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Latest News and Facts about Satabank

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OFFICIAL STATEMENT

The ECB on 30 June 2020 adopted a decision to withdraw the license of Satabank
plc, Malta, a Maltese credit institution, licensed by the Malta Financial
Services Authority (MFSA) in 2014 and under the supervision of the MFSA. The
decision has been adopted after a proposal by the MFSA. 

Satabank plc offered modern services for electronic money and card payments to
EU citizens and small and medium merchants in Europe. Following criticism by the
Maltese authorities, the MFSA in October 2018 imposed a moratorium and took over
control over the Bank, an act of the MFSA which was appealed by the Bank and the
shareholders in the court of Malta.

There are no investigations against the Bank, its employees or the shareholders.
There are no breaches of the laws on measures against money laundering committed
by the Bank or whatever other serious breaches of laws. The penalty imposed by
the Maltese authorities is unjustifiable and is under appeal in the court of
Malta by the Bank and by the Competent Person.

As per instruction by the Maltese authorities, clients who had their funds in
the Bank received them back in alternative bank accounts. The allegations for
suspicious transactions or clients have not been confirmed by any authority.  

The ECB was practically forced to adopt this decision because after the two-year
management of the Bank by the MFSA and the Competent Person charging the Bank
with excessive fees by them (700 EUR per hour), the capital of the Bank fell
below the minimum required by law without the knowledge of the shareholders or
former directors of the Bank. The decision of the ECB is in breach of the EU law
and will be appealed before the courts of the EU.

All publications in the Maltese press against the Bank and the shareholders are
not true and they aim at damaging the reputation of the Bulgarian investors.
Three legal actions of libel have been filed and accepted before the courts
against the Maltese media and authors and there will be additional court cases.
 

After the events around Satabank in 2018, all Bulgarian authorities, including
the Bulgarian National Bank, the Bulgarian AML Authority (DANS), the Bulgarian
Tax Authority (NAP), the Bulgarian National Security Authority (NOI) and others
conducted a 12-month comprehensive compliance review of the activity and clients
of “iCard” AD, as well as its agent, “myPOS” AD. No breaches of regulations were
found.

The conclusion – without the involvement of the ECB, Malta succeeded in
liquidating Satabank – a European competitor in the market of payment services,
thus protecting the market share of the local Maltese banks. Malta used
foreign-owned Satabank to clean its reputation before the European institutions
that were and still are heavily criticising Malta for corruption and lack of
efficient anti-money laundering measures, and in the meantime, in a blatant and
discriminatory manner damaged the reputation of Bulgarian investors.

Author NewsPosted on July 2, 2020July 3, 2020


SATABANK


CREDIT INSTITUTION (BANK) LICENSE SATABANK AWARDED IN OCTOBER 2014 BY THE MFSA!

14 October 2014 Satabank Plc, a separate legal person is licensed as a credit
institution (bank) by the MFSA, Malta for the following activities:

 * Payment Services as defined in the Financial Institutions Act (Cap. 376 of
   the laws of Malta);
 * Trading for own account in Money market instruments, Foreign exchange,
   Financial futures and options, Exchange and interest-rate instruments
   Transferable securities
 * Issuing electronic money;
 * Business of Banking.

The Bank starts its activity with 2 Executive Directors – CEO and CTO, who are
all Maltese nationals and residents and with years of experience from leading
Maltese banks. In 1 year since start of operations, the Bank’s team responsible
for all daily operations and decisions grows to 44 Maltese employees including
the Maltese Compliance officer (MLRO).

The Board of the Directors comprises:

 * CEO and a Board Member – Maltese National from a leading Maltese bank
 * Company Secretary and a Board Member – Maltese National from a leading
   Maltese bank
 * Chairman and Non-Executive Director – German National with extensive
   experience in German banks
 * Non-Executive Director – 1 of the co-founders, Austrian National with
   extensive experience in banking and insurance
 * Non-Executive Director – 1 of the co-founders, Bulgarian National (Christo
   Georgiev) with extensive experience in e-money, payment services and SEPA
   integrations


SATABANK – THE 1ST MALTESE BANK TO BE APPROVED AS DIRECT PARTICIPANT IN BY SEPA
AND EPC IN 2015!

In In 2015 Satabank becomes the 1st bank in Malta to integrate as a Direct
Participant in SEPA. The business model of Satabank is similar to many new
online/neo- banks in the Europe – to provide instant payments and cards at
competitive fees via a modern online platform. Satabank is approved as Direct
Participant from the European Payment Council through EBA Clearing for SEPA
Credit Transfers and SEPA Direct Debits and also the Central Bank of Malta for
TARGET 2.


SATABANK – THE 1ST MALTESE BANK TO BE APPROVED IN 1 YEAR BY MASTERCARD AND VISA
IN 2016!

The main focus of the promoters is to develop fintech business via modern
platforms by the use of the latest IT technology. That is why Satabank soon
becomes a Principal Member of Mastercard and Visa for issuing and acquiring of
cards with the logo of these organizations.


SATABANK STARTS STEERING CUSTOMERS AWAY FROM LOCAL COMPETITION BY BETTER
SERVICES AT BETTER RATES IN 2016!

The Bank attracts customers from Malta and due to good services and good fees
steers away a lot of Maltese customers from the other Maltese banks in 2016 and
2017. This new local competition confronts Satabank with local well establish
Maltese banks who like the status quo. Malta is a very small island country in
EU, just about 400 000 residents, and there is no place for out of town
competitors.


SATABANK INVESTMENTS AND EXPENSES IN MALTA FOR PAYROLL FOR MALTESE PERSONNEL AND
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES SURPASS €5 MILLION IN 2017. SHAREHOLDERS RE-INVEST
EARNINGS IN MALTA.

In 2017, the Bank continued to invest heavily in human resources in Malta and in
the development of its operations. Administrative and personnel expenses for
2017 reached €5 million (up from €2.4 million for 2016). To enhance the Bank’s
capital position and investment in governance and internal control processes to
complement the growth in business, the Bank’s shareholder re-invested the
dividend of €3,575,000 received from the Bank in 2017 as a fresh capital
injection in the Bank.


SATABANK IS ONE OF THE MOST STABLE/CAPITALIZED BANKS IN MALTA IN 2017!

During the financial periods ended 31 December 2017, the Bank maintained
regulatory capital ratios well above the regulatory requirements, capital
adequacy ratio stood at 27.2%, up from 18% as at 31 December 2016, while the
Bank’s liquidity coverage ratio stood at 259% (as compared to its regulatory
minimum of 80%).


SATABANK’S SHAREHOLDER RE-INVESTS DIVIDEND OF MORE THAN €3,500,000 IN 2017 TO
IMPROVE BANK’S GOVERNANCE AND BE ADEQUATE TO EXPANSION!

All profits of the Bank were not distributed to Shareholders, but were actually
reinvested into the Bank to support the investment of the promoters in IT
systems, personnel in Malta and compliance.

Read our statement of facts.

Author NewsPosted on February 6, 2020March 14, 2020


STATEMENT OF FACTS


DECEMBER 2020

Decision in favor of Satabank: Maltese court reduces significantly the FIAU AML
sanction from 3,71 mln EUR to 850 K EUR  

The court in Malta issued a decision in favor of Satabank plc, declaring that
AML sanction imposed by the FIAU on Satabank in March 2019 was excessive and not
in compliance with the law, and drastically reduced it.

This indicates that the alleged AML deficiencies or breaches were not serious
enough so as to warrant the draconian actions of the MFSA against the Bank in
2018 and two years after. The court issued this decision under the appeal of the
Competent person, appointed by the MFSA in 2018. The court did not look into the
appeal of the lawful representatives of the Bank. 

The MFSA in October 2018 took control over the Bank under the pretext of AML
deficiencies/breaches and spent all of the Bank’s capital and funds, in the
amount of more than 15 mln EUR for regulatory fees, as a result of which the
Bank license was withdrawn by the ECB in June 2020.

The Competent Person, appointed by the MFSA disputed the sanction and asked the
court to annul it, as it was issued via retroactive application of the law,
which is illegal. The Bank submitted proves that the allegations of the FIAU
were either not correct or highly inflated, but the court did not look into that
appeal.

More info: Legal Actions Section


NOVEMBER 2020

The Financial Services Tribunal in Malta accepts the appeal of Satabank against
the MFSA formal decision to liquidate the Bank  

Satabank plc has appealed before Maltese tribunal against the pro-forma decision
of the MFSA to liquidate the Bank issued on 30 October 2020. The appeal was
accepted and is pending before the Maltese Financial Services Tribunal.

By liquidating the Bank, the Maltese authorities will get an easy way out of the
proceedings against their acts.  Moreover, rights of creditors of the bank will
be precluded if they do not claim their money before the liquidator within 3
months from public notice, which is not clear when and how it will be published.

More info: Legal Actions Section


SEPTEMBER 2020

The EU Court accepts the appeal of Satabank against the ECB decision to withdraw
the license of the Bank

Satabank plc has appealed against the decision of the ECB to withdraw the
license of the Bank issued in June 2020. The appeal has been accepted by the
General Court, which is the first instance, where actions in annulment of acts
of the ECB and other EU institutions are brought.

For more info:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A62020TN0563

The Bank claims that the there are serious material and procedural defects in
the decision of the ECB, as the ECB decision came almost two years after the
actual liquidation of the Bank.

The ECB was never directly involved in the supervision of the Bank and when
asked in November 2019 by the lawful representatives of the Bank to provide
access to the Bank, it simply refused on the ground that there was not an
adverse procedure against the Bank, which is not true as the Bank was already
being de facto liquidated by the MFSA since October 2018. The Bank appealed
against this refusal of the ECB, appeal was accepted and pending before the
General Court of EU.

For more info:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A62020TN0072

The ECB also refused to interfere and take the supervision over the Bank when
asked by the lawful representatives of the Bank in the beginning of 2020. The
Bank appealed against this refusal of the ECB, appeal was accepted and pending
before the General Court.

For more info:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:62020TN0494&from=EN


JULY 2020

The Financial Services Tribunal in Malta accepts the appeal of Satabank plc
against the MFSA secret decision on the de facto liquidation of the Bank from
24th of October 2018

Satabank plc has appealed before Maltese tribunal against the hidden decision of
the MFSA to wind up the business and assets of the bank issued by the MFSA on
24th of October, 2018, just 4 days after the MFSA took control over the Bank
back in October 2018.

The Bank and its lawful representatives only learnt of such decision of the MFSA
almost two years later, after the license of the Bank was withdrawn by the ECB.
The Bank, represented by the Shareholder, immediately appealed against this
Decision of the MFSA before the Maltese Financial Services Tribunal (FST). The
case is accepted and pending before the Maltese FTS.

More info: Legal Actions Section


JULY 2020

The Financial Services Tribunal in Malta accepts the appeal of Satabank plc
against the MFSA decision to discontinue the return of customers funds from 1st
of July 2020

Satabank plc has appealed before Maltese tribunal against the decision of the
MFSA from 1st of July 2020 ordering the Competent Person to stop the return of
the customer funds. The decision of the MFSA lacks any motives or explanation as
to how the customers whose money is still blocked in Malta by the MFSA and kept
in cash in the Central Bank of Malta would redeem back their funds.

The customers of the Bank, who after more than 2 years from the draconian
actions of the MFSA still have their money trapped in Malta by the MFSA, are EU
nationals and EU companies.

Such a conduct of the Maltese authorities is intolerable for an EU country!

The appeal was accepted and is pending before the Maltese Financial Services
Tribunal. More info: Legal Actions Section


02 JULY 2020 (WEDNESDAY)

The ECB on 30 June 2020 adopted a decision to withdraw the license of Satabank
plc, Malta, a Maltese credit institution, licensed by the Malta Financial
Services Authority (MFSA) in 2014 and under the supervision of the MFSA. The
decision has been adopted after a proposal by the MFSA.

Satabank plc offered modern services for electronic money and card payments to
EU citizens and small and medium merchants in Europe. Following criticism by the
Maltese authorities, the MFSA in October 2018 imposed a moratorium and took over
control over the Bank, an act of the MFSA which was appealed by the Bank and the
shareholders in the court of Malta.

There are no investigations against the Bank, its employees or the shareholders.
There are no breaches of the laws on measures against money laundering committed
by the Bank or whatever other serious breaches of laws. The penalty imposed by
the Maltese authorities is unjustifiable and is under appeal in the court of
Malta by the Bank and by the Competent Person.

As per instruction by the Maltese authorities, clients who had their funds in
the Bank received them back in alternative bank accounts. The allegations for
suspicious transactions or clients have not been confirmed by any authority.

The ECB was practically forced to adopt this decision because after the two-year
management of the Bank by the MFSA and the Competent Person charging the Bank
with excessive fees by them (700 EUR per hour), the capital of the Bank fell
below the minimum required by law without the knowledge of the shareholders or
former directors of the Bank. The decision of the ECB is in breach of the EU law
and will be appealed before the courts of the EU.

All publications in the Maltese press against the Bank and the shareholders are
not true and they aim at damaging the reputation of the Bulgarian investors.
Three legal actions of libel have been filed and accepted before the courts
against the Maltese media and authors and there will be additional court cases.

After the events around Satabank in 2018, all Bulgarian authorities, including
the Bulgarian National Bank, the Bulgarian AML Authority (DANS), the Bulgarian
Tax Authority (NAP), the Bulgarian National Security Authority (NOI) and others
conducted a 12-month comprehensive compliance review of the activity and clients
of “iCard” AD, as well as its agent, “myPOS” AD. No breaches of regulations were
found.

The conclusion – without the involvement of the ECB, Malta succeeded in
liquidating Satabank – a European competitor in the market of payment services,
thus protecting the market share of the local Maltese banks. Malta used
foreign-owned Satabank to clean its reputation before the European institutions
that were and still are heavily criticising Malta for corruption and lack of
efficient anti-money laundering measures, and in the meantime, in a blatant and
discriminatory manner damaged the reputation of Bulgarian investors.


30 JUNE 2020

The ECB decision on June 30, 2020, to withdraw the banking license of Satabank
plc taken amid lack of annual financial accounts and independent audit of the
Bank under the control of the MFSA and EY for almost 2 years

The total own funds of the Bank spent under the watch of the MFSA. More than 15
million EUR was charged to the Bank for professional fees of EY – audit firm
appointed as Competent person by the MFSA in October 2018. Another 1 million
Euro in fees for external legal services and a further 1.7 million Euro in
commissions paid to third parties, becomes evident from “undisclosed” Management
Accounts, submitted by the MFSA to ECB. 

The Financial Services Tribunal in Malta has summoned Ernst Young Malta to
provide full breakdown of the fees of the Maltese EY team and the so-called EY
International team (mostly EY UK) that was charging the Bank with circa 700 EUR
per hour for checking ID documents of Maltese and EU citizens prior to return to
them of their salaries or business incomes blocked in Satabank by the MFSA.  EY
Malta and EY international team was appointed a Competent person of Satabank plc
by the MFSA in October 2018 when MFSA took control over the Bank and started
liquidating it without any involvement of the ECB!

It is unlawful for the MFSA to allow or decide on discontinuing the annual
financial accounts as per International accounting standards, mandatory audit
and publication of these of a licensed credit institution in Europe for 2 years
after taking control of the Bank by the MFSA in 2018. It is highly disturbing
that without accounts and audit a Regulator in Europe allows spending of the
entire own funds of Bank, while the Bank still has creditors and depositors
waiting for their funds to be repaid. The fact that neither the ECB, nor the
Maltese authorities do not seem to be troubled by these “omissions” is deeply
disturbing.   

The ECB on June 30, 2020, disregarded the request of the shareholders for access
to Satabank, Malta, which was taken over by the MFSA in October 2018 and went on
and adopted a decision to withdraw the license of the Bank, despite numerous EU
law deficiencies and complete lack of transparency of this case, as highlighted
by the legal counsels of the Bank to the ECB.

After almost 2 years in full control of the Bank, neither of the Maltese
authorities, nor the Competent Person managed to confirm or prove any of the
allegations against the Bank from 2018 for breaches of the internal controls or
serious AML breaches. No serious AML breaches, No PEPs, no breaching of any
sanctions, no cash transactions, no suspicious transactions, no suspicious
clients, no investigations. All clients of Stabank received their money back as
per instructions of the Maltese authorities.

All the acts of the Maltese authorities are appealed by the Bank and are pending
in the courts in Malta.  

The decision of the ECB will be appealed by the Bank before the courts of the
EU. Conclusion – Remove a rising rival, swindle 20M EUR from the shareholders
and cover it as regulatory exercise. Satabank was liquidated in series of
illegal actions conducted in an organized and targeted manner disguised as
regulatory intervention.


DECEMBER 2019

ECB confirms to the shareholders in Satabank that there is No procedure against
the Bank or shareholders in ECB.

It turns out that Maltese national authorities acted against Satabank without
the formal procedure and decision of the ECB, which is a breach of the EU
Regulation on Single supervisory mechanism. Moreover, national Maltese rules,
which allow the Maltese authorities to take over a bank and start liquidating it
( which is a de facto withdrawing the banking license), without following the
established procedure in ECB, are not compliant with  EU law. EU law under the
form of Regulations is directly applicable in Malta and takes precedence over
national law. In the case, EU Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 of 15 October 2013
conferring specific tasks on the European Central Bank concerning policies
relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions, which were not
observed by the Maltese national authorities in their draconian measures against
Satabank.   


DECEMBER 2019 – JANUARY 2020

ECB refuses to provide access to the file to Satabank. Satabank appeals the
refusal of the ECB to provide access to its own file.  

ECB refuses to provide access to the information about Satabank, because “there
is no procedure against the bank” as explained by official of the ECB. The fact
that there is no procedure against the Bank does not prevent the Bank to request
access to its file in ECB and to be informed on what is going on

since October 2018 when the shareholders and former management saw their control
over the bank taken by the Maltese authorities. Every bank in the Eurozone has a
file with the ECB and has the right, guaranteed by EU law, to access it’s own
file and be informed. Case is pending before the Court of the EU.


DECEMBER 2019 – JANUARY 2020

No transparency on the side of Maltese authorities and missing annual financial
accounts of Satabank

Maltese national competent authorities, supervising the banks in Malta, have not
completed and not publishing the annual financial accounts of

Satabank due for 2017, 2018, 2020. The shareholders of the Bank are deeply
concerned over the lack of transparency in the process and the lack of audited
financial accounts of the Bank for 2017, 2018 and 2019, which is now an
obligation of the Competent person and the Maltese authorities after they took
control over the Bank in October 2018. The Competent person, appointed by the
MFSA is using UK and other nationals, not locals, to check documents of clients
of the Bank and to return funds to customers, for which job it is charging the
Bank with fees 680 GBP and more per hour. It is not clear why the Maltese
authorities created this situation and why 44 Maltese banking experts had to
lose their job to foreign nationals.   


JANUARY 9, 2020


TRIBUNAL CRITICISES MFSA’S ‘MANIFESTLY UNFAIR’ TREATMENT OF SATABANK
SHAREHOLDERS

The Financial Services Tribunal has dismissed a preliminary plea made by the
MFSA in an appeal lodged by Signia Holding Ltd and Satabank, saying the
authority had failed to provide full details of a directive against them

Continue reading “Statement of facts”
Author NewsPosted on February 5, 2020January 23, 2021


LEGAL ACTIONS


DECEMBER 2020

Maltese court reduces significantly the AML sanction of the FIAU from 3,71 mln
EUR to 850 K EUR, in favor of Satabank plc

The court in Malta issued a final decision in favour of Satabank plc, declaring
that AML sanction imposed by the FIAU on Satabank in March 2019 was excessive
and not in compliance with the law, and drastically reduced it. This indicates
that the alleged AML deficiencies or breaches were not serious enough so as to
warrant the draconian actions of the MFSA against the Bank in 2018 and two years
after. The MFSA took control over the Bank in 2018 under the pretext of AML
breaches and spent all of the Bank’s capital and funds, in the amount of more
than 15 mln EUR for regulatory fees, as a result of which the Bank license was
withdrawn by the ECB in June 2020.

Satabank plc has appealed before Maltese tribunal against the pro-forma decision
of the MFSA to liquidate the Bank issued on 30 October 2020. The appeal was
accepted and is pending before the Maltese Financial Services Tribunal.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2
Author NewsPosted on February 4, 2020January 23, 2021


FAKE NEWS, LIBEL AND DEFAMATION ARTICLES AGAINST CHRISTO GEORGIEV IN MALTESE
MEDIA!

“It was not a term many people used four years ago, but “fake news” is now seen
as one of the greatest threats to democracy, free debate and the Western
order.”  James Carson, Telegraph

All allegations in the articles published by Maltese media, some of which are
quoted below, against Mr. Christo Georgiev are a libel and defamation. Mr.
Christo Georgiev has never been under investigations by any authority for any
wrongdoings. Mr. Georgiev has never been criticized personally by any regulatory
body or other competent supervisory authority.

Mr. Christo Georgiev filed three Libel Lawsuits and Action in damages against
authors and media alleging untrue facts about him in October 2019 under EU
Regulation №1215/2012. Cases pending before courts!

Continue reading “Fake news, libel and defamation articles against Christo
Georgiev in Maltese media!”
Author NewsPosted on February 3, 2020February 14, 2020
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