site.btaSofia City Court Dismisses Motion by Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund to Appoint Temporary Trustee in Bankruptcy for Corpbank

Sofia City Court Dismisses Motion by Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund to Appoint Temporary Trustee in Bankruptcy for Corpbank


Sofia, March 12 (BTA) - The Sofia City Court (SCC) has dismissed
a motion by the Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund (BDIF) to
appoint a temporary trustee in bankruptcy for Corpbank, the
Bulgarian National Radio reported on Thursday.

The BDIF argued that because of a pending administrative dispute
over the bank's licence, the Corpbank bankruptcy case has been
suspended and the delay leads to an erosion of the bank's asset
value. Judge Ivo Dachev determined that the Bank Bankruptcy Act
does not provide for an option to appoint a trustee in
bankruptcy to supervise the conservators appointed for the
failed bank by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).

A decision of November 5, 2014 by which the BNB Governing
Council withdrew Corpbank's banking licence is being appealed by
shareholders in the bank before the Supreme Administrative
Court (SAC). On January 13, 2015, a three-judge SAC panel left
the appeals without consideration and dismissed the proceeding.
This ruling was
appealed, too, before a five-judge SAC panel, and the case has
been pending before this last instance for more than a month
now.

On June 20, 2014, having suspended all operations after a panic
run by depositors left it illiquid, Corpbank (Bulgaria's fourth
biggest lender) was placed by the BNB
under special supervision for a maximum of six months to allow a
thorough audit and possible restructuring.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, SAC President Georgi Kolev
denied that his Court has delayed the Corpbank delicensing case.
Kolev reacted to a statement by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov
in Parliament on Wednesday, who blamed the SAC for the slow
progress of the case. As a result of this, the bank was being
asset-stripped at the expense of the bankruptcy estate, Borissov
reasoned.

The SAC President told journalists that the PM's criticism was
understandable and the problem is serious. He added that his
Court had reviewed 40 cases based on appeals against the
licences, 28 of which have been concluded. Kolev added that the
administrative dispute over Corpbank's delicensing will be heard
by a five-judge SAC panel within two weeks.

On Thursday, Parliament resolved that a 20-member Ad Hoc
Committee of Inquiry, which it elected on Wednesday, will have
three months to check the facts and circumstances related to the
actions of State bodies and institutions which were supposed to
exercise control and counter Corpbank's siphoning between 2009
and 2014. The Bulgarian Democratic Centre Thursday nominated
Krassimira Kovachka for their representative on the Ad Hoc
Committee.

Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov and MPs of all parliamentary
groups will hold a second meeting at the Finance Ministry on
Thursday in search of a consensual solution to safeguard the
public interest in connection with the Corpbank case, Goranov's
Ministry said in a press release. VI, PK/DS, LG
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