29.11.2012Sofia Municipality Supports Municipal Bank Before European Association of Public Banks

• Sofia Municipality will organize the first specialized seminar for municipal banks
• Bulgarian banks are stable, but the reduction of the structural funds can be a problem, the Secretary General of the European Association of Public Banks (EAPB) said
• EAPB's visit is a part of the policy of Municipal Bank for cooperation with European financial institutions.

The Secretary General of the European Association of Public Banks, Henning Schoppmann, is on a two-day visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of Municipal Bank. Mr. Schoppmann met Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova, and the Deputy Mayor for Finance Doncho Barbalov, the Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, Mr. Iskrov, and the management of Municipal Bank during his visit.
The possibilities for Municipal Bank to cooperate and exchange information with the European municipal banks, members of the EAPB, were discussed at the meeting in Sofia Municipality.
The result of the discussion was the idea to organize a seminar for European municipal finance, at which the best practices for municipal financing and the structure of municipal banks would be summed up. This will be the first such specialized forum for exchange of experience and know-how for municipal banking. The EAPB will assist Sofia Municipality in organizing seminars by offering its members – mainly European banks with state or municipal participation – to participate in the event.
Municipal Bank applied for membership of the European Association of Public Banks. The management of Sofia Municipality expressed its full support for the financial institution. "Municipal Bank is solid and reliable and we believe that it has a rightful place among European banks," Yordanka Fandakova, Mayor of Sofia, said.
Municipal Bank’s interest in the EAPB is reasonable, Henning Schoppmann explained. "Municipal Bank is a stable bank with good potential and dynamic growth over the past year. It has an ambitious management team. We have been monitoring its development, we know some members of the management personally and believe that the bank has very good prospects. This is why we are here, to get to know the institution better and to discuss Municipal Bank’s future membership of the EAPB," EAPB’s Secretary General added.
Cooperation with European financial institutions is a part of the new development policy of Municipal Bank. Partnering with other institutions, the Bank provides more security and opportunities for its customers.
"The visit of the Secretary General of the EAPB is a good sign for the international image of Municipal Bank. We would value being a member of the European Association of Public Banks. This would give us an opportunity to share experience with other members and have a positive partnership with institutions like ours," Sasho Tchakalski, Executive Director of Municipal Bank said. "With our strategy of cooperation with European institutions, with the partnerships with the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank agreed last week, we are expanding our portfolio of products and possibilities for our customers," he added.
The development of the banking sector in Bulgaria was also one of the topics discussed during the visit of Henning Schoppmann. "Bulgarian banks are stable against the background of the economic crisis and the turmoil among European financial institutions. The reduction of EU structural funds, however, may affect the sector. This is not just a problem for Bulgaria but also for the other countries relying heavily on funding from the Structural Funds. There should be a more active investment policy on part of Western companies," the Secretary General of EAPB said.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Henning Schoppmann is a secretary general of the European Association of Public Banks, seated in Brussels.
European Association of Public Banks
EAPB members are financial institutions, funding agencies, public banks, associations of state banks. Institutions located in an EU Member State, Switzerland, the European Economic Area or in an acceding country can join the EAPB.
About 100 institutions from different European countries are members of the EAPB. They hold about 15% of the financial market in Europe with a total balance sheet value of about EUR 3,500 billion and approximately 190,000 employees. The EAPB is a member of the European Banking Industry Committee (EBIC) through which the seven main European banking associations represent their interests collectively towards the European institutions. The EAPB covers topics such as: Banking and banking supervision law; Capital markets and securities law; Accounting and company law; Consumer affairs; Taxation; Payment systems; Money laundering and financial crime; Civil law; EU regional policy and structural funds; State aid and competition.