The press service of JSC «COMINBANK» officially states that the information that was set out in a number of anonymous Telegram channels and media is unreliable, does not correspond to reality, and is a manifestation of unfair competition.
The current state of war in Ukraine, the slowdown of economic activity, the cessation or significant reduction of the creditworthiness of enterprises lead to the aggravation of competition between banks that continue to lend and support the economy of Ukraine.
It is precisely now, when the country is fighting at the front against a terrible enemy, that destabilizing the economic situation and depriving society of financial stability plays into the enemy's hands.
Part of the commissioned material is placed on resources which the country's authorities, the Main Intelligence Directorate, and the Security Service of Ukraine have already publicly identified as those coordinated by russia. Accordingly, there was a call to avoid such channels, since they are a dangerous information source.
https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2022/07/15/7358291/
Unfortunately, sharp competition in these difficult conditions is transformed into openly unfair, when anonymous slanders and direct disinformation are published on resources of dubious origin.
At the same time, criminal actions are committed boldly and professionally: in the texts one can encounter fictitious references to information allegedly from market regulators, mentions of official representatives of the financial sector, Bank employees, names of active client companies of the Bank; rumors can also be accompanied by edited fake photo and video materials.
We draw attention to the fact that in 2022, banks of Ukraine already faced provocative publications from artificial experts who predicted certain banks of our state would bankrupt due to the increase in the NBU discount rate and, accordingly, — the cost of resources.
These articles were a clear instrument of unfair competition in the interests of certain banks. As a result, the bad forecasts did not come true; in particular, JSC «COMINBANK» effectively operates within the framework of current plans and the further development strategy.
The activities of JSC «COMINBANK» (COMINBANK) comply with all requirements of current legislation, including regulatory acts of the NBU; the economic norms are observed by the Bank, which is confirmed by repeated checks by the NBU and tax authorities; the Bank has a high credit rating at the level of uaAAA, which speaks of its stability and characterizes the Bank with the highest creditworthiness. The Bank operates in the general supervision regime and without restrictions on its activities from the National Bank of Ukraine. Also, there are no grounds for attributing the Bank to the category of problematic or insolvent, for withdrawing the banking license, or for liquidating the Bank.
For 30 years, JSC «COMINBANK» has steadfastly and timely fulfilled its obligations to its Clients. JSC «COMINBANK» is in the TOP-20 Ukrainian banks, according to the resilience rating from the «Minfin» portal based on the results of 2022.
The profit of JSC «COMINBANK», as of January 1, 2023, amounted to UAH 192.0 million. The ROA indicator is 2.5%, the ROE indicator — 38%, which testifies to the high operational efficiency of our Bank. At the same time, taking into account the risks of martial law, deductions to reserves were increased to UAH 268.6 million. In 2022, the volume of funds attracted from the population was increased by 58%.
As of December 2022, the Bank returned 80% of refinancing to the National Bank of Ukraine, which amounts to UAH 3.2 billion.
The Bank fulfills all NBU norms with a significant margin of safety, is liquid (highly liquid assets account for more than 50% of the bank's assets, of which more than half are funds on the correspondent account at the NBU, accounts in other banks, and in cash), has a secured and managed loan portfolio, and according to the results of the regulator's checks, timely fulfills all recommendations.
During the year of war, JSC «COMINBANK» opened 18 new branches and increased its staff by 19%.
The owner of significant participation in JSC «COMINBANK» is a citizen of the United Kingdom, Stefan Paul Pinter, who is the founder and executive director of GML Capital LLP – a private investment-banking and management company headquartered in London (United Kingdom).
The Bank's ownership structure complies with the requirements of the National Bank of Ukraine regarding transparency. The impeccability of business reputation and the property status of the owner of significant participation in the Bank – Stefan Paul Pinter — were verified/assessed and confirmed by the NBU during the approval of the acquisition of significant participation in the Bank.
The acquisition by Stefan Paul Pinter of significant participation in the Bank was approved by the NBU in the manner provided for by the current legislation of Ukraine, including by the regulatory acts of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Information about Stefan Paul Pinter, as the owner of significant participation in the Bank (the ultimate beneficial owner), is entered into the State Register of Banks (official and reliable information is contained on the regulator's website at the address: https://bank.gov.ua/ua/supervision/registration/shareholders/322540) and into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs, and Public Formations.
We note that during the military aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine, the Bank does not remain on the sidelines and conducts active activities in aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has letters of gratitude from the Main Intelligence Directorate, helps a military hospital, and supports IDP families with humanitarian aid.
In response to the placement on the internet of publications containing unreliable information, the Bank is taking appropriate measures to protect its business reputation, refute unreliable information regarding the Bank, and bring the guilty persons to responsibility.
