OREANDA-NEWS. February 16, 2011. The main shareholders of AB Bank SNORAS established the controlling company AB SNORAS Holdings, which will take over the management of Bank SNORAS and its subsidiary companies. The new group structure will allow to expand business more effectively, to manage the available assets, to enhance efficiency and profitability of the activity. At the end of 2010, the capitalisation of the entire SNORAS group comprised LTL 1,149 billion, reported the press-centre of Bank SNORAS.

Upon approval of the Bank of Lithuania, Bank SNORAS shares owned by the founders will be transferred into the capital of the newly established company. Although AB Bank SNORAS control will not change after establishing the controlling company, however, one more entity will appear in the structure of the bank’s shareholders – a new legal person with separate management and control organs.

AB SNORAS Holdings will operate as a financial institution, whose main purpose is management of Bank SNORAS and the companies belonging to it. AB SNORAS Holdings does not plan to carry out economic activity. The controlling block of shares of AB Bank SNORAS will belong to the controlling company. The remaining part of the shares belongs to smaller shareholders, their shares are listed at Nasdaq OMX Baltic Stock Exchange.

The authorized capital of the new company comprises LTL 150 thousand; however, in the nearest future it will be increased by non-monetary contributions – by Bank SNORAS shares.

The structure of four-tier management organs is provided for in the company’s articles of association: the general shareholders’ meeting, the Supervisory Board, the Board and the president of the holding. Vladimir Antonov will be the chairman of the Supervisory Board and Raimondas Baranauskas will be the chairman of the Board and the president of the holding. Naglis Stancikas, First Vice president of AB Bank SNORAS, and Ausra Izickiene, a member of the bank’s Board, have been elected the members of the Board of SNORAS Holdings.

“The speedy expansion has nurtured the group and it consists of many companies; therefore, an effective structure is needed, which would permit to manage the current assets and investments more flexibly and efficiently. AB SNORAS Holdings, after taking over the management of the entire group, will be engaged in financial services provision, investments and their management. We seek to not only develop and expand our business, to manage resources more effectively, but also to gain larger profit for all shareholders,” states Raimondas Baranauskas, the president and one of the major shareholders of Bank SNORAS.

“We endeavour that the group would be managed by a trustworthy legal person having the appropriate structure of the collegial and single-person management organs. While centralizing the ownership forms, we do hope to enhance the transparency of the shareholders’ structure, to create greater attractiveness by attracting potential investors”, maintains R. Baranauskas.

The new controlling company was registered in the register of legal entities on 4th February upon the decision of two main shareholders of AB Bank SNORAS – V. Antonov and R. Baranauskas. The shares of two shareholders in the authorized capital of the newly established company comprise 73 and 27 per cent respectively.

“We were contemplating various possibilities of legal registration of the company – independent consultants suggested the member states of the European Union which have more favourable tax systems – Cyprus, Malta, Austria, Holland, Switzerland. Despite the fact that taxation-wise Lithuania was not the most favourable option, we decided to register the controlling company in Lithuania where the roots of Bank SNORAS are. The bank is a Lithuanian company; therefore, we develop our activity and pay taxes here,” explains R. Baranauskas.