Erste Bank: BCR deal delayed by up to 3 months

The government of Romania has moved back the date for finalising the BCR transaction by 3 months to September 21, because the competition regulator has yet to approve the deal and has asked for additional documents. The concerns of the regulator center around state guarantees issued for Bancorex in 1999, a bank that was later acquired by BCR. Whilst a delay in the timing of the transaction must be seen as slightly negative, we don't see a 3 month regulatory delay as an important setback. Therefore, we would not expect a significant trading impact from the news.