Briefs: BankAmerica Plans Expansion in Poland

BankAmerica Corp. is planning to establish a corporate banking subsidiary in Poland, which would make it the second U.S. bank with a Polish-licensed bank, after Citicorp.

The San Francisco banking company said in a statement released by its London office that it hopes to open Bank of America (Poland) SA by May, pending Polish government authorization.

BankAmerica opened a representative office in Warsaw last summer, becoming the fifth U.S. bank to move into Poland-after Citicorp, Bankers Trust New York Corp., Chase Manhattan Corp., and J.P. Morgan & Co.

As part of the expansion, BankAmerica announced that it had appointed Abbas Hasan country credit manager, Olivier Kintgen treasurer in charge of capital markets trading, and Alex McInnes head of operations in Warsaw. The three have joined Daniel A. Wood, vice president and country manager, and Eric Fay, vice president and relationship manager.

BankAmerica is not the only U.S. bank considering an expansion in Poland. According to the Financial Times, Citicorp is seeking to acquire a stake in Powszechny Bank Kredytowy, a government-owned commercial bank with 45 branches.

The Polish government is seeking to sell 65% of the bank, whose value is estimated at $400 million to $500 million. Citicorp officials could not be reached for comment on the report.

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