Baltic States – CIS, Banks, Financial Services, Investments, Latvia

Several Latvian banks have been pursuing a similar business strategy for a while, providing private banking services to wealthy clients. Therefore LBB strategy is not a new direction for banking operations in Latvia, explains Bicevskis.

Asked if the acquisition of LBB could be connected with Cypriot financial crisis in any way, Bicevskis points out that the change of LBB ownership is a large scale business transaction. It takes several months or even a year to carry out such a transaction. Therefore it is not even remotely connected with the situation in Cyprus, points out Bicevskis.

As reported, Russian Financier Andrey Vdovin, one of the co-owners of the VMHY Group, has purchased 100 percent of LBB shares.

The VMHY group includes Russian commercial banks M2M Private Bank and ATB Bank. M2M Private Bank specializes in servicing wealthy clients and its board chairman is Robert Idelson, who has been working in the Latvian financial sector for a long time. M2M Asset Management, which is also a part of the VHMY Group, operates in Latvia as well.

The transaction took place on May 21 and changes have already been registered in the register of LBB shareholders.

The Financial and Capital Market Commission has granted permission to Vdovin for the acquisition of a significant share in the bank, the commission's representative Laima Auza informed Nozare.lv. The commission's approval will also be required in the event of replacing the bank's board or council.

A new bank will be established on the basis of LBB, specializing in servicing the private capital of wealthy international and Latvian clients, Nozare.lv was informed by M2M Asset Management Marketing and Communications Department head Julia Kondratovich.

The new bank's business development strategy will be based on providing private banking services, servicing clients' banking operations and the transactions of companies belonging to these clients, capital management, lifestyle services.

It is planned that LBB will be fully restructured by August 1.