Russian central bank revokes licenses of 2 small Moscow banks

MOSCOW, Mar 28 (PRIME) -- Russia’s central bank has revoked licenses of Moscow-based Smartbank, ranked 378th by assets as of March 1, and Mosvodokanalbank, ranked 532nd, the regulator said in a statement Monday.

Smartbank conducted a high-risky credit policy by placing money in low-quality assets. The bank also failed to comply with the central bank’s regulatory acts for fighting money laundering and terrorism financing and was involved in large-scale dubious transactions. The bank’s owners and top executives did not take efficient measures to normalize its operations.

Mosvodokanalbank invested in low-quality assets and failed to create adequate loan loss reserves and eventually completely lost its shareholders’ equity. The bank also failed to comply with the central bank’s regulatory acts for fighting money laundering and terrorism financing. Its owners and management did not take efficient measures to normalize the bank’s operations.

The banks are members of the deposit insurance system, which means that each depositor may receive up to 1.4 million rubles in compensation. Payments to the banks’ depositors will start no later than on April 11, the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) said.

(68.4346 rubles – U.S. $1)

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