Bankas Snoras AB or simply SNORAS (, ) was a commercial
bank, founded in
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
operating in all three
Baltic states
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
. It was a member of the financial group
Konversbank and was listed on the
NASDAQ OMX Vilnius
The Nasdaq Vilnius is a stock exchange established in 1993 (''Vilnius Stock Exchange'', ''VSE'') operating in Vilnius, Lithuania. It is owned by Nasdaq Nordic, which also operates Helsinki Stock Exchange and Stockholm Stock Exchange.
OMX Vilni ...
stock exchange. On November 16, 2011, 100% of the bank shares were nationalized by the Lithuanian government and the bank was placed into temporary administration. On November 24, the bank was declared bankrupt. It had 4 billion litas in debt.
History
Bankas Snoras AB was founded 1992 as a regional bank of
Å iauliai and renamed to its current name in 1993. It was recognised as the best bank in Lithuania in 2006 by financial publisher ''
The Banker
''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by ''The Financial Times'' Ltd. and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding Editor, Brend ...
''. However, an inspection at the bank in November 2011, revealed poor asset quality, weak risk management and lack of proper operating data. The check also revealed that the bank has ignored the central bank's recommendation to reduce operating risks.
Shareholders
Snoras was listed on the
NASDAQ OMX Vilnius
The Nasdaq Vilnius is a stock exchange established in 1993 (''Vilnius Stock Exchange'', ''VSE'') operating in Vilnius, Lithuania. It is owned by Nasdaq Nordic, which also operates Helsinki Stock Exchange and Stockholm Stock Exchange.
OMX Vilni ...
stock exchange. Major shareholders, holding more than 5% of the shares of the company were:
*
Vladimir Antonov – 67%
*
Raimondas Baranauskas Raimondas is a masculine Lithuanian given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Raimondas Rumšas (born 1972), Lithuanian cyclist
*Raimondas Vainoras (born 1965), Lithuanian footballer
*Raimondas VilÄinskas (born 1977), Lithuanian cyclist
* ...
– 25%
Notable subsidiaries
Snoras has invested in a variety of business, most notable are:
* Investment bank
Finasta
* Latvian bank
Latvijas KrÄjbanka
Latvijas KrÄjbanka (,) is a Latvian bank listed on the Riga OMX exchange. The bank dates back to 1924 when it was founded as the Latvian Postal Savings Bank. Operations of the savings bank continued in various forms during the Soviet period, ...
Bankruptcy
In 2011, November 16, by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, the bank's activities were suspended, its managers were dismissed due to the possible default of the bank's credit obligations, and due to suspicions of non-transparent financial activities of the bank's managers. All the bank's shares were taken over by the state, the Bank of Lithuania temporarily appointed administrator Simon Freakley to coordinate the bank's activities.
In 2011, November 24, the Bank of Lithuania applied to the court regarding the bankruptcy of AB bankas Snoras, on December 7. Bankruptcy proceedings have been filed against the bank. Neil Hunter Cooper took over as receiver.
In 2014, Snoro's bankruptcy administrator will complete the sale of Finasto. The loan portfolio, the bank's and real estate assets taken over from borrowers, both in Lithuania and abroad, are being sold. February 1, employment contracts with 134 bank employees were extended, another 4 employees were on paternity or pregnancy leave.
Investment in car industry
Snoras, in 2018, purchased 29.8% of shares of Dutch sports car manufacturer
Spyker Cars
Spyker Cars (, ) is a Dutch sports car marque. The modern Spyker Cars held the legal rights to the brand name. The company's motto is "''Nulla tenaci invia est via''", Latin for "For the tenacious, no road is impassable". The marque's logo dis ...
. In the same year, Snoras sold the stake in Spyker Cars. In 2010, Snoras became sponsor of
Renault F1 team.
Renault F1 announces SNORAS sponsorship
References
{{Authority control
Defunct banks of Lithuania
Companies based in Vilnius
Companies listed on Nasdaq Vilnius
Banks disestablished in 2011
Banks established in 1992
2011 disestablishments in Lithuania
Lithuanian companies established in 1992