The Supervisory Board of Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) has nominated Sergiu Manea, currently Vice-President responsible for Corporates and Markets, as CEO to succeed Tomas Spurny, said the bank in a statement.

The appointment is subject to the approval of the National Bank of Romania.

Tomas Spurny has decided to resign and leave current position as CEO of BCR at the end of the September 2015, in order to pursue other professional opportunities.

He has been serving this role for the last three and a half years, with a mandate to oversee an ample restructuring program and the financial turnaround of the bank.

Effective with October 1, 2015, Sergiu Manea will become his successor as CEO of BCR. Manea joined BCR upon his return to Romania in 2012, following a career of more than fifteen years as an investment and commercial banking executive in the global markets area.

In his current role with the bank, he has overseen corporate & commercial banking, investment banking, capital markets, transaction banking & trade finance, public & infrastructure finance.

“Since my very beginning with BCR, I was privileged to experience tremendous pride, satisfaction and energy from my interaction with colleagues and clients of the bank. I feel even more privileged and stimulated by the mandate to lead the bank in a new development cycle following a successful turnaround. BCR is a bank for the country and the entire team here can only look forward to serving that role even better by pursuing sustainable financial intermediation, supporting economic growth and job creation, ensuring prosperity and financial security for our clients”, Sergiu Manea stated.

“I am deeply grateful to the entire staff of BCR who went through a very difficult period, during which, we together managed to turn the bank towards profitability and build the basis for a successful future. After spending half of my life in various executive positions abroad, I am looking forward to returning to my home city, Prague, where I decided to give course to another management position opportunity”, stated Tomas Spurny.

“Tomas Spurny managed the bank in a crucial period for the future of BCR. There were tough times, but he successfully completed one of the most complex restructuring programs in the Romanian banking environment.

Now, BCR is well prepared for a new period of growth and performance. I am deeply thankful for his work and I wish him well in his future projects. We are very pleased, at the same time, to announce the appointment of Sergiu Manea as CEO of BCR. He has had a major contribution to the bank's turnaround and we fully trust him in leading the entire team of BCR to continue their work in consolidating BCR's market leadership in retail and corporate businesses" Andreas Treichl, CEO of Erste Group, said.

Sergiu Manea – Short bio

Sergiu Manea has filled until now the position of Executive Vice-president of Corporates & Markets and Member of the Management Board in Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), Romania’s leading financial group. In his role, Sergiu Manea oversaw the areas of corporate & commercial banking, investment banking, capital markets, transaction banking & trade finance, public & infrastructure finance.

He also sponsors BCR’s involvement with financial education, sustainable development and social entrepreneurship projects.

Sergiu returned to Romania in 2012, following a career path of over fifteen years as an investment and commercial banking executive in the innovative, dynamic global markets area. Prior to his current appointment, he held a Managing Partner position at Ithuba Capital, a private investment advisory firm based in Vienna, Austria.

Between 2005 to 2010, he acted as Managing Director, Head of EEMEA Markets, Unicredit Markets & Investment Banking at Bank Austria Creditanstalt. Previously, starting with 2000 he had filled various roles in the Financial Markets area in ABN AMRO Bucharest and London.

Sergiu had started his career with various assignments within several leading financial institutions such as ING Bank, Citibank Romania and Bank Austria Creditanstalt in Bucharest, Romania.

Sergiu Manea graduated in 1995 from the Academy of Economic Sciences from Bucharest, later on receiving his title of Master in Science of Finance at DOFIN in Bucharest.