Nicolae Danila, BCR's chief executive, has resigned from his position and will leave the bank on December 1, one year after the Austrians at Erste effectively took over. The interim CEO position will be go to Manfred Wimmer, the architect of Erste's acquisition of BCR.
Sources on the financial market say that Danila and the Austrians did not share the same vision of development for the largest bank in Romania.
Danila would have liked a more conservative approach in terms of strategy, while Erste wants a faster development, considering the bank has lost market share within the past year.
Danila will leave BCR with a substantial compensation package, which sources on the market put at "around 4 million euros".
Danila and Treichl announced that they would no longer work together, each party praising the other.
"I believe that, together with the entire BCR team, it has been an outstanding success. Today I would like to inform our clients and partners, my colleagues and the entire market that, by mutual agreement with the majority shareholder, I will leave the bank on December 1, 2007. I am convinced that my successor will continue the success story of BCR, and I wish both him and the bank well," Danila said.
Andreas Treichl, CEO of Erste and chairman of BCR's Supervisory Board, said, "We would like to thank Nicolae Danila for his crucial contribution to the solid financial results of BCR. He was the one who offered us the necessary stability, the extensive experience and his personal commitment to the success of the programme to integrate BCR into Erste Group. We understand and respect his decision, whose timing we both agreed on. Mr. Danila is leaving us with our best wishes for the future."
The timing of Danila's resignation came as a surprise for the banking market. Despite speculations that had circulated since the privatisation, nobody was expecting him to leave at this moment.
The Austrians were very good at keeping a tight lid on the talks with Danila about the conditions for his departure.
In September, at Erste's annual investor conference in Bratislava, Treichl sat at the same table as Danila, and presented a joint vision for BCR's growth.
At the end of 2005, Erste won the tender for the takeover of the controlling interests in BCR, and paid a sum that was considered high (3.75 billion euros). The effective takeover was not completed until one year later, in October 2006. The first evaluation of the local management team ended in the departure of two vice-presidents from the old team. Erste appointed Czech Martin Skopek, as head of retail, and Oana Petrescu, as head of operations, to replace them.
In July, Dan Bunea, regarded as number two at the bank after Danila, quit unexpectedly.
Market sources say there was some discussion between Bunea and the Austrians over the business of the bank's insurance company.
Two weeks ago, Manfred Wimmer, the man who handled BCR's acquisition for Erste, was confirmed by the NBR as executive vice-president of BCR, only to be appointed interim CEO, after Danila resigned.
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