News

The Meeting of the Board of Directors of OJSC AK BARS Bank was held on 28 February 2012

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0300

The Board of Directors acknowledged the implementation progress of AK BARS Bank's key development areas in 2011 and the Report by the Internal Control Department on the inspections results in AK BARS Bank in 2011. The Board of Directors also approved the structure and the contents of AK BARS Bank's Annual Report.

In 2011, the total volume of Bank's assets increased by 59.5 billion rubles and reached 300.3 billion rubles. This indicator places AK BARS Bank 17th among 30 largest banks of Russia. The financial outcome of the Bank's activity in 2011 was the balance sheet profit of 2 056.3 million rubles.

Furthermore, the Board of Directors approved AK BARS Bank's related-party transactions and an interested-party transaction.�

AK BARS Bank Murabaha Islamic Financing Facility has been awarded the Europe Deal of the Year by the Islamic Finance news Awards

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0300

AK BARS Bank has successfully allocated funds raised under its Syndicated Murabaha Islamic financing deal, in the amount of 60 million USD. The Master Agreement was signed in September 2011 for the period of 1 year, and is the first public international Shariah-compliant deal in Russia.

Citi and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group, acted as exclusive Joint Lead Arrangers of and Bookrunners for the deal. The Eurasian Development Bank acted as Mandated Lead Arranger. Citi Islamic Investment Bank E.C. acted as Documentation Agent, and Citibank International Plc as Investment Agent.

The funds raised have been used to finance a priority service and transport infrastructure development project in the Republic of Tatarstan, in preparation for Universiade (the World University Games) 2013, which will be hosted by the city of Kazan.

These investments aimed to develop the interregional air travel system and stimulate the domestic tourism and business activity of the city.

In January AK BARS BANK’s Islamic deal was awarded the title of «Deal of the Year 2011 in Europe» by the Islamic Finance News, the leading specialized online journal for the Islamic finance market.

The innovative character and the uniqueness of the transaction were the main criteria for the award of the title �Deal of the Year 2011 in Europe�.

The deal was the first of its type in the CIS, and opened the doors to the Islamic finance market for Russia.

This award proves that �AK BARS� BANK is the leader and pioneer in the development and implementation of alternative funding sources both in the Russian market and across the CIS.

- �In spite of the severe market situation and tight time schedule, AK BARS BANK managed to close the deal on beneficial terms� - noted Robert Minnegaliev, the Chairman of the Board of Ak Bars Bank. - This Shariah-compliant deal created a real opportunity for the diversification of fund sourcing. This sets a new benchmark in the CIS and a significant precedent for Russian banks.�

The �Deal of the Year� Award is granted annually for successful results in the area of Islamic finance. The Awards Ceremony will be held in Dubai in February 2012.

AK BARS Bank (open joint-stock company) was registered in the Central Bank of Russia and successfully operates on the financial market of Russia since 1993. AK BARS Bank is a universal bank and develops corporate, retail and investment businesses. �

Meeting of the OJSC "AK BARS" Bank Board of Directors held on October 21

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0400

The Board of Directors of OJSC "AK BARS" Bank was informed about the implementation of the principal directions of "AK BARS" Bank development regarding the results of the 3d quarter and 9 months of 2011.�

The assets of the Bank for the first 9 months of 2011 increased by 46.9 billion rubles from 240.7 billion rubles to 287.7 billion rubles. As of October 1, 2011 the volume of the borrowed funds from legal entities reached 126.6 billion rubles having increased for 9 months of 2011 by 23.6% or by 24.2 billion rubles. The results recorded positive dynamics of private deposits. During the first 9 months of 2011 the growth of private deposits amounted to 8.2 billion rubles or 17.3%. The balance sheet profit amounted to 1 700.7 billion rubles for the first 9 months of 2011. In addition, the Board of Directors adopted the main indicators as the basis for the formation of the annual financial and business plan of the Bank for 2012.

Universiade 2013 in Kazan acquired a new General Partner

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0400

Autonomous non-commercial organization ‘Executive directorate of XXVII World Summer Universiade 2013 in Kazan’ and AK BARS Bank signed a partnership agreement.

Partnership agreement was sealed and signed by the organizations� heads – Director General of Autonomous non-commercial organization �Executive directorate of XXVII World Summer Universiade 2013 in Kazan� Vladimir Leonov and the Chairman of AK BARS Bank Management Board Robert Minnegaliev.

By signing the agreement AK BARS Bank acquired a status of a General Partner of contests. It also became the Official Bank of the Universiade 2013 and the Official Supplier of banking services. In addition to this, the Bank obtained rights to use Universiade symbolic (the logo, the mascot, the brand mark (tulip), and other stylistic elements). Thus, for instance, the Bank is planning to use the Universiade symbolic in design of bank cards. The agreement stipulates a set of rights and opportunities according to the Bank�s sponsorship program of Universiade 2013 such as participation in test events of the Univesiade, embedding into an advertising campaign, etc.

Creation of payment infrastructure for the Universiade 2013 objects (ATMs and self-service terminals) is a primary contribution of the Bank into the preparation and organization of the Universiade 2013, as well as issuance of commemorative coins, assistance in accreditation program of the Universiade 2013.

AK BARS Bank plans to significantly expand the range of banking services within the framework of this cooperation. Younger generation of the Bank�s customers � students and volunteers will utilize the advantages of this partnership. A volunteer bank card and multi-service cards for guests, participants and journalists of the Universiade are to be issued in the nearest future. It is assumed that the card will comprise a payment service, loyalty program, identification service and innovative technologies.

All cooperation activities are designed until the end of 2013.�

Meeting of AK BARS Bank Board of Directors held on September 20

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0400

The Board of Directors of AK BARS Bank studied realization of development guidelines of AK BARS Bank for 2011-2013.

Amendments #1 to the Charter of AK BARS Bank connected with information entry about the branch of AK BARS Bank in Ufa to the State Register of credit institutions were sanctioned on the meeting.

The Board of Directors approved allocation of funds to implement measures aimed at opening six operating offices of the North-Western branch and approved the appropriate amendments into the financial plan of AK BARS Bank for 2011.

In addition, the Board of Directors approved related-party deals and writing off bad debts. At the end of the meeting the members of the Board of Directors discussed the issue of holding by them positions in governing bodies of other legal entities.

Last week AK BARS Bank successfully closed the debut in CIS 1-year syndicated Murabaha financing for the total amount of $60MM

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0400

Citi and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (“ICD”) acted as exclusive Joint Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners.

Eurasian Development Bank acted as Mandated Lead Arranger. Citi Islamic Investment Bank E.C. acted as Documentation Agent. Citibank International Plc acted as Investment Agent.

The syndicated Islamic financing facility will be available for AK BARS's Shariah compliant financing activities in Tatarstan and other regions of Russian Federation.

AK BARS Murabaha facility is the first international facility compliant with Sharia'h requirements arranged for a Russian financial institution and goes in line with the Islamic finance initiative announced by Tatarstan Republic earlier this year.

The transaction has attracted substantial interest among investors in Middle East and raised awareness on the Islamic investment community of Russia and specifically Tatarstan. ICD and Citi believe that this is an important and strategic deal that will help further develop Islamic financing in the Region.

AK BARS Bank’s CEO Robert Minnegaliev commented: �We are very thankful to all the participants of the Murabaha project that is truly important for AK BARS Bank, the Republic of Tatarstan and Russian banking sector. We highly appreciate the trust which has been shown to the Bank from the international financial institutions and we are confident that this transaction will be a key milestone in the strengthening of the cooperation between Russian banks and banks in the Middle East and Asia. This agreement is one of the steps in the development of Islamic finance in Russia, and we plan to allocate raised funds to develop Sharia�h compliant financial services.��

On the 29th of August, 2011 OJSC AK BARS Bank signed with the German bank Landesbank Berlin AG an agreement on providing financing in the amount of approx. EUR10 million

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0400

On the 29^th of August, 2011 OJSC AK BARS Bank signed with the German bank Landesbank Berlin AG the Individual loan agreement on providing to AK BARS Bank long-term financing under the German export credit agency Euler Hermes under the contract of the Bank’s customer OOO "Domostroitelny Kombinat".

Due to the arranged financing AK BARS Bank will provide OOO "Domostroitelny Kombinat" a loan for construction of the plant on the cement blocks production in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny (Republic of Tatarstan) in the amount of EUR 9 600 000,00 at the rate EURIBOR_6m + 3,00% p.a.

First Deputy Chairman of AK BARS Bank Management Board Zufar Garaev commented on the concluded transaction as follows: "This agreement is signed in the framework of the Basic Loan Agreement of our Bank with Landesbank Berlin AG, under which we can raise foreign funding to finance the real sector of economy of Tatarstan and other Russian regions. We will continue to finance projects for creation new manufactures and modernization of the existing ones at the terms and conditions - most favorable for our customers".

OJSC "AK BARS" Bank confirmed high level of data security and reliability of payment cards

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0400

OJSC "AK BARS" Bank one of the first in Russia which successfully completed certification audit for compliance with international safety standard of payment cards PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) (Version 2.0.). PCI DSS standard is adopted by major international payment systems Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Card and JCB and valid for companies that store, transmit and process payment card data. Certification was implemented by LLC "Digital Security" and JSC «ICL-KME CS", which are among the Russian leaders in security of banking information systems.

The audit results confirm that the OJSC "AK BARS" Bank provides high degree of safety and practically eliminates the risk of theft and damage of its customers’ data who use credit cards.