BCR

completed

The project consists of a senior loan of up to EUR75 million to Banca Comerciala Romana SA (BCR or the bank). The Loan will be used to support the Bank’s long-term funding activities and prudently manage its balance sheet by enabling it to address maturity mismatches between long-term currency assets and short-term currency liabilities, and release the necessary funding to support the growth and expansion of Romanian private sector entities.The proposed loan is being processed in parallel with BCR’s on-going privatization which is expected to be completed by the end of FY 2005.BCR was incorporated in 1990 as a spin-off of the National Bank of Romania, which carried out the majority of banking activities in Romania during the former communist regime. Five newly-established state-owned banks were created according to customer profile, similar to other bank restructurings in former communist regime countries. The clients transferred to BCR comprised mainly the country’s largest state-owned industrial companies. Over the last decade, however, the Bank’s customer base has moved away from the state-owned corporate sector to private enterprises and individuals.BCR is the largest bank in Romania in terms of assets (US$9.2 billion as of June 30, 2005) and customer base (5 million clients). It operates as a full-fledged commercial bank, with a focus on expanding its business with small and medium-sized enterprises. As at the end of March 2005, the Bank’s market share accounted for 26% of banking assets.