Amsterdam Trade Bank (ATB) was a

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

registered in

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

between 1994 and 2022. The bank focused on providing

trade financing Trade finance is a phrase used to describe different strategies that are employed to make international trade easier. It signifies financing for trade, and it concerns both domestic and international trade transactions. A trade transaction requir ...

for companies wishing to do business in former Soviet states. ATB was supervised by

De Nederlandsche Bank De Nederlandsche Bank (, , abbr. DNB) is the national central bank for the Netherlands within the Eurosystem. It was the Dutch central bank from 1814 to 1998, issuing the guilder. Since 2014, it has also been the country's national competent au ...

History

The company was founded in 1994 through Alexander Smolensky as Stolichny Bank International, a subsidiary of the Russian SBS-AGRO Bank () to provide trade financing for companies wishing to do business in former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In addition to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

branch, Stolichny Bank International had other international branches in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

and

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. Following the

1998 Russian financial crisis The Russian financial crisis (also called the ruble crisis or the Russian flu) began in Russia on 17 August 1998. It resulted in the Russian government and the Russian Central Bank devaluing the Russian rouble, ruble and sovereign default, defau ...

, SBS-AGRO, which was Russia's largest private bank, went through restructuring. In 2001 it became a subsidiary of Russian private investment consortium

Alfa Group Alfa Group Consortium () is a Russian international privately owned investment groups, with interests in oil and gas, commercial and investment banking, asset management, insurance, retail trade, telecommunications, water utilities and special ...

through ABH Holdings S.A. a limited liability company (

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

) and its subsidiary ABH Financial Limited which partially controls

Alfa-Bank Alfa-Bank JSC () is the largest of the private banks in Russia. It was founded in 1990 by Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman, who remains the controlling owner. Headquartered in Moscow, it operates in seven countries, providing financial servi ...

's assets. Ukrainian-born Russian businessman

Mikhail Fridman Mikhail Maratovich Fridman (also transliterated Mikhail Friedman; ; ; born 21 April 1964) is a Ukrainian-born, Russian–Israeli tycoon and Russian oligarchs, oligarch. He is one of the co-founders of Alfa Group, Alfa-Group, a multinational Rus ...

later stated that through Alfa-Bank he indirectly owned a minority stake in ATB. Amsterdam Trade Bank N.V. opened an internet branch in the Netherlands, Germany and Austria in 2003, 2006 and 2011, respectively. On April 22, 2022, the Amsterdam District Court declared the bankruptcy of Amsterdam Trade Bank N.V.

Controversies

In 2004 and again in 2007, an ATB account of the offshore company ''Sevenkey Limited'', which is owned by Olga Shuvalova (wife of

Igor Shuvalov Igor Ivanovich Shuvalov ( rus, И́горь Ива́нович Шува́лов, p=ˈigərʲ ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂʊˈvaləf; born 4 January 1967) is the chair of the Russia's largest state development corporation VEB.RF (since May 24, 2018) a ...

) and supported by the

Alexander Mamut Alexander Leonidovich Mamut (; born 29 January 1960) is a Russian-Israeli billionaire, oligarch, lawyer, banker and investor. Until 2020, he was a co-owner of Rambler Group. In June 2022, ''Forbes'' estimated Mamut's net worth at $2 billion. ...

-founded ALM Consulting () law firm, was used to transfer large amounts in US dollars to ''Gallagher Holdings Limited'', which is associated with

Alisher Usmanov Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov (, ; born 9 September 1953) is a Russian-Uzbek oligarch. He is sanctioned by the US, EU, UK, and Ukrainian governments. By March 2025, Usmanov had an estimated net worth of $16.7 billion and was ranked number 124 a ...

, and a bank account of the company ''Unicast Technologies Corporation'', which is associated with

Eugene Shvidler Evgeny Markovich Shvidler , also transliterated as Eugene Shvidler, born 23 March 1964), is a Soviet-born billionaire businessman, and winemaker. Shvidler was sanctioned by the UK Government in March 2022 in the wake of the Russian invasion of ...

. Usmanov used the money from the 2004 transactions to purchase his stake in the Anglo-Dutch steel firm

Corus Group Corus may refer to: Places * Çörüş, Gazipaşa, a village in Antalya Province, Turkey Facilities and structures * Corus Quay, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; an office tower Fictional locations * Corus, a fictional world that is the setting for the ...

. In 2017 the ''international investigative journalist collaboration'' claimed ATB was involved in an infamous money laundering scheme, something the bank denied. Allegedly, $34.5 million moved through Amsterdam Trade Bank accounts.

Paul Radu Paul Radu (born 1975–76) is an Investigative journalism, investigative journalist from Romania. He is the co-founder of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, for which he and co-founder Drew Sullivan received the Special Awar ...

led the investigations, and ATB offices were searched by the Dutch financial crimes prosecutor (). The search did not result in proof of money laundering, although the bank had nonetheless placed a heavier emphasis on its compliance department following the events.

Corporate governance

Acting directors of ATB in 2018 were: * Harris Antoniou (

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

) * Eric Steeghs (

CFO A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, re ...

) * Peter Ullmann ( CRO) There were also a number of non-acting directors in Supervisory Board.

Notes

References

External links

Amsterdam Trade Bank NV
retail internet website
Amsterdam Trade Bank (Germany)
retail internet website
Amsterdam Trade Bank (Austria)
retail internet website {{Dutch financial services companies Defunct banks of the Netherlands Banks based in Amsterdam Banks established in 1994 Banks disestablished in 2022 Dutch companies established in 1994 Dutch companies disestablished in 2022