Gruza plans to stay on the bank's management board and continue serving in the role of vice-president of the management board but will not seek the chief executive position or continue to manage the work of the management board, it said.

Gruza had been awaiting approval from the country's regulator (KNF) to take over the CEO role ever since he was appointed acting CEO on Aug. 9.

The gave no reason on Thursday for his decision to step down as acting CEO.

The move marks the fourth departure at the top of PKO BP since May 2021, when Zbigniew Jagiello surprised the market by resigning as chief executive after 12 years at the helm.

Since his departure, PKO BP has already had three CEOS: Jan Emeryk Rosciszewski, followed by Iwona Duda and then acting chief Gruza.

(Reporting by Patrycja Zaras; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Susan Fenton)

By Patrycja Zaras