Capa Finance is controlled by the Romanian American Enterprise Fund (RAEF), with a 55 percent share. The Manager of RAEF and the Balkan Accession Fund (BAF), Horia Manda, had announced at the end of 2008 that he planned to apply for a banking license for Capa Finance. The new bank is to focus on small loans for rural areas, especially for agriculture. Merfea, who is currently in charge of Austrian lender Raiffeisen’s Kosovo subsidiary, is currently negotiating with Raiffeisen International to obtain a shorter notice period, which was established at six months, according to RAEF sources. Manda plans to apply to the National Bank of Romania (BNR) in July for the banking license, by which time the lender’s President must be free of contract.Before becoming Manager of the Kosovo subsidiary, Merfea was in charge of Raiffeisen Bank Romania sales and distribution division. During his term, the bank’s network doubled to 500 units in 2008. When Merfea took over the Kosovo branch in 2008 it had 40 units and 600 employees. He has already been working for seven years for Raiffeisen.
In December 2007, RAEF and BAF acquired controlling interest in Capa Finance, specialized in micro-lending, and increased the non-banking financial company’s capital to €15 million, raising this by €4 mln last summer. At the time, Manda said the business had growth potential, because few lenders are targeting rural areas, where half of Romania’s population lives.
