On April 16, 2015 the National Bank of Ukraine penalized ABH Ukraine Limited, the sole shareholder of Alfa Bank PJSC. ABH Ukraine Limited had acquired a qualifying holding in Bank of Cyprus PJSC (present name: Neos Bank PJSC) without the prior consent of the National Bank of Ukraine.

The penalty amount was 0.1 percent of Neos Bank’s authorized capital as of the date the offense was committed (April 2014). Under Article 73 (1) (9), indent six of the Law of Ukraine On Banks and Banking the National Bank of Ukraine may charge a penalty to a bank’s owner of qualifying holding for breaching the requirements set forth in Article 34 of the aforementioned Law concerning the procedure of acquiring or increasing the qualifying holding in a bank.

When deciding on the penalty amount, the National Bank of Ukraine took into account the offender’s admission of guilt and confirmed readiness to take urgent action to remedy the consequences of the offense.

Commenting on the National Bank’s decision, Leonid Antonenko, Director of the NBU Registration and Licensing Department said: ‘We continue to take the necessary measures to enhance the transparency of banking system. The National Bank of Ukraine will regard bona fide actions taken on own accord to remedy offenses and restore legality as a liability mitigating circumstance. The National Bank will continue to take action, including application of maximum penalties permitted by law to the offenders in breach of the banking law which were served a warning requiring them to remedy the offense but continue to ignore the regulator’s requirements’.