public function isValidBIC($bic)
    {
        try {
            $stmt = $this->statementContainer->prepare(
                "SELECT bic FROM {$this->prefix}agency WHERE bic = :bic GROUP BY (bic)"
            );
            $stmt->execute(array(":bic" => $bic));
            
            $rows = $stmt->fetchAll();
            return ! empty($rows);

        } catch (\PDOException $e) {
            $stmt->closeCursor();
            throw new DataBackendIOException($e->getMessage(), 0, $e);

        }
    }