site.btaTwenty-member Inquiry Committee to Check Institutions' Actions in Corpbank Case

Twenty-member Inquiry Committee to Check Institutions' Actions in Corpbank Case

Sofia, March 11 (BTA) - A twenty-member inquiry committee will
look into the facts and circumstances related to the actions of
state oversight bodies and institutions in regard to the
siphoning of Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank) between 2009
and 2014. Parliament Wednesday voted on the composition of the
committee, which the MPs decided to established on March 5.

The committee will comprise representatives of all parliamentary
parties on a proportional basis: 7 members of GERB, 3 of
BSP-Left Bulgaria, 3 of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, 2
of the Patriotic Front, 2 of the Reformist Bloc, and one member
of the Bulgarian Democratic Centre, ABV and Ataka each.

The committee will be chaired by Dessislava Atanassova of GERB,
who was elected with 93 votes in favour, 11 against and 26
abstentions. The other nominee for the position was Radan Kanev
of the Reformist Bloc.

The majority rejected the proposal of the Patriotic Front and
BSP-Left Bulgaria for the election of deputy chairpersons of the
new committee.

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
Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund started repayment of the
guaranteed deposits with Corpbank on December 5.

On June 16, 2014, Tsvetan Gounev was charged with malfeasance in
office consisting in his failure, in his capacity as BNB Deputy
Governor in charge of the Banking Supervision Department, to
apply supervisory measures in respect of Corpbank for breaches
and irregularities in its operation. Four Corpbank officers have
been charged with malfeasant embezzlement of 205,887,223 leva
from Corpbank between the end of 2011 and June 20, 2014, which
allegedly benefited the bank' majority owner, Tsvetan Vassilev.