EBRD to Invest euro 54 million in Letters of Pledge of RHEINHYP-BRE Bank Hipoteczny SA

Noreen Doyle, Vice-President of EBRD declared that such co-operation should enable RHEINHYP-BRE to acquire funds for long-term mortgage financing at attractive rates. She also emphasised EBRD’s considerable interest in supporting the development of the residential market, an key area in Poland’s interests. Moreover, she added that support for the mortgage banking market is a critical factor in further economic development, of special importance in the context of Polish accession to the European Union.The EBRD investment is also expected to contribute to the success of the initial non-public issue of EUR- and USD-denominated letters of pledge in Poland.BRE Bank S.A. shall serve as organiser, dealer, payment agent, and depository for the issue.Letters of pledge issues are tied to the RHEINHYP-BRE Bank Hipoteczny S.A. loan portfolio, the year-end 2001 value of which exceeded PLN 580 million.Ninety-five per cent of all loans granted were EUR- and USD-denominated. In June 2000, RHEINHYP-BRE launched the first post-war letters of pledge offering in Poland by issuing securities with a value of PLN 5 million. Subsequent issues totalled EUR 5 million and USD 20 million, respectively (September-November 2001).With a balance-sheet value of PLN 565,284,254.68 (as of year-end 2001), profit after taxes of PLN 2,804,271.28, and the constantly high loan campaign dynamics, the Bank is one of the mortgage banking leaders in Poland.RHEINHYP-BRE Bank Hipoteczny have been in operation since 1999, with a branch network in 16 Polish cities. The Bank’s shareholders include RHEINHYP Rheinischehypothekenbank AG (50% share in the founding equity), and BRE Bank SA (50%). Commerzbank AG is the strategic partner for both shareholders.EBRD was formed in 1991 to support Central European countries and the Community of Independent States in their transition from a centrally planned to market economy. EBRD’s shareholders include 60 countries, the European Investment Bank, and the European Community.BRE Bank is one of the top financial institutions in Poland in terms of equity, financial performance, size of operation, development dynamics, diversity of products offered, and the high level of banking technology. The Bank is also recognised as one of the strict leaders among investment banks and institutions specialising in comprehensive corporate services. The Bank’s consistent policy in the area of developing Client asset management services has already been rewarded in that BRE Bank holds a leader position in that particular financial services segment.BRE Bank also has a presence on the retail banking market. It is one of the lead banking institutions providing services to individuals with considerable financial assets (private banking). Furthermore, BRE Bank wishes to become one of the top banks on the retail banking market; since November 2000, individual Clients have had access to attractive banking products at the web-based mBank. The autumn 2001 launch of MultiBank – a blend of state-of-the-art Internet banking with retail banking services at traditional branches has been a yet another stage of extending the retail banking offer.The BRE Bank S.A. Financial Markets Department among others organises debenture issue programmes (commercial papers [CPs] and medium-term municipal and corporate bonds), as well as programmes of receivables securitisation.BRE Bank’s sound equity market experience has been confirmed in their position of the second largest short-term debenture issue manager in terms of the issue volume, and of the third largest issue manager in terms of the overall debt amount (market share) (source: CERA, March 15th 2002). In the years 2000-2001, BRE Bank S.A. Clients for whom large-scale debenture issue programmes were organised included the following: Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. (Wielkopolska Motorways, Inc.) (first bond tranche with a face value of PLN 3,261,565,500), PKN Orlen S.A. (PLN 700 million), Volkswagen Group Poland (PLN 600 million), Westdeutsche Landesbank Polska (PLN 500 million), RHEINHYP-BRE Bank Hipoteczny (EUR 100 million, USD 50 million, PLN 100 million), GMAC Bank Polska (PLN 300 million), Pharmag S.A. (PLN 100 million), and the City of Poznań (PLN 105 million).In 1999, BRE Bank SA launched the first Polish programme of trade receivables securitisation for Urtica Zaopatrzenie Farmaceutyczne S.A. (Pharmaceutical Supplies, Inc.). Moreover, in 2000 the Bank managed an issue programme of mortgage-backed letters of pledge (PLN 100 million) for RHEINHYP-BRE Bank Hipoteczny, similarly a first-time experience of the kind in Poland.Kontakt dla mediów