The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) denied Mikalai Varabei, a Belarusian national, the right to acquire a 100% qualifying holding in BTA Bank JSC. The NBU Committee on Banking Regulation and Supervision and Payment Systems Oversight approved the respective decision on 24 December 2020.
The abovementioned decision was made considering that the applicant’s business reputation is tainted. Specifically, pursuant to EU Council Decision No. 2020/2130 dated 17 December 2020, Mikalai Varabei was listed as one of the individuals subject to restrictive measures (sanctions). Under NBU regulations, sanctions applied to an individual are grounds for stripping that individual of their impeccable business reputation for the duration of sanctions and for the following three years.
In addition, one of the reasons behind this decision was the applicant’s failure to provide sufficient documents and information confirming that his financial standing and funds met the requirements of Ukrainian law.
The NBU received from Mikalai Mikalaevich Varabei, a Belarusian national, an application to acquire a qualifying holding in BTA Bank.
From the receipt of a full set of documents for the acquisition of a qualifying holding, the NBU has a three-month period to review them (Article 34 of the Law of Ukraine On Banks and Banking). While reviewing the application, the NBU verifies the investor’s business reputation for compliance with requirements set out in NBU regulations, and checks the investor’s financial standing and sources of funds.
At present, the controller of BTA Bank JSC is Kenes Rakishev, a Kazakh national.