Mast-Bank has found an outside investor that could rescue it, the bank's acting management board chairman Alexander Chemetov told Banki.ru.
"We have an investor that thinks that the bank has big potential and good prospects. A new stage of development is ahead upon receipt of all necessary permissions. Documents to have the bank's new management board chairman approved by the Bank of Russia were dispatched on April 30, a deal is scheduled for upcoming days, the bank will hold an annual general meeting with new shareholders on May 29," Chemetov said.
Until the transaction is wrapped up inflation about the investor is kept confidential.
For the record, on April 17, 2015 Mast-Bank ceased to accept new retail deposits and imposed a ban on the replenishment of effective deposit accounts following the Bank of Russia's order. According to Chemetov, this order could be softened in the short term. "The situation is getting back to normal quite quickly all the more since the regulator took it intelligently. We expect the order to be softened in the near future," the acting management board chairman said.
News broke on April 28 that the bank limited cash withdrawals from deposit accounts to Rub 100,000 per day. A message was posted on the bank's website on this day that Mast-Bank executives are in talks over the bank's rehabilitation. "The rehabilitation means that the bank will continue its operation, and all its obligations to the customers and counterparties will be fulfilled in full," the bank said in a press release.
According to the data from the information & analytical service of Banki.ru, in January — March 2015 the lending institution's net assets jumped 10.91%, or Rub 2.4 bln, to Rub 24.2 bln as of early April 2015. The bank's assets climbed primarily on the back of a fresh inflow of retail deposits that jumped by a third or Rub 3.9 bln.
The funds drawn by the bank were earmarked to lend corporate clients (while retail lending shrank), and also invested in highly liquid assets. As of early April 2015 the core of the bank's resource base was retail deposits (63.64%), corporate funds account for 16%, and around 4.5% fall to wholesale sources of funding. As of the balance sheet date the bank's equity accounted for 13.2% of liabilities, and its capital adequacy ratio (N1.0) was equal to 13.13%.