The bank also appears to have removed the names of the commissioners Andrei Sokolov and Oleg Vaksman from its website yesterday. deleted† However, they have not yet been deregistered from the Chamber of Commerce.
Oligarch
Amsterdam Trade Bank (ATB) on the Amsterdam Zuidas is owned by the Russian Alfa Bank / Alfa Group, of which oligarch Mikhail Fridman is the founder and a major shareholder.
–
–
Both Alfa Bank and multi-billionaire Fridman – who has close ties to the Kremlin – are subject to economic sanctions imposed by the European Union as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Dutch savings
The Dutch subsidiary of the Russian bank provides loans to European companies here, but also attracts savings from Dutch and German private individuals. The bank has recently started doing the latter under the brand name FIBR.
–
–
Yesterday, RTL Z reported that the bank will inform its customers in a statement reassured on the impact of European economic sanctions against Russia. According to the bank, these do not affect the business operations of ATB and FIBR, because as a ‘regulated Dutch bank (…) they act independently of all our shareholders’ and ‘are managed separately’.
Conviction for invasion of Ukraine
In the statement, the bank also spoke out about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, albeit in cautious, general terms. “We are deeply saddened about the tragic events in Ukraine and are convinced that war can never be the answer.”
–
–
In an emailed response to RTL Z, the bank now says that it ‘wants to be clear that we at FIBR, a trade name of ATB, strongly condemn the invasion of Ukraine. It is a war that Russia must stop.”
Preventing misunderstandings
The bank also has its statement on the websites of Amsterdam Trade Bank and FIBR amended† In an emailed response, the company writes that the statement has been tightened up to create more clarity. “This has always been the sentiment within the bank. We have now become more explicit to avoid misunderstandings about our position.”
According to Amsterdam Trade Bank, ‘a number of customers’ have asked questions in recent days about the invasion of Ukraine. “After answering the questions, only a small number of customers canceled the account.”
–
–
Commissioners
The extent to which Amsterdam Trade Bank is indeed fully independent from its Russian owners remains to be seen. Although their names were hastily removed from the website yesterday, Andrei Sokolov and Oleg Vaksman still as a supervisory director in the register of the Chamber of Commerce.
–
–
Sokolov is chairman of the board of Alfa Bank. Vaksman was one of the top men of the Russian Gazprombank until 2018. From the annual reports of Amsterdam Trade Bank, it appears that both men are affiliated with the majority shareholder of the bank, Alfa Bank, as so-called ‘dependent directors’.
–
–
Alpha Driver Commissioner
Moreover, the third ‘dependent commissioner’ of Amsterdam Trade Bank, Andrew Baxter, is still on the website and in the register of the Chamber of Commerce. Like Sokolov, he is a senior executive of Alfa Bank.
“The shareholders have decided to withdraw two of their dependent supervisory directors, to further strengthen the independence of the supervisory board,” writes Amsterdam Trade Bank in a response to questions.
“Andrew Baxter has the longest history with the bank and in the interest of preserving the bank’s corporate memory it was decided that he should stay on. Andrew Baxter is not a Russian citizen.”
–
–
