Dexia CEO Pierre Mariani said he expected an agreement to sell its 50% stake in the RBC Dexia joint venture to be reached in the coming weeks.
Dexia is undergoing a government-sponsored restructuring plan that would see it shed its strongest assets, including its Turkish unit Denizbank and its share in RBC Dexia, after the Belgian institution was left with a significant funding shortfall in the wake of the European sovereign debt crisis and tensions in the interbank market.
Speaking to the Belgian parliament in Brussels a week ago, Mariani said he also expected Denizbank to be sold in the coming weeks.
His comments follow those of RBC CEO Gordon Nixon, who told Canada Business Network in November last year that it is examining what its options are with regard to Dexias likely selloff of its half of joint venture RBC Dexia. A month before that Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden, presumably speaking with direct knowledge of the matter, said RBC intended to use its right of first option to buy out Dexias 50% share in RBC Dexia.
RBC Dexia has routinely said it is business as usual amidst Dexiasand greater Europeseconomic situation. Nixon said that RBC Dexias credit rating is not a risk since, as a joint venture, it is given its own credit rating and is not subject to Dexia risk.
(JDC)