Sorainen Partner Eva Berlaus has been appointed one of the four liquidators of ABLV Bank, following the European Central Bank's February, 23, 2017 determination that ABLV was failing or likely to fail in accordance with the Single Resolution Mechanism Regulation.
The European Central Bank (ECB) also determined that ABLV Bank Luxembourg, a subsidiary of the Latvian bank, was failing or likely to fail on the same matters.
The decision by the ECB followed a previous announcement on February 13, 2018 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of a draft measure to name ABLV Bank an institution of primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act.
Following these events the shareholders’ meeting of ABLV Bank decided to start the voluntary liquidation process. On June 12, 2018, the process was approved by Latvia's Financial and Capital Markets Commission.
According to Sorainen, ”the liquidation of ABLV is the largest liquidation in Latvia to date and the first voluntary liquidation of a bank in Latvia. The assets under liquidation [total] approximately EUR 2.4 billion.” It is expected that the liquidation process will last for approximately five years.
