May 27, 2013, 03:36 / Finance

Rosbank may pay for Golubkov

Rosbank can pay Vladimir Golubkov’s legal expenses through top management liability insurance, the limit of which is RUB 410 million. But the bank has not yet contacted the insurer Yuri Nekhaychuk

The liability of Rosbank's top management, including Chairman of the Board Golubkov, is insured by AIG (formerly Chartis) with a limit of 409.5 million rubles. This follows from the decision of the extraordinary meeting of Rosbank shareholders on January 31. The insurance cost 1.2 million rubles.

Directors' liability insurance (D&O) covers the costs of claims by shareholders, employees or third parties against management, according to the product description on the AIG website. Claims may arise from any breach of duty “in performance”, including those subject to criminal proceedings. Golubkov and the bank’s vice-president Tamara Polyanytsyna are suspected of receiving a bribe of $1.5 million (allegedly $1.2 million was received) for loan restructuring (commercial bribery and complicity in a crime). The Presnensky Court of Moscow sent both of them under house arrest.

In the event that there is a criminal charge, the maximum that the policy coverage can offer is defense costs, says Vladimir Kremer, head of the financial risk insurance department of AIG: “We will have the right to return what we paid under the policy if the persons are found guilty " However, the company did not receive a statement about the insurance event until Friday evening, its representative clarified.

The entire coverage limit may be spent on legal expenses until there is a final decision from the final court on criminal punishment, says an employee of an international insurance broker. Usually an insured event is reported within two to seven days, he continues: but “the situation around Rosbank is tense, perhaps they do not want to let the insurer into the internal kitchen.” Golubkov’s interests in the case are represented by lawyer Dmitry Kharitonov, who previously defended, for example, the mother and widow of Sergei Magnitsky. It was not possible to contact him yesterday. The managing partner of a Moscow law firm estimates Golubkov's expenses for a lawyer at $10,000–20,000 per month, meaning he could spend up to $240,000 in a year.

The Presnensky court has already seized all of Golubkov’s accounts and real estate, although $17 million had previously been transferred from his account.

A Rosbank representative declined to comment. “Perhaps Rosbank shareholders, for example Societe Generale, will turn to AIG as part of a global international insurance program,” admits the general director of the Russian subsidiary of the international insurance group. He notes that against the risk of fraud on the part of their employees, banks usually purchase BBB programs (comprehensive bank insurance policies). Vedomosti was unable to find any traces of the acquisition of the BBB policy in Rosbank’s reporting.