History
Nemea Bank was founded on 2 September 2008, upon its licensing as an EU-regulated bank[6] by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA).[7][8] The Bank is a member of the Maltese Depositor Compensation Scheme,[9] which is based on EU Directive 94/19 on deposit-guarantee schemes[10] and protects client deposits up to €100,000 per client.[11] It is also a member of the Malta Investor Protection Scheme.[12]
Nemea Bank is wholly owned by its parent company Nemea plc. The largest shareholder of Nemea plc is Nevestor SA, a European investment company based in Belgium. The bank is ultimately jointly owned by its founders Heikki Niemelä and Mika Lehto,[13] both of whom are Finnish bankers. There are no other interests, financiers, investors or other institutions involved in Nemea Bank[14] Besides the Finnish founders, the bank's administrators included former Maltese PM Lawrence Gonzi and manager Joseph F. X. Zahra.[15]
On 14 February 2013, Nemea Bank launched its first major deposit products for both retail and business clients. These comprised a collection of short and long term deposit products as well as treasury cash management services for small and medium-sized enterprises.[16] These products were increased to cover eight term deposit options, ranging from 1 month to 5 years, in July 2014.[17][18][19][20]
On 27 April 2016, the Malta Financial Services Authority announced that following joint on-site inspections with the European Central Bank serious regulatory shortcomings were identified, which subsequently led to its decision to appoint PwC as administrators.[3] Following this decision, clients were informed that daily withdrawals were limited to €250 daily, and opening of new accounts or new client deposits into accounts were prohibited.[21] By that time, Nemea held €62 million worth of client deposits.[22] The MFSA announced its decision to propose the withdrawal of the bank's license in January 2017, and the ECB eventually withdrew the license on the 23rd March, 2017.[5][23] The MFSA depositor compensation scheme paid out a total of €35 million to the bank's customer, for up to €100,000 each. According to the administrator's report, as of June 2019 Nemea had had assets of €45 million and liabilities of €48.89. Its accumulated losses stood at €12.6 million. By early 2020, Nemea still owed customers €13.2 million in deposits. The bank's liquidation has stalled due to pending legal appeals.
