Post office to offer financial services in new joint venture

Polish Post (PP) is to sign an agreement with French insurance company Cardiff to create a company known as Postal Financial Services Agency (PAUF), with an initial equity of zl. 3 million. PAUF will sell the financial services of companies in which PP or Cardiff own shares. Cardiff has a life insurance subsidiary in Poland and jointly owns with PP a stake in the Pocztylion pension fund. Cardiff Polska president Jan Emeryk Rosciszewski said PAUF would handle the distribution network of the pension fund. The draft agreement says PAUF will also offer banking services provided by PP subsidiaries such as Postal Bank, in which PP has a 75% stake. Poczta will have a 60% stake in PAUF with the remaining shares owned by Cardiff. Last year PP recorded a net profit of zl. 26 million. (Rzeczpospolita, page B5) T.J.