The J&T Group as the sole shareholder of J&T Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. decided to terminate its business activities in Switzerland in July this year. By a resolution of the extraordinary General Meeting of July 19, the bank was dissolved and entered the process of liquidation. PriceWaterhouseCoopers was appointed as the bank’s liquidator.
When entering the liquidation, the bank had sufficient capital and was fully solvent. Its capital during the liquidation was at CHF 19 million. The bank’s Total Assets worth CHF 47.8 million were mostly in the form of Cash in Banks (CHF 35.6 million), Securities (CHF 4.4 million) and Loans (CHF 5.3 million). Deposits made by 260 clients with the bank were at CHF 28 million.
In view of the funds and capital originally available to the bank, the shareholder is very concerned about the course of the liquidation to date. The liquidator has taken no steps toward effectively terminating the bank’s activities, and by means of very questionable accounting procedures, they reduced the bank’s capital by more than CHF 16.7 million, charging fees several times exceeding the agreed amounts. The Swiss bank regulator (FINMA) has repeatedly been informed in writing about the liquidator’s questionable conduct and also requested to take measures that would prevent damage and loss to the shareholder’s assets. FINMA has not responded to these requests, on the contrary, based on distorted information from the shareholder, they invited the shareholder to supplement the bank’s capital within deadlines that are not common in the usual administrative practice. The shareholder refused to increase the capital primarily due to the questionable nature of the need to raise the capital and the non-transparent conduct by the liquidator, auditor, and regulator. Subsequently, on the grounds of alleged failure to meet the capital adequacy requirements, FINMA resorted to declaring the bank bankrupt, and appointed PriceWaterhouseCoopers as the official receiver. The shareholder appealed against the bankruptcy declaration.
The conduct of the liquidator and FINMA clearly damages our rights, and we believe we are not being treated equally, with potential loss being caused to our assets. Therefore, we are prepared to take all necessary steps to protect our investment in the Swiss Federation and take legal action to seek protection and compensation of our the loss incurred, both with local and international courts.