The banking system works smoothly and continuously. Any failure, whether it be a refusal to issue cash or the termination of opening deposits, is least of all explained by reasons of a technical nature. As a rule, emerging contingencies indicate that a credit institution has serious financial problems.
The results of the events that have taken place with ATB since the day when in April 2018 the bank announced the termination of opening deposits, until now, are as follows:
- Almost without losing its license due to the unfair actions of its main shareholder, the bank was sent for financial rehabilitation at the MC FCBS.
- More than 9 billion rubles were spent on the additional capitalization of the bank. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation bought out an additional issue and now 99, 999% of ATB shares are owned by the state.
- The former main owner and chairman of the board of ATB, and now the minority of the bank, Andrei Vdovin, is hiding abroad. The fraudster declared on the international wanted list is accused of embezzling funds raised by the bank in the form of loans in the amount of more than $ 13 million.
- The bank's provisional administration managed to stabilize the financial condition of ATB: additional reserves were added, solvency was restored, issues with the infamous FTK bills were resolved, and 3 billion rubles were returned to the Central Bank, which ATB provided to maintain liquidity. As of 01.01.2019, the net assets of ATB are estimated at 120.62 billion rubles, the amount of capital is 10.21 billion rubles.
- Having adjusted the work of the credit institution, the current managers managed to make it profitable promptly. The outflow of funds and clients was stopped, and a stable profitability was ensured. Operational data published on Banki.ru indicate that ATB ranks 61st in the reliability rating and is among the top 100 Russian banks. According to ACRA, the Asia-Pacific Bank has a BB + credit rating with an “evolving” outlook.
Thus, at the moment, ATB not only works stably, generating profits, but is still one of the main credit institutions in the Far East region. The head office is located in the city of Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region. There are 145 offices in the Far East and the central part of the country.
In general, the dynamics of the financial condition of ATB is assessed as positive, and the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation makes a decision on the sale of shares owned by the regulator to third-party investors.
Terms of the auction for the sale of ATB
The notice on the holding of open electronic trading by the Bank of Russia for the sale of shares of PJSC Asian-Pacific Bank has been published on the official Internet resource www.torgi.gov.ru. Information about the auction, as well as the necessary accompanying documentation, are posted on the website of the Bank of Russia (section “Sale of Credit Institutions”), as well as on the service of Sberbank-AST CJSC - this is an electronic platform reserved for the auction.
The auction, scheduled for March 14, 2019, will be held under the Dutch system, to lower the starting selling price. The Central Bank expects to start trading with the amount of the bank's capital as of December 1, 2018 - 9,857,152,000 rubles. The size of the step down is set at 1 billion 285 million 717 thousand 333 rubles. The size of the increase step is 100 million rubles. It is planned to raise an amount in the range from 0, 6 to 1 of ATB's capital. The cut-off price is 6 billion and 1 ruble, since the Central Bank does not intend to sell the bank cheaper than 0.6 of its capital.
ATB acquires new owners
Business publications and the media are actively discussing the candidacies of future owners of ATB. The Bank of Russia expressed its opinion that the asset may be acquired not by one investor, but by a consortium of legal entities. The date of publication of the official data on the participants admitted to the auction is March 11, 2019. In the two weeks allotted for accepting applications, potential buyers will be able to carry out all the necessary activities and due diligence procedures for the asset due diligence.
The requirements for potential investors are as follows:
- not have any ties with the former owners of the Asia-Pacific Bank;
- not be the owner of more than 1% of shares within three months preceding the beginning of the ATB reorganization procedure;
- post a deposit in the amount of 986 million rubles;
- obtain approval from the Central Bank and the Federal Antimonopoly Service.
Several potential buyers have so far shown interest in ATB. There are no state banks among them, one of the applicants is a foreigner. Vedomosti suggests that the Chinese investment company Fosun may turn out to be a “certain foreign investor” involved in the deal. Experts from expert organizations and Fitch analysts consider the main contenders for ATB to be banks that need to strengthen their positions in the Far East region - Sovcombank and Vostochny Bank. Credit Bank of Moscow (MCB) is considering the possibility of participating in the purchase of the asset. However, at the time of publication of information about the auction, according to the business publication Kommersant, only Sovcombank had submitted an application to the FAS.
Whatever the outcome of the auction, it is impossible not to overestimate its unprecedented significance: the Central Bank of Russia is for the first time putting up for auction a bank from the FKBS management company controlled by the regulator. Until now, the banks undergoing rehabilitation have either joined the sanatorium (for example, Bank of Moscow and VTB), or by infecting it (like Trust and FC Otkritie), together they “went to the bottom”. If the auction is successful, this will be the first time that a bank that has gone through a financial recovery procedure will acquire new owners.
In the meantime, "the bottom line", the Asian-Pacific Bank operates in the format of its new business model, receiving monthly net profit of about 300 million rubles. The bank actively lends to individuals and commercial organizations, attracts funds from citizens in deposits, works in the securities and currency markets. Among the demanded financial services there are “Gold” and “Investment” deposits, an interest-free loan for 50 thousand rubles “Absolute zero” developed on the basis of the installment principle, various deposits with an attractive product widget.
