Alfa Bank
Encyclopedia
Alfa Group
Alfa Group Consortium is one of Russia's largest privately owned investment groups, with interests in oil and gas, commercial and investment banking, asset management, insurance, retail trade, telecommunications, water utilities and special situation investments...
, is the largest private commercial bank in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Headquartered in Moscow, it operates in 7 countries, providing financial services to over 40,000 active corporate customers and 5.3 million retail clients. Alfa Bank is particularly active in Russia and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, ranking among top 10 largest banks in terms of capital in both countries. In the 2009 edition of the Top-1000 World Banks, a survey by The Banker
The Banker
The Banker is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd. and edited in London...
magazine, Alfa Bank was placed 270th.
History
Timeline:- 1990 – Alfa Bank founded as a partnership with limited liabilityLimited liabilityLimited liability is a concept where by a person's financial liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a company or partnership with limited liability. If a company with limited liability is sued, then the plaintiffs are suing the company, not its...
;
- 1991 – licence to banking operations received from Central Bank of Russia; first corporate accounts open;
- 1992 – Central Bank grants more licences for broader activities; Aval Bank opens first nostro accounts in six foreign banks; first retail branchBranch (banking)A branch, banking center or financial center is a retail location where a bank, credit union, or other financial institution offers a wide array of face-to-face and automated services to its customers....
opens in Moscow;
- 1993 – Alfa Bank becomes a member of Moscow Interbank Currency ExchangeMoscow Interbank Currency ExchangeThe Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange or MICEX is one of the largest universal stock exchanges in the Russian Federation and East Europe. MICEX opened in 1992 and is the leading Russian stock exchange...
; general licence to banking operations received from Central Bank; Alfa Bank starts dealing in government bondGovernment bondA government bond is a bond issued by a national government denominated in the country's own currency. Bonds are debt investments whereby an investor loans a certain amount of money, for a certain amount of time, with a certain interest rate, to a company or country...
s (GKOs and OFZs);
- 1994 – Alfa Bank becomes a member of MasterCardMasterCardMastercard Incorporated or MasterCard Worldwide is an American multinational financial services corporation with its headquarters in the MasterCard International Global Headquarters, Purchase, Harrison, New York, United States...
/EuropayEuropay InternationalEuropay International was the name of the entity created by the merger of Eurocard International, and Eurocheque International. The merged entity was headquartered in Waterloo, Belgium, on the same premises as EPSS and MasterCard EMEA .Europay International was the owner of the...
international credit card system and joins the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial TelecommunicationSociety for Worldwide Interbank Financial TelecommunicationThe Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication operates a worldwide financial messaging network which exchanges messages between banks and other financial institutions...
; Pyotr AvenPyotr AvenPetr Olegovich Aven is a Russian businessman and politician. Petr Aven graduated from Moscow State University in 1977 and holds PhD in Economics...
appointed as bank's President; Alfa Bank becomes the first Russian bank to open a subsidiary in AlmatyAlmatyAlmaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...
, Kazakhstan;
- 1995 – Euromoney ranks Alfa Bank third in its category for Best Russian Banks in 1995; Alfa Bank joins Factors Chain InternationalFactors Chain InternationalFactors Chain International was established in 1968 as the umbrella organisation for independent factoring companies around the world. FCI has grown into the world's largest factoring network....
; representative officeRepresentative officeA representative office is an office established by a company to conduct marketing and other non-transactional operations, generally in a foreign country where a branch office or subsidiary is not warranted. Representative offices are generally easier to establish than a branch or subsidiary, as...
opens in London, United Kingdom;
- 1996 – Alfa Bank joins EuroclearEuroclearEuroclear is a user owned and governed Brussels, Belgium based financial services company that specializes in the settlement of securities transactions as well as the safekeeping and asset servicing of these securities. It was founded in 1968 as part of J.P...
and Visa International; becomes one of the three participants in the first EurobondEurobondA Eurobond is an international bond that is denominated in a currency not native to the country where it is issued. It can be categorised according to the currency in which it is issued. London is one of the centers of the Eurobond market, but Eurobonds may be traded throughout the world - for...
s issue by Russian government since October RevolutionOctober RevolutionThe October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
; opens branch in Nizhniy Novgorod;
- 1997 – Alfa Bank draws US$40 million syndicated loanSyndicated loanA syndicated loan is one that is provided by a group of lenders and is structured, arranged, and administered by one or several commercial banks or investment banks known as arrangers....
; Euromoney declares Alfa Bank The Best Bank in Russia in 1997; first credit ratingCredit ratingA credit rating evaluates the credit worthiness of an issuer of specific types of debt, specifically, debt issued by a business enterprise such as a corporation or a government. It is an evaluation made by a credit rating agency of the debt issuers likelihood of default. Credit ratings are...
s received from Moody'sMoody'sMoody's Corporation is the holding company for Moody's Analytics and Moody's Investors Service, a credit rating agency which performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. The company also ranks the credit-worthiness of borrowers using a standardized...
and Standard & Poor'sStandard & Poor'sStandard & Poor's is a United States-based financial services company. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. It is well known for its stock-market indices, the US-based S&P 500, the Australian S&P/ASX 200, the Canadian...
(S&P); Alfa Bank places the first issue of US$175 million, 3-year Eurobonds, becoming the first privately owned Russian bank to issue Eurobonds; branches in Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and SamaraSamara, RussiaSamara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...
open; the value of total assetsAssetIn financial accounting, assets are economic resources. Anything tangible or intangible that is capable of being owned or controlled to produce value and that is held to have positive economic value is considered an asset...
passes US$1 billion;
- 1998 – Alfa-Bank is reorganized from limited liability companyLimited liability companyA limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
into open joint stock company; Euromoney ranks Alfa Bank The Best Bank in Russia for the second straight year; Alfa Bank mergesMergers and acquisitionsMergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
with Alfa Capital, then a sister company of Alfa GroupAlfa GroupAlfa Group Consortium is one of Russia's largest privately owned investment groups, with interests in oil and gas, commercial and investment banking, asset management, insurance, retail trade, telecommunications, water utilities and special situation investments...
; subsidiary bank opens in NovosibirskNovosibirskNovosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
;
- 1999 – Euromoney ranks Alfa Bank The Best Bank in Russia for the third straight year; Global FinanceGlobal Finance (magazine)Global Finance is an English-language monthly financial magazine.Joseph D. Giarraputo, the founder and former publisher of Venture, the magazine for entrepreneurs, in 1987 joined forces with Carl G. Burgen, Stephan Spahn, H. Allen Fernald, and Paolo Panerai to start a magazine on financial...
also names Alfa Bank The Best Russian Bank ; despite the financial crisis 14 new retail branches and offices open across Russia;
- 2000 – Alfa Bank acquires a 76% stake in Kyivinvestbank (later renamed "Alfa Bank Ukraine"); for the second year in a row Global Finance magazine names Alfa Bank The Best Russian Bank and The Banker call it The Bank of the Year; Alfa Securities, a broker and a subsidiary company of Alfa Bank, opens in London;
- 2001 – by the end of first quarter, loan portfolio reaches US1 billion; Alfa Bank opens a subsidiary in New York, Alfa Capital Markets, a NASD (National Association of Securities Dealers) regulated company set up to provide brokerage and investment services in North and South America; Emerging Markets Investor names Alfa Bank Best Bank in Russia and so does Global Finance magazine for the third straight year; Alfa Bank becomes 100 per cent owner of Amsterdam Trade Bank N.V. and thereby acquires a full banking licence in the European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
; for the third year in a row Global Finance magazine names Alfa Bank The Best Russian Bank;
- 2002 – GazpromGazpromOpen Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...
and Alfa Bank reach an agreement on strategic partnership; together with Merrill LynchMerrill LynchMerrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
Alfa Bank wins financial consulting contract from Unified Energy System; Fitch and S&P upgrade their credit rating on Alfa Bank; once again Global Finance magazine declares Alfa Bank The Best Russian Bank;
- 2003 – unauditedAuditThe general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organization, system, process, enterprise, project or product. The term most commonly refers to audits in accounting, but similar concepts also exist in project management, quality management, and energy conservation.- Accounting...
financial statementFinancial statementA financial statement is a formal record of the financial activities of a business, person, or other entity. In British English—including United Kingdom company law—a financial statement is often referred to as an account, although the term financial statement is also used, particularly by...
s reveal record high growth in profits in 2002 (loan portfolio increased 70% to US$1.4 billion, assets surged 51%, while net income rose by more than a third); Alfa Bank, in partnership with the Lauder InstituteLauder InstituteThe Joseph H. Lauder Institute of Management & International Studies is part of a dual degree program at the University of Pennsylvania, combining an MA in International Studies from the School of Arts & Sciences with an MBA from The Wharton School or JD from the Law School...
of the Wharton School of BusinessWharton School of the University of PennsylvaniaThe Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
, establishes a new award for Excellence in Foreign Investment, which would be presented to foreign companies operating in Russia for weighty contribution to the corporate governance and successful business operations; Alfa Bank draws US$82 million unsecuredUnsecured debtIn finance, unsecured debt refers to any type of debt or general obligation that is not collateralised by a lien on specific assets of the borrower in the case of a bankruptcy or liquidation or failure to meet the terms for repayment....
syndicated loan, the biggest on record among private banks; S&P, Fitch and Moody's upgrade Alfa Bank's rating during the year;
- 2004 – Alfa Bank tops the list of financial consultants by deals value, completing US$8.9 billion worth of transactions in 2003; Bank's loan portfolio grows by 52% y-o-y, reaching US$2.8 billion;
- 2005 – InterbrandInterbrandInterbrand, a division of Omnicom, is a global branding consultancy, specializing in vast brand services, including brand analytics, brand strategy, brand valuation, corporate design, digital brand management, and naming...
ranks Alfa Bank 9th strongest brand in Russia; Mikhail FridmanMikhail FridmanMikhail Maratovich Fridman is a Jewish Russian businessman. Mr. Fridman graduated from Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys in 1986. In 1988 Fridman started his career in trading and financial services before founding Alfa Group Consortium in 1989...
becomes the member of the Public Chamber of RussiaPublic Chamber of RussiaThe Public Chamber is a state institution with 126 members created in 2005 in Russia to analyze draft legislation and monitor the activities of the parliament, government and other government bodies of Russia and its Federal Subjects. It has a role similar to an oversight committee and has...
; Alfa Bank issues US$225 million of subbordinatedSubordinated debtIn finance, subordinated debt is debt which ranks after other debts should a company fall into receivership or bankruptcy....
unsecured Eurobonds; S&P, Fitch and Moody's upgrade Alfa Bank's rating during the year;
- 2006 – Alfa Bank completes the country’s first securitisation of diversified payment rights with a US$350 million deal; unaudited first quarter management IFRSInternational Financial Reporting StandardsInternational Financial Reporting Standards are principles-based standards, interpretations and the framework adopted by the International Accounting Standards Board ....
figures show total assets breaking the US$10 billion mark for the first time in company's history;