Parex Bank
| Parex Bank | |
|---|---|
| Country |
 Latvia
|
| Seat | Riga |
| legal form | |
| founding | 1987 |
| Website |
|
The Parex Bank (Latvian: Parex banka) was one of the largest banks in the Baltic States , based in the Latvian capital Riga . It belonged to the Parex Group, a financial services provider.
history
Foundation and development until 2005
Originally, Parex (then still in the Pareks spelling ) was a travel agency in Riga that Valeri Kargin (Latvian: Valērijs Kargins) and Wiktor Krassowizki (Latvian: Viktors Krasovickis) had founded in 1987. In 1991 - back in the days of the Soviet Union - the two founders received a license to exchange currencies. Parex banka was founded on May 14, 1992. In 1993 it took over the first two bank branches from the Latvian central bank Latvijas Banka . At times it operated up to 90 branches in Latvia (peak in 2005). In 1995, it achieved the highest profit among all Latvian banks for the first time.
expansion
In 2004, Parex Bank opened its first foreign branch in Estonia.
The first German branch was opened in Berlin in October 2005, followed by branches in Hamburg (August 2007) and Munich (June 2008). Parex won customers in particular through high interest rates for overnight money and fixed-term deposits . Parex Bank belonged to the Association of German Banks (BdB), but as a stock corporation under Latvian law, it was initially not subject to German, but only to Latvian deposit insurance. The membership in the deposit protection fund of the BdB, acquired in 2008 , was terminated in July 2011.
In 2006 the bank expanded to Sweden. Parex Bank branches in other countries followed. It reached its peak of expansion in 2007 with representations in 15 countries. It described itself as "the first bank from the new EU accession countries that is active in Western Europe".
Impending bankruptcy and partial nationalization in 2008
In 2008, Parex Bank held 18 percent of deposits in Latvia and had issued 12 percent of all loans; it was the second largest bank in the country. Although the international financial crisis had an obvious impact on Latvia at the beginning of 2008, Parex Bank insisted on its growth strategy. On October 13, 2008, it announced that it would expand its activities in the Baltic Sea region and open branches in Düsseldorf and Frankfurt am Main, "although the situation on the financial market is tense". But soon after that, savers, private and institutional investors began to withdraw their money from Parex, and within 14 days the outflows totaled around 200 million lats (around € 280 million). Parex was found to be unable to obtain any other funding. In order to avert the foreseeable insolvency, the state-owned Hipoteku banka bought 51 percent of the shares on November 8, 2008 from Valeri Kargin and Viktor Krassowizki for the symbolic amount of two lats (€ 1.40 each). At the time, the two founders held a good 85 percent of the shares, the rest was mostly divided between funds , including the Julius Baer International Equity Fund . The existing shareholders deposited their remaining 34 percent of the shares as security at Hipoteku banka , waiving their voting rights. The Latvian state also provided Hipoteku banka with a loan of LVL 200 million, which it passed on to Parex. Since savings deposits have been secured by the state with up to LVL 50,000 since October 18, 2008, the Latvian state would have had to make high default payments to savers in the event of Parex Bank becoming insolvent. The Latvian government imposed a payout limit of € 50,000 per customer per month. As a result, BaFin prohibited Parex Bank from accepting further customer funds in Germany.
Not least as a result of the takeover of Parex Bank, Latvia was further downgraded by the rating agencies three days later, on November 11th .
Processing (2010 to 2012)
On August 1, 2010, the Latvian government presented its restructuring plan for Parex Bank. As a result, the likely profitable business areas were transferred to Citadele Bank (Latvian: Citadele banka) based in Riga, which was founded on June 30, 2010 as the successor institution . 75% of its shares are held by the Latvian state and 25% (plus one share) by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The Parex Bank ceased the usual business activities of a bank on August 1, 2010 and henceforth limited itself as a “bad bank” to the management of “non-performing bonds”.
On September 15, 2010, the European Commission approved the restructuring of Parex Bank in accordance with EU state aid rules.
Deposits from customers of the German branch of Parex Bank were paid out or transferred to Citadele Bank. After the completion of this transaction, the BaFin's license for Parex banka, a stock corporation under Latvian law, expired.
On March 28, 2012, the trunk bank Parex announced that it would change its name to "Reverta". This took effect on May 8, 2012; with that the Parex Bank went out.
Business figures 2005 (according to own information)
- Net profit : LVL 30.2 million (Latvian Lats), equivalent to around EUR 21 million.
- Balance sheet total : 1.76 billion LVL, roughly equivalent to 1.22 billion euros.
- Time deposits : 1.25 billion, roughly equivalent to 872 million euros.
- Loan turnover : LVL 827 billion, about 608 million euros.
(Conversion status May 2008)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated August 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on August 14, 2012)
- ↑ http://www.parexbank.de/de/nachrichten/index.php?afrom426=01.01.2008&ato426=31.12.2008&year426=2008&id426=11004 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically defective marked. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on August 14, 2012)
- ↑ http://www.parexbank.de/de/nachrichten/index.php?afrom426=01.01.2008&ato426=31.12.2008&year426=2008&id426=11385 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically defective marked. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on August 14, 2012)
- ↑ http://www.manager-magazin.de/finanzen/artikel/a-599482.html (accessed on August 14, 2012)
- ↑ http://www.reverta.lv/en/media/news/2008-11 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on August 14, 2012)
- ↑ http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssBanks/idUSN1229260520081112 (accessed on August 14, 2012)
- ↑ http://www.cblbank.de/de/about (accessed on August 14, 2012)
- ↑ BaFinJournal, August 2012 edition: Expiry of permits, p. 24.
- ↑ http://www.leta.lv/lat/news/?id=19B74273-C6BA-46AA-B880-62A05147600D (accessed on August 14, 2012)
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on August 14, 2012)
