National Bank of Ukraine Grants Its Approval for the Acquisition of Qualifying Holdings in 6 Banks

The National Bank of Ukraine has granted its approval for the acquisition of qualifying holdings in Industrialbank JSCB, ALPARI BANK PJSC, EXPRESS-BANK JSB, ALFA-BANK PJSC, BTA BANK  PJSC, and CENTER PJSCCB.     

Last week the NBU gave its approval to the Dvoretskys to acquire a qualifying holding equal to 70% of the authorized capital of Industrialbank JSCB and a qualifying holding exceeding 80% of the authorized capital of EXPRESS-BANK JSB.  Following the acquisition by Ms Rosa  Dvoretsky, Ms Anna Dvoretsky and Mr Ihor Dvoretsky qualifying holdings in banks, their ownership structures are regarded as transparent by the NBU. 

The NBU also has granted its approval to Mr Mykhailo Fridman, Mr German Khann, Mr Piotr Aven and Mr Oleksii Kuzmichov to acquire a qualifying holding in ALFA-BANK PJSC. The aforementioned individuals are the owners of Holdings SA , which indirectly  owns shares of ALFA-BANK PJSC through ABH Ukraine Limited. The approval was granted following the entry into force of Law of Ukraine On Amendments to Certain Legal Acts of Ukraine on the Responsibility of Bank's Related Parties No. 218, dated March 2,  2015, which granted these individuals the status of qualifying shareholders.

Mr Nurzhan Subkhanberdin and Mr Kenes Rakishev (both Kazakhstan nationals) were granted approval for the acquisition of a qualifying holding in BTA BANK  PJSC. Each of them acquired a qualifying holding exceeding 47% of the total shareholding in the bank.

Mr Bakhtari Hedayat-Allah Musa obtained the approval to acquire a direct qualifying holding of 100% in ALPARI BANK PJSC.

Additionally, the NBU has given its approval to Mr Hamed Alikhani (a French national) for the the acquisition of a direct qualifying holding in CENTER PJSCCB. Up until now, Mr Hamed Alikhani has been an indirect owner of a qualifying holding of 60% in this bank, but has never undergone an approval procedure at the NBU.  In August 2015, Mr Hamed Alikhani increased a qualifying holding in this bank up to 100% without prior approval from the NBU. This infringement of the rules governing the acquisition of a qualifying holding led the NBU to impose a fine of UAH 1.2 million on this company.

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