Vostochny Bank (russian: банк Восточный; sometimes translated as Orient Express Bank) is a Russian financial company based in

Blagoveshchensk Blagoveshchensk ( rus, Благове́щенск, p=bləgɐˈvʲeɕːɪnsk, meaning ''City of the Annunciation'') is a city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia. It is located at the confluence of the Amur and the Zeya Rivers, o ...

Amur Oblast Amur Oblast ( rus, Аму́рская о́бласть, r=Amurskaya oblast, p=ɐˈmurskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located on the banks of the Amur and Zeya Rivers in the Russian Far East. The administrat ...

. It was established in 1991. Vostochny Bank focuses on the Siberian and

Far Eastern The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

markets, and ranks among the 30 largest Russian banks by assets. The

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including lev ...

Baring Vostok Baring Vostok Capital Partners is the largest independent private equity firm focused on investments in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Baring Vostok Private Equity Funds invest across a broad range of industries including ...

owns a stake in Vostochny.

History

In 2010 it purchased Consumer Bank, a Russian subsidiary of

Banco Santander Banco Santander, S.A., doing business as Santander Group (, , Spanish: ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spain. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in all global financial centr ...

, and

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

's City Mortgage Bank. In 2015 the bank reduced its workforce by half, laying off 4,000 employees. In 2016 it merged with Uniastrum Bank. After the merger, Uniastrum bank owner Artem Avetisyan acquired a 32% stake in Vostochny via his Finvision Holdings. At that time,

Baring Vostok Capital Partners Baring Vostok Capital Partners is the largest independent private equity firm focused on investments in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Baring Vostok Private Equity Funds invest across a broad range of industries including ...

investment fund controlled 51.2% of Vostochny via Evision Holdings. In 2018, a dispute took place between the major shareholders. Evision Holdings didn't let Finvision Holdings execute a call option for a 9.9% stake in the bank acquired by the latter in the M&A deal. In June 2019, Amur Region Arbitration Court ordered Evision Holdings to execute the option and sell the shares to Finvision Holdings. London Court of Internation Arbitration (LCIA) upheld Finvision's right to execute the call option and dismissed the arguments provided by Evision Holdings. Baring Vostok abide by the decision of the court and executed the option in mid-2020. Finvision Holding gained control over 42.01% and Evision Holding's share decreased to 41.63%. The arbitration proceedings between the parties took place simultaneously with the criminal investigation of the alleged misappropriation of 2.5 billion rubles of Vostochny bank's funds by Baring Vostok top managers, including the firm's founder Michael Calvey. Calvey and his colleagues were put under arrest. Some media linked criminal investigation with the arbitration proceedings. However, both Baring Vostok and Finvision Holdings denied such claims and admitted that the corporate dispute was unrelated to the criminal case. In October 2020, Vostochny bank's shareholders signed the settlement agreement under which Baring Vostok refunded 2.5 billion rubles to Vostochny bank. In August 2021, the court found the top managers of Baring Vostok guilty of embezzling Vostochny Bank's funds and sentenced them to suspended sentences. In March 2021, Sovcombank (a large private Russian bank) announced the purchase of Vostochny Bank with a view to joining. The deal was closed in April. Sovcombank acquired 88% of the bank's shares for 8.7 billion rubles. By the end of 2021, Sovcombank acquired 100% of Vostochny bank's shares and completed the operational integration of the banks. On February 14, 2022, Vostochny bank was merged into Sovcombank and liquidated.

References

External links

* {{russia-company-stub Banks of Russia Companies based in Amur Oblast Banks established in 1991 2022 mergers and acquisitions