B of A eyes office in Warsaw

The move, which coincides with renewed foreign interest in Bank Przemyslowo-Handlowy (BPH), could signal a new wave of international banks headed for Poland.
Daniel Wood, Bank of America NT & SA's country manager, would not confirm or deny that the institution may come to Poland. He said it is too soon to comment on his bank's plans.
But the bank did recently join the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland as a corporate member.
The possibility that B of A would come here implies that conditions have improved enough that foreign banks, formerly reluctant to enter Poland and Eastern Europe, have reevaluated the risk.
"It says quite a lot for Poland if they (Bank of America) are coming," said Michael Wheelhouse, banking analyst at Nomura Research Institute in London.
Bank of America would "act as a magnet for American and European banks," added the banking industry source, who did not wish to be identified. Last June, Bank of America was ranked No. 6 in the world by Euromoney magazine.
The move could also signal the beginning of a second tier of entrants into the Polish market, Wheelhouse said. Banks such as ING, Deutsche Bank, Citibank and Creditanstalt were in the first tier.
Rainer Mueller, president of the management board of Deutsche Bank Polska, said he has heard rumors of Bank of America moving in but nothing definite. The move would not surprise him, however, given that there's only one American bank here despite substantial American investment in Poland.
While Bank of America would mean more competition, Mueller said, the move bodes well for Poland. "It should be seen as a positive indication of the trust of the Polish economic development," he said. Also, he said, a large bank brings new business with it.
And as Bank of America sniffs at Poland, another American financial powerhouse, GE Capital, is also possibly ready to enter the picture.
Last week, speculation grew that GE Capital, long believed to be interested in BPH, was drawing closer to a deal. GE denied that it had entered into any agreement with the Finance Ministry, which owns 46.6% of BPH, although it said it is still interested in this market.
A spokesman for GE Capital would only say, "GE Capital is interested in Poland. ... There's no deal between the Ministry of Finance and GE Capital."
For months, GE Capital has been rumored to be interested in BPH. It bought into the Gdansk-based Solidarnosc Chase D.T. Bank SA last year. (See WBJ, Aug. 25-31, 1995.)
While GE is featuring as a possible suitor, Reuters reported that two other financial institutions may also be interested in the bank. BPH, meanwhile, maintains that it's up to the government to decide what it wants to do with its stake. "We know that there were some potential strategic investors that could buy the Ministry of Finance shares," BPH said, but it doesn't know who the investors might be.
BPH is becoming a more attractive candidate for a strategic investor as the government moves closer to approving a new bank consolidation plan. Under the revised scheme BHP would not be merged with other Polish banks to form two banking giants.
The government's original plan drew criticism from investors and banking experts as BPH had already been partially privatized and would have been put back under state control. The plan was ultimately behind a delay of $6 million in aid from an international fund.
However, last week three committees approved a new consolidation plan that would limit banks in the plan to those with 100% state ownership. This would remove BPH from the list of banks to be covered by two umbrella institutions, Bank Handlowy w Warszawie and Bank Polska Kasa Opieki SA (Pekao SA).
BPH's major shareholders include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with 15.1%; ING Bank, 5.3%; Bank Slaski, 4.8%