British group HSBC, one of the largest banks in the world, took a 5.02 percent stake in Romanian investment fund SIF Oltenia (SIF5) following three transactions on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) on Tuesday, May 13, Mediafax informs. Three packages totaling 28 million shares, or 4.8 percent of SIF Oltenia, were transferred on BVB for a total of RON 56 million (EUR 12.6 million). The price for the transaction was 13 percent higher than the price on the regular market. This is the first major holding that HSBC reported on the BVB. HSBC may hold this stake for some other investor as a custodian bank. SIF Oltenia is the largest of the five Romanian investment companies (SIFs), the company’s net assets were RON 1.52 billion (EUR 342 million) at the end of March 2014 and its market capitalization currently stands at EUR 229 million.
