ECB suspended the work of the Latvian PNB Banka

PNB Banka (formerly Norvik Banka), registered in Latvia, faced significant problems that put it on the brink of bankruptcy. They arose against the background of the filing of a lawsuit against the financial institution by the Financial and Capital Markets Commission (FKTK). The ECB was also concerned about the decrease in PNB Banka's capital adequacy ratio, which amounted to 12.4%, with a minimum acceptable rate of 14%.

After analyzing the situation, the European Central Bank and FKTK decided to suspend the organization’s license starting from August 15, 2019. The clients of the financial institution can no longer use bank cards, Internet banking, and other services. After analyzing the situation, the Central Bank and FKTK decided to abandon measures aimed at stabilizing the work of PNB Banka, and from August 17 they began to pay guaranteed payments to customers (no more than 100 thousand euros per client).

The representatives of the regulatory authorities said that PNB clients will be able to receive money with the help of another Latvian financial institution - Citadele Banka. The organization itself doesn’t agree with this decision and is already preparing statements of claim demanding to recognize the suspension of the license as illegal and to compensate the bank for losses. In June 2019, a controlling stake in PNB was purchased by a group of investors from the United States and the EU, but their names have not yet been named. According to the Latvian press, the new owner of the bank is the oil and gas tycoon Roger Tamraz.

If you have an account in PNB Banka, we are ready to help your company get out of this difficult situation.

Law&Trust specialists will provide legal support in obtaining guaranteed deposits, represent your interests in the regulatory authorities of Latvia and the EU, and appeal against illegal decisions. We will also help to open an account in a new bank and conduct all the necessary procedures.