Since the stabilization of the foreign exchange market, the National Bank has bought $600 million, First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said.
“The National Bank is now buying funds (from the foreign exchange market), has already bought $600 million. We can state that the panic in the foreign exchange market has passed,” she said at a meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Kharkiv.
At the same time, she indicated that by the end of 2022 inflation is expected to stabilize and reach the target of 5%.
Since January 2022, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has been coordinating the positions of the chairman of the board (sole executive body), members of the board, chief accountant, chairman and members of the supervisory board of insurance companies from January 2022 in accordance with license terms, the regulator has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“Persons in these positions do not require the appropriate approval before the expiration of their tenure,” the NBU said in a statement.
In addition, the law on insurance from January 1, 2024 introduces separate requirements for the management of the insurer, namely the chairman of the supervisory board, his deputies and members of the supervisory board, the chairman of the board (director general), his deputies and members of the board (directorate), chief accountant. In relation to these persons, as well as the chief risk manager, chief compliance manager, chief internal auditor and responsible actuary of the insurer, qualification requirements for business reputation and professional suitability are established. In respect of the independent director of the insurer, independence requirements are also introduced. Qualification requirements will be determined at the level of the normative legal act of the NBU.
The chief risk manager, chief compliance manager, chief internal auditor, responsible actuary, as well as individual heads of the insurer – the chairman of the board (director general), chief accountant, chairman and members of the supervisory board – will take office after receiving the approval of the National Bank. With regard to other managers, insurers will be able to either obtain approval before they are appointed/elected to a position, or submit documents for approval to the NBU within one month after appointment/election to the position.
In addition, the law on insurance introduces requirements for the collective suitability of the supervisory board and collegiate executive body of the insurer, which will also be effective from January 1, 2024. Collective suitability means that the members of the supervisory board or executive body have the general/cumulative knowledge, skills, professional and managerial experience to the extent necessary to understand all aspects of the insurer’s activities, adequately assess risks, make informed decisions, etc.
The National Bank will establish the requirements and procedure for assessing the collective suitability of the supervisory board and the executive body. The NBU will carry out an appropriate assessment taking into account the size of the insurer, the volumes and types of operations carried out by it, the organizational structure, the risk profile, etc. The regulator also determines the existence of collective suitability when considering the package of documents for obtaining a license. Based on the results of such an assessment, the National Bank will have the right to demand changes in the personal composition of the supervisory board or the executive body.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on December 22, 2021 allowed Altituda closed non-diversified venture corporate investment fund on behalf of, in the interests and at the expense of which PrJSC AMC Altera Asset Management operates, to directly acquire 99.593% of shares of PrJSC Ukrainian Joint-Stock Insurance Company ASKA (Zaporizhia), according to the website of the central bank.
According to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, as of the third quarter of 2021, Altituda owns 66.0075% of the shares of PrJSC Insurance Company VUSO (Kyiv).
As reported at the end of November 2021, SCM investment company of Rinat Akhmetov announced that it had reached preliminary agreements on the sale of ASKA to VUSO insurance company. The completion of the transaction and the transfer of the corporate rights of ASKA to the buyer must be carried out after all procedures stipulated by the law, obtaining permits and approvals from the NBU.
On December 22, 2021, the NBU decided to cancel 34 licenses for insurance issued to ASKA on the basis of its application, except for the license for compulsory insurance of civil liability of land vehicle owners (OSAGO).
The company was engaged mainly in property types of insurance: property insurance, that against fire risks and risks of natural disasters, cargo and luggage and financial risks.
According to the statements presented by ASKA for the nine months of 2021, the volume of insurance premiums amounted to UAH 853.75 million, the value of assets – UAH 501.1 million, the market share in insurance reserves – 2.55%.
At the same time, the company announced the presence of unfulfilled (overdue) obligations to policyholders (beneficiaries) and valid insurance contracts. At the same time, it provided information on the availability of formed insurance reserves.
ASKA is the first private insurance company that appeared in independent Ukraine, has been operating for over 30 years. It is part of the portfolio of the international investment company SCM.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in 2022 will conduct scheduled inspections at six oversight objects to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the legislation on the activities of payment systems in Ukraine, the press service of the regulator said on Wednesday.
According to the report, in the first quarter the regulator will check AC DC Processing LLC and FC Feniks LLC, in the second quarter – Platiservice LLC, in the third quarter – PJSC Bank Familny, and in the fourth quarter – Ukrainian Payment system LLC and FC Kontraktovy Dim LLC.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has updated the requirements for confirming the sources of the formation of subordinated debt, financial assistance from shareholders and capital instrument with the terms of write-off/conversion, the NBU press service said on Tuesday.
According to the report, the right of the regulator to establish requirements for the sources of regulatory capital is provided for by amendments to Article 30 of the law on banks and banking activities. The changes approved by NBU Resolution No. 159 dated December 29, 2021 come into force on January 5.
In particular, banks, to include components in the regulatory capital, shall submit documents confirming the sources of their formation, taking into account the requirements of the regulation on licensing of banks, the NBU said in the press release.
In addition, the requirements for the interest rate, at which funds will be attracted on the terms of subordinated debt, have been updated, in particular, the bank will justify its size, the NBU said.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) will raise the risk weight for unsecured consumer loans from 125% to 150% from January 1, 2022, the central bank’s press service reported on Friday.
The changes will help banks create an adequate capital cushion to cover unexpected losses from the deterioration in the quality of their unsecured consumer loan portfolio.
In addition, the resolution is intended to increase the lenders’ resilience to potential crisis phenomena, in particular, to stimulate proper consideration of both the advantages and risks of working in this segment.
The press service said that now, for every UAH 10 of the loan, the bank shall keep UAH 1.50 of regulatory capital.
In addition, from the beginning of the year, the NBU will introduce minimum requirements for capital coverage of operational risk in the amount of 50% of the estimated amount, with an increase to 100% from January 1, 2023.
The NBU also increased the risk weights on government bonds in foreign currency to 50% with a subsequent increase to 100% from July 1, 2022. To gradually bring domestic requirements in line with international standards, the risk weight is increased in stages and only for those securities that banks buy from April 1, 2021.
Also, the regulator will increase from the current 25% to 50% the share of the cost of noncore assets deducted from fixed capital.
This requirement to deduct the value of noncore assets from the fixed capital of banks is intended to induce banks to more actively release balance sheets from illiquid assets, which for the most part do not generate income, but are often reflected at an inflated value. The total impact of the planned changes on the banks’ fixed capital adequacy will amount to 2.5 percentage points, the NBU said in the report.
