The National Bank may declare five more Ukrainian banks problematic in April. The banks Zemelny Kapital, Narodny Kapital, Investment and Trust Bank, Finance Bank, and Smartbank may be declared problematic by the NBU due to their failure to disclose their beneficial owners by April 1, as required by the regulator.
Information about this appeared on the National Bank's website on Monday, April 4, when it published a notice about the new status of banking institutions' work to legalize ultimate beneficiaries. According to the published data, seven banks, as of April 1, had not yet approved their ownership structure with the regulator, and additional investigations are still underway.
Among such financial institutions are named "Zemelny Kapital", "Narodny Kapital", "Klassikbank", "Finance Bank", "Investment and Trust Bank", "Smartbank" and "Unison".
However, according to NBU data, the situation for two of the above-mentioned banks is more or less clear. Unison Bank's management has already submitted its action plan for resolving ownership structure issues to the NBU, and the regulator has accepted the document for review.
As for the remaining five banks, the ownership information they submitted as of April 1 requires revision. The NBU acknowledges this but has not disclosed what awaits these banks now, despite regulator executives previously stating repeatedly that no good will come of it for those who violate the deadline.
"As a result of the work carried out, the regulator identified the actual controllers of each bank. Certain banks were subject to enforcement measures as prescribed by law, and for some banks, legal proceedings are ongoing to complete the audit or take measures to eliminate violations of ownership transparency requirements," the NBU press service said in a statement. Experts believe that all five banks will likely be declared problematic as early as April.
This means the NBU will appoint its own supervisors there. "The state regulator must be respected, so if the National Bank demanded disclosure of the real owners by April 1, the banks had to comply. Now, those that fail to comply may be declared problematic and assigned NBU supervisors," suggests Igor Kogut, director of Finex Capital Asset Management Company.
The banks themselves did not comment on the situation to ONLINE.UA. Igor Kogut, however, believes that a bank's problematic situation does not necessarily mean its liquidation in the near future. "If the bank complies with all regulations, provides the regulator with a plan for disclosing its real owners, and implements it, then I see no point in introducing a temporary administration," he says.
If these banks fail to disclose their ownership structure within the next three months and are forced to leave the market, their departure will not be as painful for consumers of banking services as the liquidation of a large retail bank.
"All these banks are small captive institutions, with very small retail deposit volumes. Even if they leave the market, retail depositors are unlikely to notice their departure," said Viktor Suslov, former Minister of Economy of Ukraine.
Tatiana Pavlyuchenko
news.online.ua
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