Administrator of Baltic International Bank recovers EUR 200,110 worth of assets

RIGA - The administrator of Baltic International Bank, which is currently in liquidation, recovered EUR 200,110 worth of the bank's assets between March 25 and 31, according to a statement published in the official gazette Latvijas Vestnesis. 

The recovered assets include EUR 189,639 worth of loans and EUR 10,471 worth of other assets. 

In the accounting period from March 25 to 31, no payments were made that could be recognized as liquidation costs. 

The administrator has started a stocktaking of the failed bank's possessions and documents.

According to the administrator's report, as at March 31, 2023, Baltic International Bank's assets stood at EUR 103,486,014. The bank's liabilities at the end of March were EUR 93,906,441.

The bank's capital and reserves were worth EUR 9,579,573.

As reported, creditors of Baltic International Bank have until the end of June to register their claims, according to information released be bank.

Baltic International Bank's administrator Olavs Cers indicates that March 24, 2023 is the date on which the bank's wind-up was authorized by court.

Creditor claims and other persons' claims to Baltic International Bank must be filed within three months of the liquidation announcement's publication in the official gazette Latvijas Vestnesis, namely, March 29, 2023. After that date, submitted creditor claims will be reviewed in line with the Credit Institutions Law.

As reported, the Economic Affairs Court on March 24 granted the Bank of Latvia's request to authorize the liquidation of Baltic International Bank.

The request to authorize Baltic International Bank's wind-up process was filed based on the European Central Bank's (ECB) decision to withdraw Baltic International Bank's license. The decision to file for the bank's liquidation and on appointing a liquidator was taken by the Bank of Latvia's Supervisory Commission.

As announced earlier, on December 12, 2022, the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC) recognized Baltic International Bank as failing or likely to fail, and decided not to take resolution action of Baltic International Bank, i.e. to implement no measures to stabilize the bank's operation.

To ensure the stability of Latvia's financial sector and protect the interests of the bank's customers the FCMC Board, during its extraordinary meeting of December 12, 2022, decided to suspend the provision of financial services at Baltic International Bank. Meanwhile, on March 10, 2023, the ECB took a decision to withdraw the license of Baltic International Bank. The decision took effect on March 11. In turn, pursuant to Section 129, Paragraph one of the Credit Institution Law, in such a situation the Bank of Latvias has grounds to submit to the court an application for the liquidation of a credit institution and the appointment of a liquidator.

Cers will become the liquidator of Baltic International Bank if he is approved as such by the court.

Baltic International Bank shareholders announced that they disagree with the FCMC decision and wish to continue operations, claiming that they have sufficient capital for further operations.

In 2022, according to preliminary results, Baltic International Bank posted EUR 26.773 million in loss, 5.3 times more than in 2021. The bank's assets at the end of 2022 stood at EUR 139.051 million or by 33.8 percent less than at the end of 2021.

At the end of 2021, Baltic International Bank was the tenth largest bank in Latvia in terms of assets. The bank's largest shareholders were Valeri Belokon (38.13 percent) and Vilori Belokon (21.3 percent).