KNF blocks Raiffeisen’s attempt to launch new bank

The Financial Supervision Authority KNF unanimously voted against granting Raiffeisen Bank approval to set up a new bank. KNF explained that under the Polish banking law, it can’t approve setting up a new banking unit by a lender that failed to meet all the criteria set up when the unit was being established. And Raiffeisen was not able to list its Polish unit on the WSE. Raiffeisen wanted to launch a new banking unit which would takeover its FX portfolio and then conduct the new bank’s cross-border merger with RBI, hoping that would help make IPO of Raiffeisen Bank Polska successful. Raiffeisen Bank Polska is obligated by the Financial Supervision Authority KNF to float at least 15 percent stake on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The bank’s toxic portfolio of Swiss Franc-denominated mortgages was seen as one of the reasons while the initial IPO date set for mid-July has been pushed back due to low interest.