Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) announced this week the expansion of its European network with the opening of a new office in Warsaw, Poland, and the appointment of Marcin Petrykowski as Regional Head for Central and Eastern Europe and Managing Director of the Poland office.
The Warsaw office will serve as a hub for S&P’s operations, serving financial markets across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
“We are committed to fostering the development of deep and efficient capital markets across the region, linking local market participants with the global economy, and enhancing transparency for investors,” said Mr. Petrykowski. “We have chosen Poland as our Central and Eastern Europe hub due to its strategic location, growing internationalization of business, and emerging domestic bond market. Poland provides a unique location for S&P to offer its full range of services covering credit research, data, and ratings, together with a wider set of analytics, information, and index services provided by the McGraw Hill Financial businesses across the region,” Mr. Petrykowski added.
S&P first upgraded Poland to investment grade in April 1996. Since then, Poland has grown to become a leader in the region, with a diversified, resilient economy, backed by a flourishing banking sector. Poland now has a long-term foreign currency rating of ‘A-‘.
Mr. Petrykowski will oversee S&P’s strategy for Central and Eastern Europe, lead activity in the region, and facilitate the use of ratings for issuers in the market as the global benchmark for creditworthiness, helping them access the domestic and international capital markets for funding. S&P already holds a strong position in the region, with over 70 entities rated.
Mr. Petrykowski joins S&P from J.P. Morgan Corporate and Investment Bank, where he was Executive Director, Head of Coverage for Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, CIS, and Israel for the Investor Services division. In this role, Mr. Petrykowski also served as the Deputy General Manager for the J.P. Morgan branch office in Poland. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 2007, he spent five years with Citi Corporate and Investment Banking, focusing on Poland and CEE.
The EMEA network of Standard & Poor’s offices now comprises 12 locations including London, Paris, Frankfurt, Moscow, Stockholm, Milan, Madrid, Warsaw, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, Johannesburg and Dubai. Approximately 450 analysts are based in the region, covering about 2,500 issuers.