Morocco: Banque Centrale Populaire increases its shares in the Banques Populaires Régionales

(Agence Ecofin) - The Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) will increase its shareholding to 52% in each of the 10 Banques Populaires Régionales (BPR). The operation will result in capital increases for a total amount of 11.4 billion dirhams. While waiting for this announcement, the Moroccan banking group’s shares have been suspended on the Casablanca Stock Exchange where they are traded.

While important, the news should not particularly surprise investors, as this decision is in line with Crédits Populaires' reform process started a few years back.

One thing is for sure, BCP itself which is 52.1% controlled by the Banques Populaires Régionales, will from now on have a greater degree of control over Crédit Populaire in Morocco. The group should therefore gain in strength, but it will also have to convince clients of the regional banks of its intention to serve them as well as clients in Casablanca, the economic capital. The question was previously raised during an interview of Jalil Sebti, Chairman of the Board of Banque Populaire Rabat-Kénitra, given to the Moroccan newspaper La Vie Eco in February 2015. “There is no phenomenon of robbing one region in favour of another. The specificity of our cooperative system is that the BPR collect resources to substantially re-invest them in that same region”, Mr Sebti explained.

The path taken for some time now will not be an easy one. The model of planned capital increases will be followed very carefully. But in a lesser financial dimension, the crédit mutuel will really have to ensure its own transformation to maturity, specifically in reconciling the spirit of reciprocity and the requirements relating to new challenges in banking.