Category: News

An affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (“Cerberus”) has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of VeloBank S.A (the “Bank” or “VeloBank”). Cerberus has offered a total consideration of PLN 1,075 million for VeloBank shares, comprised of PLN 375 million acquisition price and PLN 700 million recapitalization to meet the Bank’s regulatory capital requirements (subject to any closing adjustments). The agreement follows an open, transparent, non-discriminatory and competitive sale process launched by the Bank Guarantee Fund in 2023.

The completion of the transaction is subject to Cerberus obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals, among others from the European Commission and the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, and is expected to occur in mid-2024. Following the closing, VeloBank will cease to be a bridge institution and as such will no longer be subject to any restrictions on its operations imposed by the European Commission. It will also be subject to the tax on certain financial institutions (so-called ‘banking tax’).

Additionally, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“EBRD”) and International Finance Corporation (“IFC”, a member of the World Bank Group) have also obtained their operations committee and investment committee approvals, respectively, to consider potential equity participations in the Bank, subject to approvals from their respective board of directors, and binding legal documentation. More information about the potential participation of EBRD and IFC and the status of their approvals can be found at their respective websites accessible through the following links:

• EBRD
• IFC

For BFG, this transaction successfully concludes the next milestone in the process of resolution of ailing Getin Noble Bank S.A. (“GNB”), which began on September 30, 2022, when BFG took the irrevocable decision to transfer some of GNB’s operations into a bridge institution: VeloBank S.A. BFG resolution decision protected all GNB depositors and their savings amounting to PLN 38.1 billion (as of Sep. 30, 2022). That process was executed in cooperation with System Ochrony Banków Komercyjnych S.A. (the “Protection Scheme”), composed of eight largest commercial banks operating in Poland (Alior Bank S.A., Bank Millennium S.A., Bank Pekao S.A., BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A., ING Bank Śląski S.A., mBank S.A., Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski S.A., Santander Bank Polska S.A).

The entire resolution process, including the disposal process of VeloBank’s shares, is closely monitored by the European Commission, which has provided necessary consent to carry out the resolution of GNB. The transaction to dispose VeloBank shares fulfils Poland’s commitments agreed with the European Commission.

More information in the press release attached.

Organizing Committee of the BFG Conference “Crisis management in the financial system – stairway to heaven or highway to hell?” informs that the Fund has decided to postpone the conference date. The exact date will be announced at a later date.

Due to the factors beyond our control, in the Fund’s opinion, it was not possible to ensure the organization of the conference in the form and scope planned on the original date. However, the Fund strives to organize an event of the highest standards – not only substantive, as evidenced by the highest-class experts invited to the discussion, but also technical. Soon, BFG will celebrate its 30th anniversary, which will be an additional contribution to the discussion, and the highest-level conference will become an important element of the celebration of this anniversary.

At the same time, we would like to thank everyone who has expressed their interest in the conference so far.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by changing the conference date. We will inform you about the new date both on the Fund’s website, the conference website, as well as in e-mails and on BFG social media.

Following launch of the sale process of VeloBank S.A. on June 30, 2023, Bank Guarantee Fund has received non-binding offers and is in the process of evaluating these, concluding Round 1 of the sale process. The next stage of the process will commence in due course with shortlisted investors being invited to Round 2.

BFG launches the sale process of VeloBank S.A.

VeloBank is a universal bank that offers innovative financial solutions facilitating everyday life for individual customers, small and medium-sized companies, some selected corporations as well as local governments and residential co-operatives, with focus on green energy transition. The BFG owns 51% of VeloBank S.A. shares, while the System of Protection of Commercial Banks (SOBK) holds the remaining 49%.

The commencement of the sales process does not affect VeloBank’s operations or the services provided to its clients.

More information can be found in the attachment, and additional details about the resolution of Getin Noble Bank S.A. are available at page Resolution of Getin Noble Bank S.A.

On 29 September 2022, the Bank Guarantee Fund adopted a resolution decision for Getin Noble Bank S.A. (“the Bank”). On 30 September 2022, the Fund’s decision was delivered to the Bank. Thus, on that date, the resolution process against Getin Noble Bank S.A. was initiated. Also on that date, the Bank’s capital instruments were written down and an administrator was appointed in the Bank.

In addition, according to the decision, on 3 October 2022, the Bank’s operations excluding i.a. FX mortgage loans will be transferred to a bridge bank Velo Bank S.A. The full list of exclusions can be found in the “Informacja o przyczynach I skutkach” file on the Fund’s website www.bfg.pl (Polish version only).

Before the decision on the resolution of Getin Noble Bank S.A. was made, in accordance with Article 137 of the BFG Act, the valuation of the Bank’s assets and liabilities had been carried out. For this purpose, the Fund cooperated with Deloitte Advisory Sp. z o.o. sp. k., the entity preparing Valuation 1 and Valuation 2.

The Fund, based on Valuation 1 prepared by an independent valuer, ascertained that the amount of equity of Getin Noble Bank S.A. was negative and amounted to PLN – 3.6 billion, which confirms the conditions mentioned in Article 101(3)(2) of the BFG Act, stating that the assets of Getin Noble Bank S.A. were not sufficient to cover its liabilities.

For more information (in Polish) please consult www.bfg.pl

The Bank Guarantee Fund, the Polish Deposit Guarantee Scheme, signed on September 8, 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding with its Ukrainian counterpart: the Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF, Фонд гарантуванная вклодив).

The agreement was signed at the headquarters of BFG by the President of the Management Board of BFG Piotr Tomaszewski and the Managing Director of DGF Svitlana Rekrut.