Most ABLV bank's compensations paid out

Take note – story published 1 year ago

Most of the clients of the liquidated ABLV Bank have received the guaranteed remuneration, but several thousand have not applied for it, Latvian Television reported on January 26. The bank's liquidation process began about five years ago. Five years is the deadline within which customers of any bank in liquidation can apply for guaranteed reimbursements of up to €100 thousand.

As previously reported by LSM, U.S. authorities on February 13, 2018  issued a report on corruption and money laundering at ABLV Bank. Shortly afterward, the bank's shareholders decided to liquidate the credit institution. The Latvian Finance and Capital Market Commission, acting on the instructions from the European Central Bank, ordered ABLV Bank to stop all payments as of February 19, 2018 and the bank went into a "self liquidation" process soon after, though court cases related to ABLV have rumbled on in the years since. Banks pay reimbursements for customers with deposits up to €100,000 in deposits. In the case of ABLV Bank, the majority of such reimbursements are currently paid out.

“96% of the entire amount has been paid. There are only 8,000 customers left [..],” said Jeļena Ļebedeva, head of the Resolution and Defense Systems Management of the Latvian central bank (Bank of Latvia).

The total amount paid in the guaranteed reimbursements amounts to around €453 million. Meanwhile, around 28 million have not yet been paid. Those who have not applied can do so until February 23, 2023.

It is expected that a large proportion of customers who have not yet received their remuneration might not apply for them, estimated the bank's liquidator, lawyer Jānis Rozenbergs.

“A large proportion – over 1,000 or even over 1,500 [customers] – is seen to [have deposits] below €10. Obviously, individuals do not consider it useful to spend time going to the bank, carrying out an identification procedure, and getting this little money,” Rozenbergs said.

There are currently no longer many customers with a claim of more than EUR 10,000. Moreover, many of them are not residents, who have to pay even more to get to Latvia and prepare documents.

Speaking about the bank's liquidation process as a whole, its liquidator, Rozenbergs, said it could be concluded in about 2027. However, in the case of different legal proceedings, this period could also take longer.

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