"Given the unfolding situation and in the effort to maintain honest attitude to investors, the Board of ABLV Bank has taken a decision to not carry out the two announced issues of straight coupon bonds and to not execute the applications for buying bonds which were received under the initial offering," the bank said in a statement to investors.
Subscription to straight coupon bonds in the amount of USD 75 million and EUR 20 million had started on 15 January 2018 and was due to have closed on 19 February.
Under the initial offering, ABLV Bank received 145 applications amounting to the equivalent more than EUR 50 million, it said.
ABLV Bank officials were presenting a new plan for the stabilisation of the bank’s situation to the management of European Central Bank (ECB) February 20, though the outcome of the meeting is not yet known.
"The work is mainly focused on attempts to regain access to the bank’s funds. Partial sale of the securities portfolio or taking a loan on these securities is one of the steps to achieve this goal," the bank said in a market announcement.
"Currently, Bank of Latvia has lent EUR 97m accepting a portfolio of highly valuable securities as a collateral. The portfolio offered to the Bank of Latvia consists of Latvian government bonds, U.S, German bonds, as well as bonds of other countries."
ABLV Bank said it was "carrying out stabilisation of deposits in order to extend their maturity" and "is not going to ask financial support from the state. The bank has enough funds, yet it needs time to regain access to them as soon as possible."
Meanwhile the financial regulator published a list of telephone numbers for ABLV clients to get information about the situation regarding the payment freeze and the status of their accounts.
