2011-10-27
The Bank of Lithuania is taking initiative to strengthen the protection of bank secret
The Bank of Lithuania recognized that the legal regulation of bank secret in the country is not sufficiently clear, and the legal gaps create preconditions for a different interpretation of the requests to provide such information.
To strengthen confidence in credit institutions and clarify the problems related to bank secret disclosure, the Bank of Lithuania asked commercial banks and foreign bank branches for information about the requests received by credit institutions to provide the data that constitutes bank secret.
The survey showed that the main difficulties encountered by credit institutions when assessing validity of such requests and providing the information requested are related to the absence of clear legal regulation, quality of requests to provide information and their quantity. According to banks, institutions are requesting unnecessary data, very short terms are indicated for the provision of information, the information is requested to be received using insecure means. Most credit institutions noted that problems emerge most frequently when assessing whether there is a suitable legal ground for the provision of the requested data.
After assessing the information provided by banks, the Bank of Lithuania makes a conclusion that bank secret problem is of systemic nature, therefore, it should be solved be solved in a complex rather than fragmentary manner.
To achieve clearer and simpler regulation that eliminates legal ambiguities, the Bank of Lithuania took initiative to coordinate inter-institutional efforts in improving the bank secret institute and strengthening its protection. The Bank has created a working group, to which it invited the representatives of the concerned ministries, the State Data Protection Inspectorate, law-enforcement bodies and other state institutions.
Bank “Finasta” was allowed to register the articles of association with the indicated increased capital
The Board of the Bank of Lithuania gave permission to bank “Finasta” to register amendments to its articles of association related to the change in the number of shares and the increase of the bank’s authorised capital to LTL 38,000,000 approved by the decision of the sole shareholder of bankas “Finasta” on 9 August 2011.
Currently, the registered authorised capital of bank “Finasta” amounts to LTL 28,000,000, which is divided into 2,800,000 ordinary registered shares. The nominal value of one share is LTL 10. The sole shareholder of bank “Finasta” is AB “Finasta Holding”, which is controled by AB bankas Snoras.
According to bank “Finasta”, the purpose of the increase of capital is the strengthening of the bank’s capital base, taking into account the current turmoil in capital markets. According to the bank, this increase would positively affect the bank’s capital adequacy ratio and enable the bank to accelerate its business expansion (it would make the bank’s crediting activity more active).
Information on the activity of credit and payment institutions
The information on the activity of credit and payment institutions in the third quarter of 2011 provided by the Credit Institutions Supervision Department of the Bank was presented to the Board of the Bank of Lithuania. The review of this activity is available on the website of the Bank of Lithuania.
Sample coin dedicated to XXX Olympic Games in London approved
The Board of the Bank of Lithuania approved the sample of the 50 litas silver collector (commemorative) coin dedicated to XXX Olympic Games in London. The author of the coin’s graphic design is Rūta Ona Čigriejūtė, whereas the plaster model was created by Rytas Jonas Belevičius. The sample coin was produced at UAB Lietuvos monetų kalykla (Lithuanian Mint).
The issue of this coin into circulation is planned for December 2011.