BoA Polska likely to change profile following takeover

The largest Spanish bank, Santander Central Hispano (SCH), intends to take over Bank of America (Polska), Rzeczpospolita has unofficially learned. It seems that SCH has no intention of continuing the bank's activity of servicing big corporate clients, as SCH specializes in retail banking. In order to close the transaction SCH needs to obtain permission from the Banking Supervisory Commission (KNB), which is likely to OK the deal later this month. The negotiations were held by representatives of CC Bank of Germany which is controlled by SCH. According to Rzeczpospolita, it is not the German, but the Spanish bank that will act as the party in the final transaction as KNB wants parent companies, and not their subsidiaries, to invest in Poland. The Spanish bank has been interested in the Polish market for a long time. It had hoped to invest in Lukas Bank and Invest-Bank, but failed to conclude a deal. No foreign bank has received permission to operate in Poland this year. Last year three banks: Svenska Handelsbanken Polska, MHB Polska and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi received licenses from the KNB. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) A.Z.