Share of Estonian depositors, investors in Latvia's ABLV below 0.5 percent
Estonian clients' money accounts for about 0.3 percent of the total customer deposits at Latvia's ABLV Bank, which is set to be liquidated, daily Eesti Päevaleht reported. The share of ABLV bonds held by Estonian investors, meanwhile, is 0.4 percent.
"Of the money deposited by clients of ABLV, the share of Estonian clients is 0.3 percent, or extremely small," Ludmila Vojevoda, board member of the Latvian Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK), told the paper, adding that the volume of Estonian deposits in ABLV totaled approximately €1 million.
ABLV bonds in the hands of Estonian investors, meanwhile, amount to €2 million, or less than 0.4 percent of ABLV bonds, she noted.
According to Vojevoda, it was very likely that all bondholders and depositors will get their money back, as the bank is solvent and its capital position is rather strong.
ABLV Bank on Monday submitted a draft voluntary liquidation plan application to the FKTK.
The goal of the liquidation measures is to satisfy all claims of clients and creditors in full, bank spokesperson Jānis Bunte said.
The Latvian financial regulator, acting on instructions from the European Central Bank (ECB), ordered ABLV Bank to stop all payments as of Feb. 19 following a report by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury regarding ABLV Bank's involvement in international money laundering schemes and corruption. On Feb. 24, the FKTK made a decision on the occurrence of unavailability of deposits at ABLV Bank.
As of the end of September 2017, ABLV Bank was the third largest bank in Latvia by assets. The bank's majority shareholders, Olegs Fils, Ernests Bernis and Nika Berne, directly and indirectly own 87.03 percent of the bank's share capital.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS