Clifford Chance is advising Citibank Europe Plc on the sale by its Polish subsidiary, Bank Handlowy w Warszawie S.A. (Citi Handlowy), of its consumer banking business to VeloBank. 
 
Citi Handlowy is one of the largest financial institutions in Poland. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and antitrust clearance, involves a demerger of Citi Handlowy’s consumer banking operations to VeloBank. Citi Handlowy will retain and continue to operate its institutional corporate businesses in Poland. The transaction is a landmark for Citi as it is the final stage of Citi's previously announced strategic exit from consumer banking businesses across 14 markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Mexico. It will also be the first transaction to utilize the new simplified demerger regime for bank transfers in Poland.
 
The Clifford Chance cross-practice team is led by London-based Corporate partners Melissa Fogarty and James Cashier, supported by senior associates Catherine Freeman, Fergus Grady, and Ayush Vijayvargiya, and Warsaw-based partner Agnieszka Janicka and counsels Jaroslaw Lorenc and Anna Biala, working closely with the Citi legal and M&A teams and Citi's investment banking team. Migration and technology aspects of the transaction are led by partner Zayed Al Jamil and senior associates Mark Comber and Jamie Andrews.
 
In addition, New York partner Violetta Kokolus advised on IP and partner Nicola Hemsley and senior associate Viktoria Parkhomenko advised on tax matters. The Clifford Chance team worked closely with a team from Rymarz Zdort Maruta, led by partners Pawel Rymarz and Lukasz Gasinski, and associates Diana Sofu, Szymon Rutecki, Kinga Duda, Adam Puchalski, and Weronika Papucewicz, advising Bank Handlowy w Warszawie.