Alfa Bank to be renamed Eco Center Bank in Kazakhstan

ALMATY. May 18 (Interfax) - Alfa Bank will be renamed Eco Center Bank instead of the previously announced ECO BANK, the bank said in a press release published by the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE).

"The name that was announced earlier, ECO BANK, is exactly the same as that of a bank that operates Africa. This is why it has been decided to give the brand another name," the press service of Bank CenterCredit told Interfax.

The management board of Eco Center Bank will be chaired by Ruslan Vladimirov, who is former CEO of Bank CenterCredit. The deputy CEOs will be Yerzhan Asylbek, former deputy CEO at Bank CenterCredit; and Andrei Timchenko, managing director of Alfa Bank.

Bank CenterCredit announced the earlier completion of the 100% acquisition of Alfa Bank's subsidiary in Kazakhstan.

Russian Alfa Bank's shareholders and members of the board of directors had announced earlier that they were leaving the bank in order to help remove Alfa Bank (Kazakhstan) from the sanctions lists of the United States and a number of other countries.

On April 6, 2022, After Alfa Bank (Kazakhstan) was added to the sanctions lists of the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the bank was forced to introduce a number of temporary restrictions. The U.S. authorities allotted one month until May 6 for wrapping up operations with Russia's Alfa Bank and a number of its subsidiaries, including Alfa Bank (Kazakhstan).

According to the National Bank of Kazakhstan, Bank CenterCredit and Alfa Bank (Kazakhstan) ranked 7th and 11th, respectively, in terms of assets among Kazakhstan's 22 banks as at March 1, 2022.