site.btaGovernment Mulls Ways to Make Report on Corpbank Public

Government Mulls Ways to Make Report on Corpbank Public

Sofia, February 17 (BTA) - Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov told reporters on Tuesday that the government is mulling ways to make public AlixPartners' report on Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank) if the consulting firm refuses to declassify it.

Goranov said: "If necessary, we will propose legislation allowing access to this information to rule out any suspicion that we want to hide something in the report, and to open the way to clarifying all the facts and circumstances surrounding Corpbank's failure."

Corpbank, formerly Bulgaria's fourth biggest lender, suspended all operations on June 20, 2014, after a panic run by depositors. The central bank withdrew its banking licence on November 5, 2014, and Corpbank was later declared bankrupt.

Pressure has been exerted for a long time, said Goranov. There is a misunderstanding that the contract was signed by the State or the Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund and AlixPartners. Actually, this is a private contract between the trustees in bankruptcy of a bankrupt private company and an international company, said Goranov.

The Finance Minister added: "I still believe there is a risk that [disclosure of] the information in the report may hamper the trustees in bankruptcy from doing their job." However, he refuted allegations that the government was trying to protect someone or to cover up some wrongdoing at the bank. He said that he would keep insisting on disclosure and that other options were being considered in case AlixPartners withheld approval.

A confidentiality clause is standard in such investigations, said Goranov. Although he does not know of such a contract ever disclosed to the media, he said the government was ready to take the risk so it would not be criticized of covering up someone or something at the bank.