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Weekly Lists
October 5, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 26
bne:Banker
Emirates NBD ‘mulls renegotiating offer for Sberbank’s Turkish unit Denizbank amid lira devaluation’
Estonia proposes strengthening of EU powers to crack down on money laundering
Emirates NBD is considering whether to renegotiate its offer
for Russian Sberbank’s wholly-owned Turkish unit, Denizbank, given that the Turkish lira (TRY) has lost more than a fifth of its value since the deal was signed, according to people familiar with the negotiations quoted by Bloomberg on October 3.
Dubai’s biggest lender wants to complete its acquisition of Deniz- bank but is concerned that the price set in May is too high following the slump in the currency against the dollar, the people reportedly said. Emirates NBD struck a deal to buy Denizbank for TRY14.6bn ($3.2bn) on May 22.
A renegotiation is one option being considered, but nothing has been decided, the people said.
The powers of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) should be broadened so as to cover cross-border financial crime, Estonian Justice Minister Urmas Reinsalu proposed to the European Commission, regional media reported on October 3.
The proposal comes in the wake of the scandal involving the Estonian branch of Denmark’s largest lender Danske Bank, which handled an estimated €200bn worth of poorly monitored money flows from non-resident clients in 2007-2015.
Many of the payments were “suspicious,” Danske Bank said in an internal report, published in September. The scandal shook Danske Bank and is prompting a response from the EU, aiming at strengthening control of money flows in the Eurozone.
Debt Collection Agency (DCA), the Bulgarian unit of Norway's B2Holding, signed an agreement with UniCredit Bulbank on the acquisition of a non-performing credit portfolio with a face value
of €249mn. This is the third such deal between the two companies.
"This portfolio [...] is an important milestone in the development of DCA, and confirms B2Holding's interest in acquiring different asset classes in the Bulgarian market. The acquisition is position- ing B2Holding for further growth and development in Bulgaria," Olav Dalen Zahl, CEO of B2Holding, was quoted as saying in a statement.
The portfolio consists of secured and unsecured non-performing loans (NPLs) granted to private individuals, SMEs, and corporate customers.
B2Holding's Bulgarian unit buys NPL portfolio from UniCredit Bulbank