Santander Polish bank deal approved

Warsaw: Banco Santander SA, Spain’s biggest bank, won the Polish regulator’s approval to buy a majority stake in Bank Zachodni WBK SA from Allied Irish Banks Plc, paving the way for its 16.6 billion zloty (€4.2bn) bid to acquire 100% of the bank.

Santander’s takeover was approved in a unanimous vote by the Warsaw-based Financial Supervisory Commission, the watchdog said.

AIB in September agreed to sell its 70% stake in Poland’s third-largest lender by market value, after it was ordered to bolster its balance sheet.