There were 36 banks in Ukraine as of April 1 that needed boosting their charter capital by July 11, to the required minimum set of UAH 200 million, or $7.55 million, according to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
The list of banks with charter capital worth less than UAH 200 million includes Motor-Bank, Zemelny Capital, Tsentr (Center), Credit Optima Bank, Ukrainian Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Citibank, Familny, Ukrbudinvestbank, Accordbank, MetaBank, Region-Bank, Policombank, PFB (Industrial-Financial Bank), Crystalbank, Ukrainian Capital, Gefest, Alpari, Ibox, Cominvestbank, Financial Partner, Portal, Altbank, Sich, CIB, Okci Bank, Novy, Trust-Capital, Settlement Center (AUSD), Concorde, AP Bank, IIB, Alliance, Avangard, Vernum, Creditwest, and Bank Boguslav.
The National Bank in 2016 issued resolution No. 58 to oblige Ukrainian banks to raise capital to UAH 200 million by July 11, 2017; to UAH 300 million by July 11, 2018; to UAH 400 million by July 11, 2019; to UAH 450 million by July 11, 2020, and to UAH 500 million by July 11, 2024.
Compliance with the NBU requirements can become an impossible task for certain small-sized financial institutions, and as a result, mergers and closures in the Ukrainian banking market will accelerate, according to bankers’ estimates. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on March 23, passed a draft law on simplification of procedures for bank capitalization and restructuring and President Petro Poroshenko enacted it on April 26. The law allows banks to stop using a banking license without liquidating a legal entity and continue their operation as a non-bank financial institution. However, they must have no obligations to their depositors. (UNIAN/Business World Magazine)