In accordance with Article 76 of the Law of Ukraine On Banks and Banking, on 10 January 2017, the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine issued Decision No. 14-D/BS On Declaring PLATINUM BANK PJSC Insolvent.
Based on the results of diagnostic studies of PLATINUM BANK PJSC conducted in H1 2016, in June 2016, the NBU approved a recapitalization program that identified capital needs faced by the bank. Following the diagnostic studies of the next twenty largest banks by asset size, those banks that had capital shortages were required to bring their regulatory capital adequacy ratio back to positive territory by 1 January 2017.
PLATINUM BANK PJSC submitted to the NBU a restructuring plan that contained a series of measures to raise additional capital. During 2016, the bank’s managers and qualifying shareholders took measures to implement the recapitalization program and address capital shortages. These measures included the repayment of related-party loans, the provision of financial assistance that is not subject to repayment by the bank’s shareholders, and the posting of additional collateral.
However, the bank failed to bring its regulatory capital adequacy ratio back to positive territory. In view of the above, the NBU Board adopted a decision on declaring PLATINUM BANK PJSC insolvent.
The NBU emphasizes that 97% (197,000 individuals) of all PLATINUM BANK PJSC depositors will be paid out in full since amounts held in their deposit accounts fall within the insured deposit amount of UAH 200,000, which is covered by the Deposit Guarantee Fund. Customers with larger deposits (above the insured deposit amount) will be reimbursed up to the compensation limit guaranteed by the DGF. The DGF will pay out a total of about UAH 4.8 billion in compensation to eligible depositors.
As of 10 January 2017, PLATINUM BANK PJSC’s qualifying shareholders are Mr Borys Kaufman and Mr Hryhorii Gurtovyi in view of their ability to exercise a significant influence on the management and activities of the bank irrespective of the formal ownership. The NBU recognized Mr Kaufman and Mr Gurtovyi as the bank's qualifying shareholders based on the review of the bank's operations. In addition, Mr Kaufman confirmed in writing his ability to exercise a significant influence on the bank’s management.
In June 2016, the NBU recognized the bank’s ownership structure as opaque. In August 2016, Mr Kaufman submitted to the NBU a set of documents seeking approval of the acquisition of a qualifying holding in the amount of more than 75% through his controlled companies. The NBU has not given its approval to Mr Kaufman for the acquisition of the bank’s shares considering Mr Kaufman’s failure to submit some documents, in particular, a permit from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine allowing the acquisition of a qualifying holding in the bank. According to information available to the NBU, in December 2016, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine rejected the documents submitted by Mr Kaufman seeking to acquire a qualifying holding in PLATINUM BANK PJSC.
For reference: In accordance with Article 2 of the Law of Ukraine On Banks and Banking, the term "qualifying holding" is defined as the ability to exercise a significant influence on the management or activities of the legal entity irrespective of the formal ownership.