Banks, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services

The European Central Bank (ECB) has adopted a decision to withdraw the authorization of ABLV Bank, effective as of midnight on July 11. The ECB made the decision following the FCMC proposal based on the decision by the ABLV Bank's shareholders regarding their intent to implement a voluntary liquidation procedure, as well as a proposed draft voluntary liquidation plan and the FCMC decision to authorize the commencement of voluntary liquidation process.

"This is an intentional and logical step in the process of ABLV Bank's voluntary liquidation and it does not in any way affect the course of voluntary liquidation. The FCMC continues supervision of the voluntary liquidation process according to the approved plan and procedures," said the FCMC Chairman, Peters Putnins.

As reported, the Finance and Capital Market Commission on June 12 approved the ABLV Bank' plan for voluntary liquidation.

The Finance and Capital Market Commission, acting on the instructions from the European Central Bank (ECB), ordered ABLV Bank to stop all payments as of February 19, 2018, following a report by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of Treasury about ABLV Bank's involvement in international money laundering schemes and corruption.

The lawyers of ABLV Bank have urged FinCEN to recall its proposal, saying that the accusations against the bank were exaggerated and FinCEN had not provided evidence supporting the allegations of money laundering and bribery.

On February 26 the shareholders of ABLV Bank made a decision to start a voluntary liquidation process for maximum protection of the interests of its clients and creditors.

On May 3 ABLV Bank and its largest shareholders filed a complaint with the EU Court of Justice against the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Single Resolution Board (SRB) about several possible violations, including abuse of power, failure to observe proportionality and equal treatment, etc. The complaint lists a range of serious objections to the manner of how the decision about the bank being failing or likely to fail was taken.