UPDATE: Russian cbank ends license of El Bank, bank asks Putin to help

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MOSCOW, May 5 (PRIME) – The central bank has cancelled the banking license of El Bank, ranked Russia's 295th by assets, the authority said in a statement on Thursday, but the bank objected saying that the restrictions are unlawful and that it wrote an open letter to President Vladimir Putin, asking him to control the issue personally.

The central bank said that El Bank, headquartered in the Volga river city of Togliatti, was unable to fulfill creditor demands and did not comply with the federal laws regulating banking activities.

The bank is a member of the deposit insurance system, which means that each depositor may receive redemption of up to 1.4 million rubles.

The Deposit Insurance Agency said that deposit repayments to clients of the bank will begin no later than on May 19. A bank which will act as the repayment agent will be chosen no later than on May 12.

(66.1718 rubles – U.S. $1)

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