Amsterdam Trade Bank, part of Russias Alfa Bank, declared bankrupt

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpBy Toby Sterlingp

pAMSTERDAM Reuters – Amsterdam Trade Bank ATB, a subsidiary of Russias Alfa Bank, has been declared bankrupt, the Dutch central bank DNB said on Friday, citing an Amsterdam District Court Ruling.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pA statement on the DNB website said ATB depositors would be covered up to 100,000 euros 108,000 each under the Netherlands deposit guarantee system. The bank had around 23,000 customers, of whom most are Dutch but 6,000 are German, the DNB said.p

pAccording to filings at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, the bank‘s ultimate beneficial owner is Mikhail Fridman, the RussianIsraeli billionaire who is contesting Western sanctions imposed on him following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His stake in ATB was said to be more than 25 but no more than 50.p

pAlfa Bank is subject to U.S. sanctions, but has not been targeted by the European Union.p

pATB itself had not been sanctioned, but Dutch financial newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad FD reported that depositors began to panic on Thursday. p

pIn a statement on its website, ATB confirmed it had requested and been granted bankruptcy. The bank said that U.S. and British sanctions had “caused operational difficulties, as the majority of ATBs counterparties, including corresponding banks … find it difficult to continue supporting ATB.”p

pThe FD newspaper had previously reported that ATBs owners were seeking to sell the bank and depositors discovered that other European banks were unwilling to accept transfers out of ATB for fear of falling foul of sanctions.p

pThe small bank had previously been known for trade financing but had sought in recent years to become a lender to small and medium size companies.p

pAccording to its 2020 annual report, the most recent on record at the Chamber of Commerce, ATB had assets of around 1.2 billion euros and equity of 174 million euros. It made a profit of 27 million euros that year.p

p1 0.9270 eurosp

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pp Reporting by Toby Sterling Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potterp

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