Erste looking to shed Bancorex ghost

Autor: Razvan Voican 08.03.2010

Austrian-held Erste, the majority shareholder of BCR, has decided to rearrange and change the name of the Bucharest Financial Plaza tower, known on the market as the "Bancorex tower". It accommodates the office of the head of the BCR, Dominic Bruynseels, as well as those of a large part of the management team of the biggest bank in Romania.

The 18-floor Bancorex tower with a three-level car park was completed in 1997, and, after the former state-owned bank went bankrupt, was taken over by BCR. It also accommodates offices of other foreign companies. Built by French-held Buoygues, it was the first headquarters of this kind of a local bank and cost around 30 million dollars. There is no 13th floor, in line with the American model. The furniture in the tower has not been changed since before the privatisation of BCR by Erste, in 2006. The building is managed by Bucharest Financial Plaza, a BCR subsidiary.