Bulgaria is to allow its fourth-biggest lender to collapse as it moves to clear up the mess from the country’s worst financial crisis since the 1990s.
The central bank said it was removing Corporate Commercial Bank’s (Corpbank) licence and alerting prosecutors to the possibility that its main shareholder stole money from the bank just before the central bank took over its operations.
The scandal broke last month when Corpbank clients unnerved by media reports accusing top shareholder Tsvetan Vassilev of shady business deals dashed to withdraw their savings.
The bank run spread quickly to another lender and saw Sofia announce a protective $2.3 billion credit line, a reminder that parts of Europe’s financial system are still far from secure despite progress from the worst days of the financial crisis.
