Market exit

At last week's shareholders' meeting of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), Wiesław Rozłucki, president of the exchange since its founding in 1991, announced he does not intend to stand for reappointment.

Rozłucki said there was no one simple reason for his decision. "I made that decision and I very much doubt that I will change it. It was a difficult and deeply considered decision. I still want to work for the capital market but in a different role. I want to have good relations with all market participants. This is not a form of protest," he told journalists after the shareholders' meeting.

Rozłucki's decision surprised the financial markets in Poland, since just a couple of days earlier he refused to exclude the possibility of running for a reappointment. "Nothing showed he would like to step down. Probably [his resignation] won't influence the big financial markets like shares, bonds, currency, but puts question marks to the future of the financial institutions in Poland," says an analyst from a leading bank in Poland who wants to remain anonymous.

Rozłucki, who was head of the largest stock exchange in Central Europe for 15 years, called for a speedy privatization of the institution, which is 98.8-percent owned by the state. He said that he fears regional stock-exchange consolidation might leave the WSE isolated. Law and Justice's government has objected to any mergers, regarding the WSE as one of Poland's strategic assets.

Rozłucki, deputy chairman of the Federation of European Securities Exchanges' working commission, will officially end his term in June, but the new president should be chosen by May 8, when the general assembly of shareholders is to make their appointment.