The new shareholders of troubled Latvian lender PNB Banka have decided to invest €146m in the bank, whose operations were suspended last week.
Latvian banking regulator the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC) suspended the operations of the PNB Banka after the European Central bank (ECB) determined that the lender is likely to fail.
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The European Single Resolution Board (SRB) also decided not to take any action to stabilise PNB Banka’s financial health.
PNB Banka’s liabilities were found to have exceeded its assets. Its capital adequacy ratio also dropped below the required minimum level. These failures prompted the regulators to bar the bank from carrying out any further operations.
With the suspension, the financial services and deposits of PNB Banka were made unavailable. The step was taken to stop the outflow of bank funds.
However, the bank’s new owner believe that “the bank is currently solvent and that the bank’s liquidity is currently good.”
Furthermore, the new owner asked the SRB to explain “on what basis it has stated on Thursday evening that the bank will be liquidated under national law.”
“The FCMC will have to explain the basis on which it made a determination of the unavailability of deposits,” the bank said in a statement.
The new owners also intend to challenge any petition for the opening of insolvency proceedings.
The suspension of PNB Banka comes a year after FCMC approved the self-liquidation of ABLV Bank.
