KOMMERSANT. On Wednesday, December 10, CBR announced the introduction of a temporary administration at Moscow Mortgage Bank (MMB) and Moscow Capital.
Most likely, the future of the lending institutions will vary. As a representative of MMB top managers told the newspaper on anonymous terms, CBR and the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) are reviewing the candidate of a potential investor for the bank. According to DIA deputy general director Andrey Melnikov, MMB will most likely go under hammer. DIA representatives declined to disclose any details, but, according to the business daily, an investor could involve structures affiliated with City Hall, to be more precise, a company close to Mosoblgaz. The company acts at a biggest creditor of MMB, but it cannot buy the bank directly, as this is not allowed by the state unitary enterprise’s incorporate form. The regional government left Kommersant’s official request unanswered.
The situation surrounding Moscow Capital is less predictable. The bank’s owners said arrangements with investors were already made. The investor of Moscow Capital, according to the bank’s first deputy board chairman Roman Krestin, will be addressed at a next meeting of CBR’s Committee for Banking Supervision. DIA is less certain about the bank’s future. “We’re considering various scenarios of future operations with the bank” — Melnikov said. In addition, the quality of the lending institution’s assets, according to him, seems to be dubious to DIA, which, as experts think, makes its sale less likely. CBR’s official press release contains indirect evidence that Moscow Capital’s future will most likely be a repeat performance of Bank Electronika, i.e. its assets and liabilities will be partly assigned to a sound lender. “The temporary administration will first and foremost take inventory of the bank’s property”.
