Amsterdam Trade Bank (ATB) was a
commercial bank
A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit.
It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with cor ...
registered in
The Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
between 1994 and 2022. The bank focused on providing
trade financing
Trade finance is a phrase used to describe different strategies that are employed to make international trade easier. It signifies financing for trade, and it concerns both domestic and international trade transactions. A trade transaction require ...
for companies wishing to do business in former
Soviet states.
ATB was supervised by
De Nederlandsche Bank
De Nederlandsche Bank NV (DNB) is the central bank of the Netherlands. Founded by King William I in 1814, it is part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). De Nederlandsche Bank is a public limited company (Dutch: '' naamloze vennoots ...
.
History
The company was founded in 1994 through
Alexander Smolensky
Alexander Pavlovich Smolensky (russian: Алекса́ндр Па́влович Смолéнский) (born July 6, 1954) is a Russian business oligarch.
Biography
Alexander Smolensky began his business activities on the black market of the s ...
as Stolichny Bank International, a subsidiary of the Russian
SBS-AGRO Bank (russian: СБС-Агро), English ''Capital Savings Bank'') bought the state-owned Agroprombank (russian: Агропромбанк), SBS-AGRO was the new merger of the two banks.
to provide trade financing for companies wishing to do business in former
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
[ In addition to the ]Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
branch, Stolichny Bank International had other international branches in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
and Macedonia. Following the 1998 Russian financial crisis
The Russian financial crisis (also called the ruble crisis or the Russian flu) began in Russia on 17 August 1998. It resulted in the Russian government and the Russian Central Bank devaluing the ruble and defaulting on its debt. The crisis had s ...
, SBS-AGRO, which was Russia's largest private bank, went through restructuring.[
In 2001 it became a subsidiary of Russian private investment consortium ]Alfa Group
Alfa Group Consortium () is Russian international privately owned investment groups, with interests in oil and gas, commercial and investment banking, asset management, insurance, retail trade, telecommunications, water utilities and special sit ...
through ABH Holdings S.A. a limited liability company (Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
) and its subsidiary ABH Financial Limited which partially controls Alfa-Bank
ALFA-BANK JSC (Alfa-Bank), is the largest of the private banks in Russia. It was founded in 1990 by Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman, who is still the controlling owner today. Headquartered in Moscow, it operates in seven countries, providin ...
's assets.Mikhail Fridman
Mikhail Maratovich Fridman (also transliterated Mikhail Friedman; russian: Михаил Маратович Фридман; he, מיכאיל פרידמן; born 21 April 1964) is a Ukrainian-born, Russian–Israeli businessman, billionaire, and ...
later stated that through Alfa-Bank he indirectly owned a minority stake in ATB.
Amsterdam Trade Bank N.V. opened an internet branch in the Netherlands, Germany and Austria in 2003, 2006 and 2011, respectively.
On April 22, 2022, the Amsterdam District Court declared the bankruptcy of Amsterdam Trade Bank N.V.
Controversies
In 2004 and again in 2007, an ATB account of the offshore company ''Sevenkey Limited'', which is owned by Olga Shuvalova (wife of Igor Shuvalov
Igor Ivanovich Shuvalov ( rus, И́горь Ива́нович Шува́лов, p=ˈigərʲ ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂʊˈvaləf; born 4 January 1967)[Alexander Mamut
Alexander Leonidovich Mamut also spelled Aleksandr, (russian: Алекса́ндр Леони́дович Маму́т; born 29 January 1960, Moscow) is a Russian billionaire lawyer, banker and investor.
Used to be (until 2020) a co-owner of Ram ...]
-founded ALM Consulting (russian: «АЛМ-Консалтинг») law firm, was used to transfer large amounts in US dollars to ''Gallagher Holdings Limited'', which is associated with Alisher Usmanov
Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov (russian: Алишер Бурханович Усманов; born 9 September 1953) is an Uzbek-born Russian businessman and oligarch. By 2022, Usmanov had an estimated net worth of $19.5 billion and was among the ...
, and a bank account of the company ''Unicast Technologies Corporation'', which is associated with Eugene Shvidler
Evgeny Markovich Shvidler (russian: Евгений Маркович Швидлер; born 23 March 1964), also known as Eugene Shvidler, is a Soviet-born billionaire oil businessman. He made his fortune during the privatization of Russian indu ...
. Usmanov used the money from the 2004 transactions to purchase his stake in the Anglo-Dutch steel firm Corus Group
Corus may refer to:
Places
*Çörüş, Gazipaşa, a village in Antalya Province, Turkey
Facilities and structures
* Corus Quay, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; an office tower
Fictional locations
* Corus, a fictional world that is the setting for the ...
.
In 2017 the ''international investigative journalist collaboration'' claimed ATB was involved in an infamous money laundering scheme, something the bank denied. Allegedly, $34.5 million moved through Amsterdam Trade Bank accounts.Paul Radu
Paul Radu is an investigative journalist based in Bucharest, Romania. He is the director of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, for which he and cofounder Drew Sullivan received the Special Award by the European Press Prize. He ...
led the investigations, and ATB offices were searched by the Dutch financial crimes prosecutor ( nl, Fiscale inlichtingen- en opsporingsdienst (FIOD)). The search did not result in proof of money laundering, although the bank had nonetheless placed a heavier emphasis on its compliance department following the events.
Corporate governance
Acting directors of ATB in 2018 were:
* Harris Antoniou (CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
)
* Eric Steeghs (CFO
The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...
)
* Peter Ullmann ( CRO)
There were also a number of non-acting directors in Supervisory Board.
Notes
References
External links
Amsterdam Trade Bank NV
retail internet website
Amsterdam Trade Bank (Germany)
retail internet website
Amsterdam Trade Bank (Austria)
retail internet website
{{Dutch financial services companies
Defunct banks of the Netherlands
Banks established in 1994
Banks disestablished in 2022
Dutch companies established in 1994
Dutch companies disestablished in 2022