Francis Malige on LinkedIn: I'd like to come back to a deal we announced earlier this month: EBRD… (2025)

I'd like to come back to a deal we announced earlier this month: EBRD invested in the capital of VeloBank S.A., alongside the IFC - International Finance Corporation with the strategic Cerberus Capital Management in the lead. It's an important transaction, not so much for its amount, but for a few key reasons. First, we very much welcome a new, reputable, western investor in the Polish banking sector. It has been a while, in part because of a history of costly regulations, payment moratoria and special taxes, and in part due to the dark clouds of Russian geopolitical risk over the region. EBRD's role as a facilitator to foreign investors remains as relevant as ever and I am proud we could assist Cerberus in their approach. Second, while it's not (yet) a giant in Polish banking, we welcome its approach to bringing fresh competition to the market. The path of the new team has been impressive over the past couple of years and we are looking forward to the new chapter.Third, it's the result of a long and complex resolution. It's very important that troubled banks are taken over by regulators in good time, before liquidity dries up, forcing an emergency action. In the case of Velo's predecessor, the Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego took over after an initial attempt to find a private sector player did not result in a deal, and then proceeded to separate the good bank (Velobank) from legacy assets that had dragged down its predecessor. A lesson to study for many of the EBRD countries of operations and beyond! Finally on a personal note, it's a happy ending to a long story - my first trip to Warsaw upon taking this role at EBRD was to discuss how we could support that resolution... it was in the fall of 2018. Congratulations to Cerberus, IFC and Velobank, and looking forward to the next chapter together! Jacek Jastrzebski Adam Marciniak Ines Rocha Tomasz Kubiak Elisabetta Falcetti Melis Ekmen Tabojer Kristina Zagar, CFA Jakub Papierski Dirk Werner Tamás Nagyhttps://lnkd.in/ePMbncn7

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