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bne September 2019 Companies & Markets I 13
ECB shuts down troubled Latvian lender PNB Banka
Levente Szilagyi in Budapest
The European Central Bank (ECB) has suspended
the operation of Latvia’s sixth largest bank PNB Banka with €550mn in assets a couple of days after conducting on-site checks.
The ECB assessed that PNB Banka was failing or likely to fail in accordance with the Single Resolution Mechanism Regulation, the ECB said on its website.
The decision on the shutdown came just three days after
an on-site inspection of the Frankfurt-based bank unveiled
a substantial provisioning shortfall and found that the assets of the bank were less than its liabilities.
In a separate release, the eurozone’s Single Resolution Board said that saving the bank was not in the public interest and it would be shut down under Latvian law.
"We would like to inform that in accordance with the decision of the Financial and Capital Market Commission from 21:00 on August 15, 2019 AS "PNB Banka" must cease the provision of financial services," PNB Banka said in a statement.
"The disbursement of guaranteed compensation shall be started not later than on the 8th working day (i.e., starting from 27.08.2019). FCMC which decides on the procedures for the disbursement of guaranteed compensation will make every effort to start the payout sooner."
Eligible deposits in AS PNB Banka are protected up to €100,000 under Latvia’s deposit guarantee fund.
PNB Banka, which operated under the name of Norvik Banka until November 2018 was founded in 1992. At the end of the Q1 2019, it reported deposits of €472mn and total assets of €550mn.
The bank has been in breach of capital requirements since the end of 2017.
The ECB took over direct supervision of the bank in April,
at the request of the Latvian Financial Capital and Markets Commission after in light of the ongoing controversy between PNB Bank and the central bank.
The bank's then key shareholder Grigory Guselnikov, who has dual Russian and British citizenship, accused central bank gover- nor Ilmars Rimsevics of attempting to extort money from him in return for making “successful banking” possible in Latvia.
That spurred Riga’s anti-corruption police to start an investigation, which is still ongoing and was recently expanded with charges of money laundering against the former central bank governor.
Guselnikov sold his stakes to "European Union & U.S. investors" without naming the buyers at the end of June. On July 30, Oliver Bramwell stood down as PNB Bank CEO.
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CEE Fintech Atlas: Old narratives are changing, innovations may flow now from East to West
Gunter Deuber of Raiffeisen Research in Vienna
After nearly three decades since the end of the socialist experiment many countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have made enormous progress, but they are still catching up to
their western peers. But not in fintech, which has been
Russia moves towards 5G
Russia has made another step towards launching the
fifth generation of cellular mobile communications (5G),
as state-controlled telecoms operator Rostelecom transferred companies that tested the relevant technology to its
subsidiary, Bashinformsvyaz. See page 5
Contents
CEE Fintech Atlas: Old narratives are changing, innovations may flow now from East to West 2 Russia moves towards 5G 5 IoT network to be set up in Russia 6 Russian online retailers fight for
higher duties on imported parcels 7 Wildberries leads the top 50 Russian e-commerce online stores ranked
by revenues in 2018 9
Leaders 10
Facebook and Twitter given nine more months to comply with Russian data-localisation law 11 Net profit of Russian internet major Mail.ru drops 47% in 1Q19 12 One year after ban, Telegram still accessible from Russia with growing audience 12 Russia’s Sberbank reportedly eyes
media major Rambler, registers Sber trademark 13
Investment 15
Armenia’s censor-defeating secure messaging app Pinngle announces $12mn of funding 15 MTS launches corporate fund to invest $15mn in startups 15 RWuhseseialynrdarisiveesr$b1o5omking service 16
Russian HeadHunter makes first
NASDAQ IPO since 2013 17 Russian Ozon e-commerce major
raises another loan for expansion 18
Fintech & E-commerce 19
Russia’s steel major Severstal to boost online sales 19 Russia’s Yandex said to plan cashback card with Alfa and Tinkoff banks 19 Russian retailer O’key reportedly eyed
by Yandex.Market online marketplace 20
Telecom 21
Romania’s consumer protection body
tells Vodafone to cancel price hikes 21 O2 telecoms operator in Czech Republic records Q1 profit of CZK1.24bn 21 Russia's mobile phone VEON
operator delivers sold earnings
in 1Q19, reiterates guidance 22 T-Mobile in Czech Republic saw
growth of CZK6.7bn in 1Q19 22 Turkish mobile operator Turkcell’s
profit soars 145% y/y in Q1 boosted
by unit sale 23
NIBs 24
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