On September 7, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) revoked the licenses of Gestalt Group Insurance Company and INTO Insurance Company (both based in Kyiv) to conduct financial services business.
According to the regulator’s website, the decision was made with respect to Gestalt Group due to the fact that the insurer’s ownership structure does not meet the requirements of Ukrainian legislation, and with respect to INTO for failure to comply with the National Bank’s decisions to eliminate violations of license conditions.
According to the latest financial statements submitted by Gestalt Group Insurance Company, as of June 30, 2023, the company’s insurance premiums amounted to UAH 5,971 million, assets amounted to UAH 81,642 million, and insurance reserves amounted to UAH 1,952 million. The company’s market share in terms of insurance premiums amounted to 0.03%.
According to the latest reports submitted by INTO Insurance Company, the volume of insurance premiums amounted to UAH 28.767 million, the value of assets – UAH 139.178 million, insurance reserves – UAH 18.028 million. The company’s market share in terms of insurance premiums amounted to -0.2%.
The NBU emphasizes that the decisions come into force on September 8. In the event of license revocation, a financial services representative must fulfill its obligations under contracts with clients for the type of financial services specified in the decision, concluded before the date of entry into force of the decision to revoke the license.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has revoked the licenses of Financial Company No. 1 LLC, which ranked 97th in terms of market revenue in the first half of this year.
“The said financial company does not comply with the legal requirements for maintaining the minimum amount of equity capital. This negatively affects its real and potential financial capabilities, in particular, the level of liquidity, solvency, financial stability, and working capital (equity),” the regulator explained its actions on its website.
According to the NBU, the decision was made by the Committee for Supervision and Regulation of Non-Banking Financial Services Markets on August 28 and came into force on August 29.
According to the NBU, Financial Company No. 1 finished the first half of this year with revenues of UAH 14.9 million and a net loss of UAH 7.96 million.
In terms of labor costs (UAH 1.23 million), FC “No. 1” was 87th in the market in the first half of the year, and 403rd in terms of assets (UAH 15.1 million).
According to OpenDataBot, Financial Company No. 1 LLC was founded in August 2013 by Andriy Stepanenko, co-owner of four IT-related companies (IT Nonstop, Finayti, IT Finance, 24. IT) with a registered capital of UAH 8 million.
GGBET LLC acquired the rights to use the GG.BET brand in Ukraine and received a decision to issue licenses from the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries for its activities (decisions No. 128, No. 129 of 08.08.2023). The date of the start of GGBET UA operations will be announced shortly.
GG.BET is an international esports bookmaker with Ukrainian roots, known for its partnerships with the world’s largest CS:GO and Dota 2 tournaments. The brand actively supports the development of global esports and acts as an official partner of major esports tournaments. In addition, the brand is a sponsor of the legendary NAVI and Team Vitality clubs.
GGBET UA will develop the esports community and promote the principles of responsible betting and online casinos. It also plans to support Ukrainian sports through investments, implementation of thematic social projects, and collaborations with sports leaders.
“Ukraine has a great potential for the development of the betting market, so obtaining licenses for the GG.BET brand is an expected and balanced decision. Ukrainian esports is characterized by a developed fan base and its own history of tournaments and high-profile victories. In addition, we are confident that fans of classic sports will also find attractive conditions and gain new interesting experience. We will offer Ukrainian bettors an excellent betting product and high-level service that the GG.BET brand provides to users in the global market,” the company’s press service commented.
As a reminder, the GG.BET brand has recently started operating in the UK under the license of the UK Gambling Commission, which is considered one of the most standardized and prestigious in the world.
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About GG.BET
GG.BET is an international eSports betting brand with operations in the UK, Europe, South America and Asia, operating under the licenses of the UK Gambling Commission, Antillephone (Curacao) and Malta Gaming Authority. GG.BET is a member of the ESIC public organization and stands for fair play in esports.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on July 11 revoked the license of PJSC Insurance Company Kyivska Rus (Kyiv) to provide financial services, according to the regulator’s website.
The reason for this decision was the failure to submit reports for 2022, failure to submit information and documents at the request of the National Bank and the company’s failure to eliminate the identified violations in the time specified by the regulator (June 8, 2023).
According to the last submitted to the NBU statements of PJSC IC Kyivska Rus for nine months of 2022, the amount of insurance payments amounted to UAH 85,4 mln, of which UAH 76,9 mln was transferred to reinsurance. The insurer has not made any payments during the specified period.
As it was informed, on May 8, 2023 the NBU has applied to IC “Kyivska Rus” a measure of influence in the form of temporary suspension of licenses in connection with non-submission of reports for the first half of 2022 and for 2022, as well as actuarial report for 2022.
The company also did not submit the report on corporate governance and information on key risks and results of stress testing for 2022, did not provide information and documents at the request of the NBU.
Private JSC IC Kyivska Rus carries out activities on voluntary and compulsory types of insurance other than life insurance.
The National Bank of Ukraine on May 11 has cancelled all licenses of ALC Insurance Company Speir (Kyiv) to provide financial services.
According to the message on the website of the regulator, an unscheduled inspection carried out by the NBU in February-March this year found a repeated violation of license conditions – the insurer does not comply with mandatory standards.
The countermeasure for similar violations of license conditions to ALC “IC “Speir” was already applied on September 2, 2022.
The decision on revocation of the license shall come into force on May 12, 2023.
As previously reported, the rating agency “Standard-Rating” has withdrawn the credit rating / financial stability rating of the insurer SK “Speir” on February 9, 2023.
By results of H1 2022 ADO IC Speir received UAH 5,5 m of insurance premiums, 95% of which – from natural persons, and carried out UAH 22,8 th of insurance payments. The market share of the company according to the results of H1 2022 – 0,06%.
The National Bank of Ukraine in accordance with the requirements of the new law “On Payment Services” has included Ukrposhta, NovaPay and six other companies in the payment infrastructure register and issued eight more licenses to provide financial payment services.
According to a statement from the NBU on Friday evening, they also included FC MBK LLC, Diamond Pay, United Space FC, Finexpress FC, Capital Business Group and Payment Center FC.
Such decisions were taken by the Committee on the supervision and regulation of non-banking financial services markets on April 27 and 28, 2023.
The National Bank reminded that the law “On Payment Services” was introduced on August 1, 2022. According to the law, the financial market participants licensed to transfer funds in national currency without opening accounts may apply to the National Bank of Ukraine till April 30, 2023 inclusive, in order to “re-register” their license as required by the law.
According to the NBU, the payment infrastructure register currently includes BOT and 83 other companies and organizations.
