BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 22. The license of Azerbaijan's Mugan Bank was revoked this week, Trend reports.
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) said that this license was revoked on October 19, 2023, by the decision of the CBA Board dated October 18, 2023, by the decision of the CBA Board dated October 18, 2023, in accordance with Articles 16.1.6, 16.1.7, 16.1.9, 16.1.18, 57, and 61. 1 of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Banks" (the amount of total capital is less than the minimum amount established by the legislation for banks, the ratio of total capital adequacy is less than three percent, the bank does not carry out its current activities in a reliable and prudent manner, as well as due to inadequate internal management and control procedures of the bank).
A temporary administrator has been appointed and an appeal to the court on the liquidation of the bank due to its bankruptcy has been prepared.
Besides, this week, the current activities of the World Bank (WB) in Azerbaijan, the development of a new Country Partnership Framework Program (2024-2028), and the financing of new investment projects, as well as the prospects for cooperation between the CBA and the WB and the implementation of technical assistance projects were discussed.
Furthermore, the CBA has chosen Bank of Baku and TuranBank as agent banks for the purchase and sale of investment banknotes.
The CBA noted investment coins (made of 999.9 gold) in denominations of 10 manat ($5.9), 20 manat ($11.8), 50 ($29.4) and 100 manat ($58.8), dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of great leader Heydar Aliyev, have been put into circulation since May 10, 2023.
The gold content in the coins is 3.11 g, 7.78 g, 15.55 g and 31.1 g, respectively.
"Bank of Baku and TuranBank have submitted relevant applications and the board of directors of the CBA has selected them as agent banks to stimulate the purchase and sale of investment banknotes. In connection with the selection of agent banks, the CBA stops buying and selling these investment banknotes directly to the population and banks," the CBA said.
During the meeting with Chairman of the Swiss National Bank, Thomas Jordan, the sides exchanged views on the prospects of cooperation between the central banks of Azerbaijan and Switzerland.
The Fitch Ratings international agency has revised the Outlook on the 'b+' operating environment score for Azerbaijani banks to positive from stable.
"This captures our expectation that the financial stability in a highly cyclical Azerbaijani economy will continue to improve, due to the stronger financial profiles of domestic banks and tighter regulatory oversight. The latter is also leading to a moderation of legacy asset-quality risks," the agency noted.
This week, the Fitch Ratings has also revised the forecast on the rating of Expressbank OJSC (EB) to "positive" from "stable", confirming the bank's viability rating and long-term issuer default ratings (IDR) at the "B" level.
Additionally, the agency pointed out that prospects for the Azerbaijani banking sector’s credit quality are favourable due to the moderation of legacy risks, improved asset structure, tighter regulation and operating conditions that are supported by higher oil prices.
Moreover, Fitch forecasted strong sector loan growth (25 percent in 2023 and 20 percent in 2024), driven by retail lending.
Azerbaijani PASHA Bank OJSC's Executive Board Member Murad Suleymanov said this week that the bank plans to end 2023 with a net profit of about 200 million manat ($117.6 million).
Besides, Chief Compliance and Governance Officer of PASHA Bank Anar Karimov said that the bank's branch is planned to open in Azerbaijan's Shusha next year.
He explained that construction of the building where the branch is located will be completed by the end of April next year.
The staff of the branch will be formed from local residents, and work in this direction is already underway, Karimov noted, adding that that PASHA Bank plans to open a branch in Lankaran in 2025.
This week, the International Monetary Fund published a forecast regarding the current account surplus of Azerbaijan's balance of payments, according to which the surplus in 2023 will amount to $12.6 billion, and in 2024 - $12.7 billion.