Bank Menatep
Encyclopedia
Bank Menatep was a US$29 billion holding company created by Mikhail Khodorkovsky
, that had indirect controlling interest in Yukos
Oil Company. It was involved in the US$4.8 billion diversion of International Monetary Fund
(IMF) funds.
, which subsequently collapsed, causing a default which led to the crisis and Bank Menatep's bankruptcy. The Central Bank revoked Menatep's licence in May 1999. However, according to Ernest Backes, former #3 of Clearstream
, a clearing-house
which has been qualified as a "bank of banks", Menatep maintained an unpublished secret account at Clearstream until at least 2000. The bankruptcy was finalized by February 2001. In an unprecedented move, the core shareholders of the bank, the financial holding Group Menatep, of which Khodorkovsky was a principal, made a decision to pay their own money to all 15,000 Bank Menatep small depositors whose savings had been wiped out by the collapse. A new Bank Menatep Saint Petersburg was created from the Saint Petersburg
division of Bank Menatep. It accumulated the assets but not the liabilities of the original bank. In 2004 the bank was bought by the management and renamed to Trust National Bank.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky is a Russian prisoner, considered by some - such as Amnesty International - to have been imprisoned for political reasons, jailed until 2016 and a former Russian oligarch and businessman...
, that had indirect controlling interest in Yukos
YUKOS
OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" was a petroleum company in Russia which, until 2003, was controlled by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a number of other prominent Russian businessmen. After Yukos was bankrupted, Khodorkovsky was convicted and sent to prison.Yukos headquarters was located in...
Oil Company. It was involved in the US$4.8 billion diversion of International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
(IMF) funds.
Scandal
The bank's financial condition was seriously damaged during the 1998 financial crisis due to a requirement by the Russian Central Bank that all commercial banks keep an economically untenable proportion of their reserve requirements in Russian treasury bills known as GKOGKO
GKO , OFZ are abbreviations for and , respectively. They are government bonds issued by the state of Russia.GKOs are short-term zero-coupon Russian Government Treasury Bills. OFZs are coupon-bearing Federal Loan Bonds...
, which subsequently collapsed, causing a default which led to the crisis and Bank Menatep's bankruptcy. The Central Bank revoked Menatep's licence in May 1999. However, according to Ernest Backes, former #3 of Clearstream
Clearstream
Clearstream Banking S.A. is the clearing and settlement division of Deutsche Börse, based in Luxembourg and Frankfurt. Clearstream was created in January 2000 through the merger of Cedel International and Deutsche Börse Clearing...
, a clearing-house
Clearing (finance)
In banking and finance, clearing denotes all activities from the time a commitment is made for a transaction until it is settled. Clearing is necessary because the speed of trades is much faster than the cycle time for completing the underlying transaction....
which has been qualified as a "bank of banks", Menatep maintained an unpublished secret account at Clearstream until at least 2000. The bankruptcy was finalized by February 2001. In an unprecedented move, the core shareholders of the bank, the financial holding Group Menatep, of which Khodorkovsky was a principal, made a decision to pay their own money to all 15,000 Bank Menatep small depositors whose savings had been wiped out by the collapse. A new Bank Menatep Saint Petersburg was created from the Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
division of Bank Menatep. It accumulated the assets but not the liabilities of the original bank. In 2004 the bank was bought by the management and renamed to Trust National Bank.
External links
- Group MENATEP
- Bank Menatep Saint Petersburg, in 2004 renamed to Trust National Bank
- http://www.hound-dogs.com/cover_story/coverstory.htm Lucy KomisarLucy KomisarLucy Komisar is a New York City-based investigative journalist. She writes about offshore banking, corporate secrecy, international money laundering, and how they relate to corporate fraud; international corruption; the looting by dictators; financing of terrorism; international crime including...
on "Revelation$" by Denis RobertDenis RobertDenis Robert is a French freelance journalist and a writer. Robert formerly worked for Libération newspaper for 12 years....
and Ernest Backes, former #3 of ClearstreamClearstreamClearstream Banking S.A. is the clearing and settlement division of Deutsche Börse, based in Luxembourg and Frankfurt. Clearstream was created in January 2000 through the merger of Cedel International and Deutsche Börse Clearing...
.