BIG Bank GDAŃSKI S.A. fully respects media's right to express their own opinions, but would like to point out that corrections are provided for by law in order to ensure legal protection to institutions whose interests have been violated as a result of publishing untrue or inaccurate information. The respecting of the right to issue corrections by media is, in our view, one of the key elements of professional reliability of media and transparency of their intentions.
Set forth below is the correction:
Warsaw, 2002-08-29
Mr. Maciej Łukasiewicz
Editor-in-Chief
Rzeczpospolita
Dear Mr. Łukasiewicz,
Pursuant to Article 31 Sections 1 and 2 of the Press Law, BIG Bank GDAŃSKI S.A. is requesting the correction of untrue and inaccurate information published in the article by Waldemar Grzegorczyk entitled "Accounting Manoeuvres" ("Rzeczpospolita" No. 201 of 29.08.2002):
1. The information that "in the financial year the Company disclosed 45 million zlotys of profits, while in fact it incurred losses of 800 million" is not true. The Bank's financial statement as at 31.12.2001 accurately reflects the Bank's profits of 44.7 million zlotys. The auditor's qualifications concerning the method of providing for loans and costs, adopted by the Bank, relates to methodological issues and does not challenge the accuracy of data presented in the statement. By the way, the amount of 800 million, quoted by the author, is wrong, we recommend reading the entire report and not only the auditor's opinion.
2. The statement that the Bank "changed losses into profits" is untrue. The Bank restructured its reserves and a certain group of costs, but this has nothing to do with measures referred to in the United States as "creative accounting". The Bank acted in compliance with legal provisions and based on the consent of shareholders expressed at the General Meeting. The difference between frauds of US corporations and this situation is more than clear.
3. The statement that the situation presented by the author "makes it difficult for investors to assess the Bank's financial standing" is not true. The Bank, successively, by updates, press releases and at press conferences kept the public informed of its actions. Those meetings involved also reporters from Rzeczpospolita. The Bank's financial reports, in which the principles of accounting applied by the Bank are described, were submitted to the Polish SEC, WSE, the National Bank of Poland, Polish and international analysts, rating agencies, the press, Bank shareholders and clients (the announcements mentioned by the author with the auditor's opinion are posted at the Bank's branches). The Bank has reasons to believe that they have fully understood information communicated to them. Therefore, the Bank sees no reason why it should follow the author's suggestion and once again clarify matters which have already been clarified on several occasions. Why the author remains the only one who does not want to acknowledge the clarifications is a mystery to us.
Yours sincerely,
Wojciech S. Kaczorowski
Press Officer
BIG Bank GDAŃSKI SA
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