Swiss Bank Vontobel awaiting go-ahead for investments

Swiss bank Vontobel Holding is seeking permission to establish a subsidiary in Poland and hopes the General Inspectorate for Banking Supervision will grant it in a few weeks. The local unit would scope out the Polish investment market for new projects in which the bank’s private equity and venture capital could invest. So far, Vontobel has spent almost euro 200 million in Poland. Its 5E venture capital fund, whose area of activity includes Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, has operated largely through other venture capital funds. Yet for now the fund’s board has not planned to increase its capital above the current zl.516 million. According to some analysts, the situation may become clearer when the date for Poland’s entrance to the EU is fixed in June. 5E is a middle-sized fund which prefers small and medium developing enterprises, usually investing from $5million to $15 million in a single project. Thus far it has invested half its capital in Poland and is directly involved in such companies as Auto-Pol, Agros and World Leisure. (Puls Biznesu, p. 5) M. S.-C.