On 26th of March 2018, the European Central Bank, as proposed by Estonian Financial Supervision Authority, withdrew the authorization of Versobank AS to operate as a credit institution. The authorization was withdrawn due to insufficient measures and superficial compliance with requirements in the area of money laundering and terrorist financing.
In parallel, following the decision of Estonian Financial Supervision Authority from 26th of March 2018, all transactions and operations of Versobank AS and all payouts to depositors and other creditors are immediately suspended. Estonian Financial Supervision Authority also cancelled the identification code of Versobank AS, informed the Guarantee Fund about the withdrawal of the authorization, and filed an application to the court for compulsory dissolution and the appointment of liquidators.
The origins of this previous facts date back to the past period, which is not responsible for today's leadership. Starting from November 1, 2017, the management board and team set new strategic goals for the bank and left the old business model. A new business plan was prepared for the bank future. We believed that we were able to make the bank's operations effective and law-abiding, unfortunately, the shadows from the past got us before. Today's management of the bank managed to change a lot in a short time, but we cannot change the history from the past, it is not in our power.
We deeply apologize to everybody who believed in us for the unpleasant situation that we caused you. We can assure all our customers that all that happened is just as unexpected and unpleasant for us as well. In new management team opinion, the bank and the new course of action taken, did not deserve such an end.
In the future, the main leaders and managers of the processes is handled by Estonian Financial Supervision Authority and the Estonian Court, as well as the liquidators represented by them.
The Versobank team believes that banking services will function better and more smoothly in the future, if all the parties take this as an indispensable lesson today´s requirements of the financial sector.