Head unaware of more banks leaving Association of Russian Banks

MOSCOW, Aug 4 (PRIME) -- Head of the Association of Russian Banks (ARB) Garegin Tosunyan said Friday that he is unaware of a decision by several banks to leave the organization.

Earlier on Friday, business daily Kommersant reported that several more banks want to quit the association, following eight largest institutions which left earlier, after Tosunyan refused to resign.

Tosunyan told reporters: “I have no information. I know about this from the press.”

In July, Sberbank, VTB Bank, VTB 24, Russian Agricultural Bank, Gazprombank, Alfa-Bank, Otkritie Financial Corporation (FC) Bank, and B&N Bank withdrew from the ARB because of disagreement with the association’s position on a number of issues, including the central bank’s activities to purge the banking sector.

According to Kommersant sources, other banks that plan to leave the ARB include AK BARS Bank, Bank Zenit and its affiliate Lipetskkombank, Sovcombank, Absolut Bank, Sviaz-Bank, and Rosevrobank as they are also discontent with how Tosunyan manages the association. The daily also reported that Tosunyan still insists that there is no reason for reform in the organization.

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