Time to sell

He believes this move would boost competition in the banking sector.

UniCredito Italiano, which is the strategic investor in Pekao SA, is in the process of a European-wide merger with German group HVB, which owns BHP. The deal is subject to approval on various local markets and the Italian group is currently waiting for regulatory approval from the Polish Commission for Banking Supervision (KNB) to take control of Bank BPH.

Mech, who is also deputy head of the KNB, said that in its decision-making, the Commission would have to stick to its mandate, which does not include competition issues. These are the competence of the Polish anti-monopoly office, which, in turn, has already stated that it was up to Brussels to decide on the merger.   (Reuters)