Romana (Romanian Commercial Bank – BCR) will be elected at the General Meeting of Shareholders on October 29. The new chairman will replace Florin Georgescu, who was appointed first vice-governor of the National Bank of Romania (NBR), banking sources told Mediafax. The new chairman is most likely to be PSD (Social Democrat Party) Deputy Horia Neamtu, a member of the Budget-Finance Committee, the sources added. Sources in the BCR privatisation committee say the sale contract for 25% in the bank signed with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) allows the State to nominate the new chairman of the Supervisory Board. Florin Georgescu took over the reigns at the BCR Supervisory Board in April, when administrative and executive functions were separated. BCR is run by a Supervisory Board comprised of shareholder representatives, which have taken over a part of the Board of Director’s duties, and by the Executive Board, which provides the bank’s management. This separation was requested by EBRD and IFC. ZF