The Central Bank of Russia has revoked a banking license held by Sudostroitelny Bank (Registration No. 2999), the regulator's press service reported.
"The Bank of Russia made this decision as the lending institution failed to comply with the federal laws regulating banking activities and also CBR's statutory acts, instances when the bank presented unreliable data were established, its capital adequacy ratio fell below 2% and its equity declined below the minimum threshold set by CBR on the date of the lending institutions' state registration and due to the application of the measures specified by the Federal Law "On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia)," the Bank of Russia specified.
According to the regulator's data, SB Bank pursued a high-risk lending policy by investing the money in poor quality assets. "Upon formation of provisions adequate to the accepted risks the lending institution fully lost its equity. Due to the loss of liquidity SB Bank failed to timely fulfill its obligations to creditors. Meanwhile, the lending institution provided the Bank of Russia with unreliable financial statements that concealed grounds for measures to prevent insolvency and fulfilled no demands of a supervisory body to reflect all outstanding obligations to creditors in financial statements," the Bank of Russia emphasized.
SB Bank's executives and owners took no efficient measures to normalize the bank's operation, and due to the poor quality of the lending institution's assets there was no possibility to rehabilitate it with the participation of the State Depositary Insurance Agency (DIA).
Meanwhile, in its Monday issue business daily Vedomosti wrote, citing banking sources, that liquidity-stricken SB Bank would most likely be rehabilitated. The newspaper named B&N Bank and Bank Yugra among the lender's potential rescuers. According to these data, Bank Yugra was the most interested lender in rehabilitating SB Bank. Vedomosti's source said that Bank Yugra-controlled entities even purchased rights of claims from the bank's corporate clients. The newspaper's source named no aggregate amount of the ceded rights, but, according to the paper, at issue were "hundred million rubles". A Bank Yugra spokesman denied any interest of the lending institution in SB Bank's rehabilitation or deals with its creditors, Vedomosti specified.
For the record, the bank's problems began in 2014. Last December SB Bank began to process payments of corporate clients with delays, and then limited the withdrawal of retail deposits. Later the lending institution put a lid on cash withdrawals at its offices at Rub 50,000, $1,000 or €700 per business day. The bank demanded to file an application in advance to get money at the bank. In late January 2015 SB Bank cease to give cash from accounts of households and legal entities.
In addition, since January 26, 2015 the Bank of Russia switched SB Bank off the urgent electronic messaging system, business daily Vedomosti wrote. As a matter of fact, this move of the regulator means that technically SB Bank is unable either to receive or make payments in rubles.
In late January 2015 SB Bank's clients applied to Bank of Russia chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina seeking the bank's rehabilitation.
