1900 people may lose jobs due to BGŻ and BNP Paribas merger

Up to 23 percent of staff, 1900 employees may be dismissed due to acquisition of Poland's BGŻ by France's BNP Paribas, Rzeczpospolita daily informed. Additionally, the number of branches is to be reduced by 118, 19 percent of all. "This is a precedent in the Polish market. According to the employer, the talks have been conducted in line with the redundancy law, which is impossible to approve before the legal merger, the trade unions pointed out. There is no entity which would reach such agreement," the anonymous source cited by the daily said. Lenders do not confirm or deny the news. "We will implement a new organization structure when the merger takes place...The lender has necessary information about conducting talks in line with the redundancy law," Aleksandra Myczkowska, BGŻ spokeswomen. BNP Paribias will acquire 98.5 percent of BGŻ stakes worth PLN 4.2 billion. The legal merger should be concluded through June 2015.