THE HAGUE (AFP) – A Dutch court on Friday declared the Russia-owned, Dutch-registered Amsterdam Trade Bank (ATB) bankrupt after it was caught up in Ukraine-related sanctions.
Amsterdam’s district court made the ruling on the subsidiary of Russia’s Alfa Bank in a decision confirmed by the Dutch central bank.
In a statement on its website, the central bank said customers holding deposits with ATB would be covered up to a maximum of EUR100,000 under the Netherlands’ deposit guarantee system.
The central bank administers the scheme on behalf of the Dutch government, adding ATB, founded in 1994, had some 23,000 customers.
The bankrupt bank had recently condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine while stressing its business focus is European SMEs with funds from Dutch and German savers.
In a statement at the time it said as a regulated Dutch (European) bank, it acted independently of shareholders and complied with all sanctions against Russia.
Washington on April 6 unveiled tough sanctions on Russian banks including Sberbank and Alfa Bank, the latter being Russia’s top private lender, freezing all their assets linked to the United States financial system.
ATB was also affected by United Kingdom sanctions, Dutch news agency ANP reported.
