Russian central bank revokes licenses of three small banks

MOSCOW, Mar 17 (PRIME) -- Russia’s central bank has revoked the licenses of Moscow-based Ekaterininsky Bank, ranked 493rd by assets as of March 1, and National Corporate Bank, ranked 487th, as well as Onebank in the republic of North Ossetia-Alania, ranked 538th, the authority said in a statement on Thursday.

Ekaterininsky Bank had conducted highly risky credit policies by placing money in low-quality assets. A realistic assessment of credit risks triggered circumstances requiring bankruptcy prevention measures. The bank was involved in operations with ghost firms and did not provide trustworthy financial reports to the central bank timely.

The capital of National Corporate Bank fell to a critical level after making reserves adequate to the risks, as demanded by the central bank. The bank did not provide trustworthy financial reports to the central bank timely and was involved in dubious operations, including with ghost firms.

Onebank’s assets were of an unsatisfactory quality. A realistic assessment of credit risks and assets triggered circumstances requiring bankruptcy prevention measures. The bank did not fulfill the central bank’s prohibition of certain kinds of operations.

All three banks are members of the deposit insurance system, which means that each depositor may receive up to 1.4 million rubles in compensation.

Repayments to clients of the banks will begin no later than March 31. Banks that will act as repayment agents will be chosen no later than March 23, the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) said.

(71.0256 rubles – U.S. $1)

End