From the outset, Anghel was not satisfied with the executives under his leadership and did everything in his power to bring in a CEO from the much larger Warsaw Stock Exchange, a market trend-setter for the entire CEE region.
After Sobolewski’s appointment as a CEO, BVB has held roadshows for international investors and the new IPOs involving large state-owned companies played a crucial role in luring in investors, as was the case with the recent Romgaz dual-listing in Bucharest and London.
Many IPOs are yet to come, sadly, involving only state-controlled companies. But the new BVB management is set to lift the barriers that have chased investors away, setting new rules and opening grounds for private listings as well.

With the enforcement of new rules, foreign funds are expected to up the liquidity of the local market and generate a snow-ball effect. BVB aims to eliminate legal and bureaucratic barriers, to introduce GDRs (global depository receipts), which were preferred by the foreign investors buying Romgaz exposure in London, and to make the global accounts system work. At the same time, BVB’s objective to gain promotion from frontier to emerging market status is expected to help increase its liquidity and capitalization. In turn, this will lure in more private IPOs on the local exchange.