Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 15 /Trend, I.Khalilova/
Azerbaijani PASHA Bank expects the Central Bank of Switzerland to clarify the timing of opening a representative office of the bank in this country, PASHA Bank Chairman Farid Akhundov told Trend.
"Now work is conducted with lawyers to open a representative office of the bank in Switzerland, and the timing of opening should be determined by regulators of the banking market of this country," said Akhundov.
Opening a representative office in this country, he said, is directly connected with the development of Private Banking market for bank services.
PASHA Bank has not yet officially appealed to the Central Bank of Switzerland, that is planned in the coming months.
"Extensive work has been conducted in this regard, we are entering an active phase, and hope to complete negotiations over six months. Opening a representative office in Geneva is a matter of time," said Akhundov.
This will be the first subsidiary of Azerbaijani banks in Switzerland. PASHA Bank opened its first office in Georgia in the summer of 2011.
Currently, the number of structures of Azerbaijani banks operating abroad totals nine, including six branches, two subsidiaries of the bank and one branch.
A total of 44 banks operate in Azerbaijan. The most developed overseas network belongs to the International Bank of Azerbaijan.
PASHA Bank was established in June 2007 and operates under license of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan dated Jan.28, 2007.
"PASHA Bank", along with Pasha Insurance, PASHA Life, Pasha Travel and Pasha Construction, is included in the Pasha Holding, which is actually an investment company, but not a classic holding company. Kapital Bank is also included in the structure of the Pasha Group. The Holding owns 99.75 percent of shares in the bank.
Pasha Bank shareholders are: PASA Holding with 60 percent of the shares, the company ADOR Ltd with 30 percent and Arif Pashayev with 10 percent.