Another top-20 bank declared insolvent

Макроэкономика 25.06.2015 The NBU took regulatory control of Financial Initiative Bank as the result of financial insolvency, ongoing insufficient liquidity, and its inability to make the repayments. The institution was related to VAB which failed in November 2014. Financial Initiative has 1.1% of Ukraine's total banking system retail deposits, with insured deposits estimated at UAH3.7bn (around 78% of its total deposits). This will increase the amount of expected disbursements paid by the Deposit Guarantee Fund by up to 10%. In our opinion, the Fund will fulfill its obligations, considering the contingency support from the NBU. Financial Initiative's insolvency has been anticipated due to its chronic problems with liquidity. Total NBU loans to the bank reached a stunning 63.4% of its total liabilities. The bank increased its share capital by UAH925m in 2Q15 without a material cash inflow, in our opinion. With corporate loans constituting over 80% of the bank's total assets, as only a small fraction of this amount is currently characterized as overdue, we suspect a dangerous share of insider lending.