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28/02/2019

In its letter as of 14 February, the Chief Executive Officer of Crnogorska Komercijalna Bank (CKB) informed the Central Bank of Montenegro (CBGG) about the CKB`s intention to acquire 90.56% of the share capital of the Societe Generale Bank Montenegro (SGME), yet without indicating any specifics of the relevant Acquisition Agreement concluded between these two entities.

After receiving a formal request for the merger of these two banks, the CBCG will collect all relevant information and current data in order to assess the fulfilment of all the statutory requirements for approving the merger, as well as to evaluate the effect of the transaction on the rest of the banking market.

Accordingly, the CBCG will give its opinion on this issue taking into consideration the investor’s intentions and business plans yet strictly adhering to relevant written procedures and taking care to avoid the risk of market monopolisation.

We remind that the decision of Societe Generale Group to sell its bank in Montenegro is a part of the Group’s exit strategy from this region.