Poland's banking supervision commission will hold an extraordinary meeting today to decide on the case of Unicredito's takeover(via its merger with HVB) of Bank BPH. Following the ordinary meeting last week, there was an official statement that the facts of the case supported a positive decision and so this will likely be the outcome of the meeting.
The Polish government has been on the defensive over the past week, calling NBP President Leszek Balcerowicz to testify in front of the sejm (regarding last week's meeting) and announcing plans to launch a special commission to examine privatisations and investigate the regulatory bodies of the banking sector. The Polish PM last night, in last-ditch effort to influence regulators, stated that he did not expect a decision from the banking supervision commission today, asked for a 2-week delay, and proposed to meet with Unicredito CEO Alessandro Profumo on Thursday (the day after the meeting).
We believe a positive decision today could have a positive trading impact and reiterate our Buy rating on Bank Pekao.