CBA: License of Kovsarbank restored

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) has restored the license to conduct banking activities of Kovsarbank.

As determined by Turan, the decision was made by the controller board on the 9th of this month. The bank will serve clients through one branch in Baku and a regional division in Barda (excluding the head office located in the capital).

In December 2010, the CBA terminated the bank’s license because the bank did not fulfill the minimum requirements for the amount of aggregate capital (AZN 10 million), and a made number of other violations.

According to the chairman of KovsarBank, Heydar Ibrahimov, then he did not agree with the fact that the bank did not meet the minimum capitalization requirements of 10 million manat, as stipulated in the CBA's decision, because the total capital exceeded 12 million manat. He also said he would be in court to challenge the decision.

In 2001, the CBA also revoked the license of KovsarBank, again, due to lack of capital, which had become the subject of litigation between the parties. The court took the side of the commercial bank. It seems that this time Themis "turned away" from the regulator.

Kovsarbank is one of the oldest banks in the country, which previously operated under the name Universalbank. It has extensive contacts in the higher echelons of power. The main shareholder is Heydar Ibrahimov, the brother of the chairman of the parliamentary commission on agrarian policy Eldar Ibrahimov.

Thus, the number of Azerbaijani banks increased to 44. -15B –