Alfa Capital could face fine of up to 500,000 rubles if it refuses to "disavow" employee's letter about banks
MOSCOW. Aug 18 (Interfax) - Alfa Capital might have to pay a fine of up to 500,000 rubles if it fails to respond to a warning being prepared by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) regarding negative information the company distributed about banks, the Russian regulator's deputy head, Andrei Kashevarov told Interfax.
"We asked Alfa Capital to provide us with the letter that is being cited in the press. And as of today we received a corresponding letter from the Central Bank and it is sufficient for us to begin preparing the warning," Kashevarov said.
If there is no response to the warning, a case will be opened, he said. "In that case, a fine of up to 500,000 rubles [might be issued] against the company," Kashevarov said.
However, the company could avoid certain negative consequences. "One of the possibilities is including a retraction of the manager's letter in the warning. In diplomacy it is called disavowal, which means all this needs to be disavowed. Alfa Capital must refute," Kashevarov said. The consequences of this incident for the specific employee, the author of the letter, must be handled by the company itself, he added.
"This letter contains indications that an entity that is a competitor of others, probably cannot give an assessment of the activities of its competitors in such a way that it leads to their discreditation," Kashevarov said, adding that it is the "purview of the regulator to talk about the condition [of banks]."
Business daily Vedomosti reported on Wednesday that Alfa Capital informed its clients in an email about problems at major Russian lenders Otkritie FC Bank , B&N Bank , Credit Bank of Moscow (CBM) and Promsvyazbank (PSB) .
FAS said on Wednesday that it had already sent a request for information to Alfa Bank in regard to the distribution of a letter about the current condition of a number of banks, setting a deadline of August 21 for the company to provide the information. After receiving and studying the information, the regulator intends to make a conclusion within the scope of its responsibilities regarding Alfa Capital's actions, "that is, about whether they do or do not have indications of violations of antimonopoly legislation," FAS said.