The National Bank of Ukraine ignored the proposals of the shareholders of Concord Bank before its liquidation, and then, on the instructions of the regulator, they were deprived of the right to a fair trial. This was stated by the co-founder of JSC Concorde Bank Olena Sosiedka, UNN reports.
Earlier, Olena Sosiedka stated that the National Bank has a lenient approach to regulating state-owned banks, unlike private ones. She noted that the NBU only fined Ukrgasbank and a number of commercial banks for misdirection, while the regulator revoked Concorde's license for the same violations.
According to the bank's co-founder, the international payment systems VISA and Mastercard had never fined Concorde for internal financial monitoring or for violating their strict rules in the past few years before the bank's liquidation. They scrutinize the work of banks because violations can damage their reputation. In addition, Concord Bank successfully passed a compliance audit conducted by an independent British company accredited by international payment systems.
"We were not a bank with Russian capital, like Sense Bank, and we did not cooperate with Russians. We have not been found to have such serious violations as to deprive us of our license. There is no criminal case against us in any law enforcement agency of the country," Sosedka wrote on her Facebook page.
At the same time, she noted that the National Bank of Ukraine has a policy of double standards - what is allowed for state-owned banks is not allowed for private ones.
"During the inspection, we even officially proposed to the NBU to appoint an independent member of the Supervisory Board of Concorde to the regulator's choice to confirm our openness and willingness to cooperate. Moreover, from the time the bank decided to close MSS 7994 until August 1, Concorde showed stable income, paid taxes and also helped the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, the NBU ignored our proposals," said the co-founder of Concorde.
Sosiedka said that the bank's shareholders appealed the National Bank's decision in court. However, the director of the NBU's legal department, Oleksandr Zyma, officially instructed the Deposit Guarantee Fund, which took over Concord after the start of the liquidation process, to withdraw the claims. Thus, according to her, the shareholders were deprived of their right to justice, including a fair trial.
"I would like to emphasize that we will not stop and will restore our good name in the Ukrainian courts, and everyone who has violated the law in one way or another will be brought to justice. We will not remain silent and will tell about everything that is happening around the liquidation of the once successful and profitable Concorde. Ukraine needs to know where another of its enemies is hiding, destroying the country from within," the bank's co-founder emphasized.
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Despite the war in Ukraine, the process of removing banks from the market has not stopped. Thus, as of February 24, 2022, the liquidation process was initiated against 8 banks. Last year, for the first time in Ukraine, not only bankrupt banks but also profitable institutions were subject to liquidation and license revocation, including Concord Bank. The process of depriving a banking institution of its license takes place without a court. Of course, the owners and shareholders of banks can appeal the decision of the regulator, the NBU, after it has made the decision to liquidate the bank, but in general, the process of removing a banking institution from the market, once it has been launched, is irreversible.
In addition, the issue of liquidation of a profitable bank is not regulated in Ukraine. According to the co-founder of Concord Bank, Olena Sosedka, when the regulator announced the decision to liquidate the bank, the financial institution had enough highly liquid assets to make all the necessary payments in 2-3 weeks. But the process of bank liquidation is strictly regulated by law and can generally take up to three years.