Czech National Bank announced this morning that the CSOB (fourth-largest Czech bank owned by Belgium's KBC) buys asstes and liabilities of IPB, that has been under forced administration since last Friday. The price will be determined later, when audits will be completed. CSOB becomes the country's biggest commercial bank, with assets over CZK 600 bil. (25% of GDP) and deposits of almost CZK 400 bil.
The central bank has also begun the process of rescinding IPB's banking licence. The auditor report reveals that the IPB's losses far exceed its equity and the bank is unable to continue its operations.
(Ondrej Schneider)