February 26 (SeeNews) - The interim administrator of Montenegro's troubled Atlas Banka [MNG:ATBA] plans to launch a public call for recapitalisation, allowing investors who are not existing shareholders of the bank to subscribe for new shares, the country's central bank said.
The existing shareholders did not subscribe for the lender's 22 million euro ($25 million) capital hike by the February 25 deadline, the central bank said in a statement on Monday.
In January, the interim administrator of Atlas Banka invited shareholders with pre-emption rights to subscribe for 88,710 ordinary shares of 248 euro in par value each until February 25 to rescue the bank and allow its normal operation.
The majority owner of Atlas Banka, Dusko Knezevic, said last month he was ready to participate in the recapitalisation of the bank. Knezevic, for whom a national arrest warrant has been issued by the Montenegrin authorities, announced earlier that he was in London and would not return to Montenegro. A procedure is underway to issue an international arrest warrant for Knezevic, Montenegrin media has reported.
In December, Montenegro's central bank placed AtlasBanka and Invest Banka [MNG:IBMN] under its temporary administration due to their poor financial condition, after an audit showed that the capital of the two lenders did not meet the minimum risk requirements.
The combined market share of the two banks is just above 6%, central bank governor Radoje Zugic said in December. A total of 16 banks are active in Montenegro.
($ = 0.880242 euro)