French-born Patrick Gelin, BRD-SocGen's chairman could end his term at the helm of the second-largest bank on the market in a few months, with the French group, Societe Generale, preparing another French banker to replace him, banking sources say.
Gelin, who turns 64 in December, may retire, the quoted sources say. He could be replaced by an experienced banker of SocGen, who has spent the last few years as chief executive of the Egyptian subsidiary of the group, and as vice-president of the Czech branch, Komercni Banka, before that. The transition at the top of BRD could last until the beginning of next year, during which time the new chairman should familiarise himself with the bank.
"BRD-Groupe Societe Generale does not comment on information about the possible changes to the management team of the bank and reserves the right to go public with such information as soon as the group's decision-making structures decide on such changes," BRD said.
Gelin has been chief executive officer of BRD since April 2001, adding the position of chairman in October 2004. He has had two terms at the helm of BRD, which is quite a rare occurrence, proving the trust placed in him by the majority shareholder. In his eight years at the helm, the bank's assets went up from 2 billion euros to 11.7 billion euros, with profit reaching 368 million euros last year.
Last summer, Gelin was also appointed member of the General Management Board of Societe Generale, the second management structure after the Executive Board, in recognition of the greater importance BRD's business has for the French group.
He has been working for Societe Generale since 1970 and before coming to Romania in 2001, he ran the London subsidiary of the group for three years.
During his two terms, Gelin continued the restructuring process that the French started after the acquisition of th
