site.btaSupreme Administrative Court Chair: SAC Has Not Delayed Its Work on Corpbank Case

Supreme Administrative Court Chair: SAC Has Not Delayed Its Work on Corpbank Case


Sofia, March 12 (BTA) - The Supreme Administrative Court (SAC)
has not delayed its work on the case of the delicensing of
Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank), SAC Chair Georgi Kolev
Thursday told journalists, commenting on a statement of Prime
Minister Boyko Borissov made in Parliament Wednesday.

The PM called on the National Assembly to send a letter to the
Supreme Judicial Council so as to recall the need of an
assignee's appointment for the preservation of Corpbank's
bankruptcy estate. This is possible only after Corpbank is
declared bankrupt, but the bankruptcy proceedings have been
suspended until the SAC solves the administrative dispute on the
 delicensing decision, Borissov explained.

The SAC Chair told journalists that the criticism is explicable
and the problem is serious. He added that the Supreme
Administrative Court has 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, which the Prime Minister referred to in his
statement, will be reviewed by a five-judge SAC panel within two
 weeks.

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 Bulgarian National Bank (BNB)
under special supervision for a maximum of six months to allow a
 thorough audit and possible restructuring. The BNB Governing
Council withdrew Corpbank's banking licence on November 5, 2014,
 and the bank's bankruptcy was petitioned on November 7.

The shareholders in the bank lodged an appeal against the
delicensing decision with the SAC, as a result of which the
Corpbank bankruptcy case has been suspended until the
administrative dispute is conclusively disposed of. 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.