The letter considers a proposal for expert support to solve the problems in the Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB) and deal with the implications for the banking sector and is addressed to President Rosen Plevneliev, Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, the BNB Governor Ivan Iskrov, the Chairman of the Financial Supervision Commission Stoyan Mavrodiev and the leaderships of political parties represented in Parliament.
A month ago, the competent authorities vowed that on July 21, 2014 the Corporate Commercial Bank Banking Group will resume its operations and its clients, many of whom belonging to our member organizations, will have their money made available to them. Guarantee to that effect was given by the Bulgarian National Bank supported by the government, the Financial Supervision Commission and political leaders summoned by the President of the Republic.
Today we know that they all together lied to us – neither bank of the CCB Group, placed under special supervision, opened.
Therefore, we are forced to painfully ascertain the apparent incompetence of the competent authorities. Therefore, we demand that, regardless of conservators appointed to exercise special supervision on the banking group, the Bulgarian National Bank immediately establish a Steering committee to consist of really competent professionals with experience in the rehabilitation of the banking institutions.
This Committee should involve independent bankers of authority, financiers and lawyers, representatives of all persons concerned with the recovery of the banking group - different classes of depositors, borrowers, bondholders, current shareholders and potential investors.
The task of the Steering committee will be to draw up and present to stakeholders an honest and objective information memorandum and offer a financially sound and comprehensive solution for the recovery and restructuring of the banking group, which will take into account and balance the legitimate interests of all parties affected such as structure-determining companies, hospitals, schools, government agencies, municipalities, retirees, etc. Inability to use the funds will lead to bankruptcies, unpaid salaries and loss of thousands of jobs. Companies from the military industrial complex alone stand to lose more than 25 000 jobs.
The purpose of the Committee is to achieve the speediest possible recovery of the operations of the banks and the utmost safeguarding of the value of the deposits in the banking group, of the creditors’ receivables and shareholders' rights, based on contractual and voluntary agreement between the stakeholders. This is the usual and well-known international practice. The establishment of the Steering Committee shall not discharge the competent persons and institutions of liability.
We also demand the immediate launch of negotiations for Bulgaria’s accession into the European Banking Union.
We insist on a market solution to the financial problems of the CCB banking group, which will not be at the expense of the Bulgarian taxpayer and the Bulgarian state budget. At the same time we warn that we will not tolerate the banking group to be torn and plundered with impunity, and money deposited in it by our members and all other clients to be appropriated, lost or squandered.
Bulgarian authorities and politicians have proved unable to cope with the financial problem we are faced with. It is time they let the professionals, the persons affected and interested investors tackle the problem in the only way we are left with - the method based on necessity the mother of invention.
We call for an immediate meeting with the BNB Governing Council in relation to solving the problem.
The letter is signed by the leaders of the Confederation of Independent Syndicates in Bulgaria, the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour, Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association, Bulgarian Industrial Association, Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria.
