FIERCE BATTLE FOR THE BIGGEST CONTRACT OF THE YEAR ON THE STOCK MARKET Three consortiums and a brokerage firm vying for the listing of the Proprietatea Fund

• According to the tender book obtained by BURSA, the intermediary that offers the lowest bid, gets the highest score

• KBC is already requesting that the bid of one of the consortiums be rejected

• Until last Wednesday at least, no bank had met the requirements to enter the competition for intermediating the listing of the Fund

Just three consortiums and a brokerage firm entered the competition for the listing of the Proprietatea Fund, out of the thirteen candidates that acquired the tender book.

BT Securities is the only brokerage firm that chose to enter the competition alone, whereas "Intercapital Invest" is struggling to win the contract of the year in a consortium with "BCR" and "Wood& Co". "KBC Securities" formed a consortium with "Unicredit CAIB", whereas "Raiffeisen Capital &Investment" has joined forces with "ING Bank" and "BRD Groupe Societe Generale", hoping to increase its strength.

Market sources claim that two of the three consortiums were formed at the last minute, just one day prior to the deadline, after the Commission for the selection of the intermediary said that the banks interested in intermediating the listing of the Fund were not required to have a solvency rate higher than 30%.

"Until Wednesday, when the Commission presented the additional details, it was known that banks were required to have a solvency of 30% to be allowed to participate in the race for intermediating the listing", the quoted sources said for BURSA, and they added: "However, on Wednesday, a clarification arrived that said that the financial institutions need to meet the requirements of the NBR concerning the minimum capital requirements for lenders and investment companies, that is more than 10%, a clarification which allowed them one more day to enter the competition".

The initial deadline for submitting bids was last Friday, but it was later extended until yesterday, most likely owing to pressure from the banks in question".

According to the tender book obtained by BURSA, when it comes to the financial side of the deal, the participant that offers the lowest bid will get the highest score (the tender book can be viewed on www.bursa.ro).

• The first contestations

Just a few minutes after 14:00, the deadline for submitting the bids for intermediating the listing of the Proprietatea Fund, a possible violation of the terms in the tender book was notified.

The officials of KBC Securities filed a notification with the Commission for the Selection of the Intermediary, claiming that the consortium consisting of "Raiffeisen, ING Bank and BRD" had been submitted after 14:00.

"The consortium consisting of Raiffeisen, ING Bank and BRD filed the tender six minutes after 14:00", the officials KBC Securities said for BURSA. The company"s representatives say they have requested and obtained the video records which prove the fact that some bids were submitted late.