THINGS ARE BEING SET IN MOTION IN THE ROMANIAN BANKING SYSTEM Sebastian Vlădescu: "I do not want to be the CEO of BCR"

Rumors concerning the replacement of Dominic Bruynseels as the CEO of BCR has been going around at an increasing rate. Banking sources say that "the short list" of potential executives of BCR would also include Sebastian Vlădescu, former finance minister, as well as the vice-president of an Austrian bank of Romania. Sebastian Vlădescu said he doesn't want the position of CEO of BCR.

The Supervisory Board of Erste Group Bank AG has already made some changes concerning the holding, as well as its branches in Romania and Hungary.

Thus, starting on March 31st, 2012, Oana Petrescu will give up the position of member on the Executive Board of the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR) which was responsible for the retail segment, with the position to be held by Martin Skopek, who currently serves as the Member of the Executive Committee of Erste Group, responsible for the retail segment.

What is interesting is the statement of the executive CEO of Erste Group, Andreas Treichl, concerning the replacement of Oana Petrescu: "Through this decision, we want to make sure that despite difficult economic conditions, the retail activity of BCR will continue to progress smoothly and that the bank will fully benefit from the moment when private consumption recovers".

There are also rumors about the replacement of the management of Raiffeisen Bank Romania, which were denied.

• BRD

BRD has already announced that Alexandre Maymat, director and CEO of Société Générale in Cameroon, will be proposed, starting in 2012, as director of BRD - Groupe Société Générale, and will then be named the CEO of BRD - Groupe Société Générale, after the departure of Guy Poupet. Also, the delegated CEO of BRD, Sorin Popa, will be promoted to Paris, being tasked with the commercial development of the international network of Societe Generale, as his position in Bucharest will be taken over by Alexandre Maymat, who will be subsequently appointed as CEO of BRD. Sorin Popa will still serve as a member of the Board of Directors of BRD-Groupe Societe Generale.

Guy Poupet had been leading BRD for two years, after replacing, starting with January 1st, Patrick Gelin, who had led the bank for almost nine years.

• RBS Romania

Henk Paardekooper will take over the position of CEO of RBS Bank (Romania), after obtaining the approval of the NBR, according to a press release of the bank. Johan Gabriels, the current CEO, has been leading the operations of the bank in Romania since 2009.

Henk Paardekooper is a banker specializing in the emerging markets area, with an expertise of over 20 years, according to the bank's press release. Denk had previously been the Corporate and Institutional Assets manager of the Non-Core division of RBS in London, where he managed the RBS operations in various countries. Between 2004 and 2010, Henk was the CEO of RBS Russia, where he integrated ABN AMRO into RBS and led the Russian branch through the financial crisis. Moreover, in 2007, he also took over the management of the operations in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.