The Finance and Capital Market Commission (FKTK) has permitted the merge of Signet Bank and Expobank, as confirmed by the commission.
The Council of FKTK permitted the acquisition of Signet Bank’s shares by Expobank. This means as of July 11, operations of both banks are united in a single institution. From now on all operations will be performed under the Signet Bank brand.
“In 2018, banks that previously focused on servicing foreign clients commenced a change of their business model. FKTK predicted one of the directions of development of banks of this segment would be consolidation. We are satisfied that Signet Bank and Expobank have succeeded making this step to preserve both banks’ experience and maintain a competitive business model and strengthen Latvia’s banking sector,” said FKTK chairperson Santa Purgaile.
The commission reminds that on January 26 Expobank acquisition deal was signed. In accordance with it, Signet Bank purchased Expobank. Signet Bank considered future development scenarios and decided to merge operations of both banks under Signet Bank brand.
FKTK notes that clients of both banks will retain all of their existing rights and obligations. The only change is that clients of Expobank will see the change of their bank’s name.
In February 2012, Russian businessman Igor Kim became the sole owner of Expobank. In the past he was a shareholder in MDM Bank, which was Expobank’s previous owner. On April 28, 2012 LTB Bank changed its name to Expobank. The bank was founded in 1991 with the name Commercial Bank. It was later renamed Latvian Commercial Bank and Latvian Trade Bank.
Asset-wise Expobank was the smallest bank in Latvia in 2021.
Signet Bank was founded in 1992 with the name Latvian Business Bank. In July 2013, the bank was renamed Bank M2M Europe. In September 2017, when a group of Latvian and international investors that included Hansalink, Fin.lv and Signet Acquisition III became majority shareholders, the bank was renamed Signet Bank. Asset-wise Signet Bank was the eighth biggest bank in Latvia in 2021. (BNN/Business World Magazine)