Commercial Bank

On September 25, 2009, the strategic alliance agreed to by Troika Dialog and Standard Bank in March of this year was given approval by all regulators, thus closing a landmark deal for the Russian and global financial industries.

As a reminder, Troika Dialog and Standard Bank on March 6, 2009, announced the signing of a strategic partnership under which Standard Bank has become the owner of a 33% stake in Troika Dialog, paid the company $200 mln, and contributed to Troika a 100% share in its subsidiary Russian commercial bank – Standard Bank.

The main goal of the alliance is to build the New Troika, the financial institute of the future with a focus on emerging markets. The partnership with Standard Bank, the leading banking group in Africa, considerably expands Troika Dialog's capabilities and global footprint, while providing our Russian and foreign clients with an expanded offering of products and services. In addition, the alliance will combine Troika's knowledge of CIS markets with Standard Bank's global expertise, thus providing foreign clients with greater access to the Russian market, and Russian clients – to foreign markets.

A great deal of work was completed in the seven months since initial agreement was reached: approval was secured from 8 regulators in 7 countries, including Russia, South Africa, the U.S. and U.K.; internal processes at Troika were optimized and rebuilt; immense tasks relating to integration of Standard Bank Russia were finished; work on several joint deals was started.