On 24 December 2015, the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine issued Resolution No. 942 On Approval of the Regulation on the Rules Governing the Prequalification of Bidders Eligible to Participate in the Resolution of Insolvent Banks and Approval of the Acquisition of Holdings in Banks.

This resolution sets out the eligibility requirements for bidders (individuals and legal entities, Ukrainian banks in the capacity of assuming banks) seeking to participate in the resolution of insolvent banks through a competitive bidding process conducted by the Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF).   

If individuals meet the eligibility requirements in terms of business reputation and financial (property) position and assuming banks meet the established criteria, they shall be included in the List of pre-qualified bidders maintained by the NBU.

The pre-qualified bidders participating in a competitive bidding process conducted by the DGF shall submit updated information to the NBU and undergo additional verification during the bidding process. The winner, selected through a competitive process, shall secure the NBU’s approval for the acquisition of a qualifying holding in the insolvent bank.

The establishment of such a List will enable the DGF to process applications from investors in a speedy and efficient manner. It normally takes up to three months for the NBU to process documents submitted by an investor seeking to acquire or increase a qualifying holding in a bank. In the case of a sale of an insolvent bank, the NBU has only two business days to process the documents submitted by a bidder. The List of Pre-Qualified Bidders will enable the NBU to process documents well in advance and only update information if required.

The Regulation is agreed to with the DGF.