In January-August 2016, on 101 occasions, the National Bank of Ukraine provided, in accordance with the established procedure, temporary access to the documents required as part of the investigation into criminal offences committed in the banking sector. In particular, in August, such access was granted on 21 occasion (a twofold increase compared to July 2016 when it was granted on 11 occasions), including upon the request of :
- the General Prosecutor's office - on 13 occasions;
- the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine – on 5 occasions;
- the National Police of Ukraine – on 1 occasion;
- the Security Service of Ukraine – on 2 occasions.
August saw an increase in the number of the Court's rulings ordering the NBU to provide the General Prosecutor's office with access to the documents. The number of requests for such access that the NBU received in August increased 6.5-fold compared to July.
“The increase in the number of the Court's rulings points to an increase in the number of criminal proceedings in respect of offences committed in the banking sector, in particular criminal proceedings opened by the General Prosecutor's office. Hopefully, the law enforcement authorities will soon bring to trial high-profile criminal cases against the banks’ owners and managers responsible for driving banks to bankruptcy and we are prepared for further close cooperation with the law enforcement agencies within the limits of applicable laws and regulations,” said NBU Deputy Governor Ms Kateryna Rozhkova.
As a side note, in March 2015, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law On Amendments to Certain Legal Acts of Ukraine on the Responsibility of Bank's Related Parties which imposed criminal responsibility on the bank managers and owners for actions that led to the bank's insolvency, thereby causing heavy financial damage to the State or creditors.