The Resolution Commission of Banks and Financial Institutions in a compromised situation announced that it has proceeded to “transmit a report to the Tunis Court of First Instance in order to render a judgment of dissolution and liquidation of the Banque Franco Tunisienne (BFT) and to appoint a liquidator in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 2016-48 relating to banks and financial institutions”, said a statement issued Monday evening by the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT).
The Commission said that it has “noted the cessation of payment of the BFT and the impossibility of its recovery.
It has appointed, since the end of 2018, a delegate to the Resolution who was responsible for implementing a resolution plan of the bank which has experienced financial difficulties for several years having impacted its financial balance and prevented the development of its business due to the direct effect of the dispute between one of its shareholders and the Tunisian state for over three decades.
For its part, the BCT revealed that “the transition to the liquidation process will not interrupt the procedures for the recovery of debts which will be pursued by the liquidator by any legal means or through amicable settlement under the control of the court to maximise the net proceeds of the liquidation and to guarantee the rights of BFT’s creditors.
The BCT indicated that “all the necessary measures have been taken to ensure the continuity of the normal functioning of the banking activity and the payment system following the cessation of payment of the BFT and its closure”.
It also reassured the public and all economic agents on “the financial soundness of the banking sector and the absence of any impact of the dissolution of the BFT on financial stability given the low volume of activity of the bank and its deposits.
The BCT also informed that “the Tunisian government has undertaken the necessary steps to reemploy all the agents in exercise at the date of the cessation of payment of the BFT within the Tunisian banks and financial institutions and the Tunisian Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions has responded favourably to these steps and has committed to take charge of this file.
Finally, it called on “customers whose pensions and salaries are domiciled with the BFT to proceed, as soon as possible, to the opening of new accounts with other banks in the place and to inform their employers so that they can receive their pensions and salaries in the new accounts.
It also reassured the public and all economic agents on “the financial soundness of the banking sector and the absence of any impact of the dissolution of the BFT on financial stability given the low volume of activity of the bank and its deposits.
The BCT also informed that “the Tunisian government has undertaken the necessary steps to reemploy all the agents in exercise at the date of the cessation of payment of the BFT within the Tunisian banks and financial institutions and the Tunisian Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions has responded favourably to these steps and has committed to take charge of this file.
The BFT, managed by the state, was led to its bankruptcy initially due to the practices of the former regime of Ben Ali and his relatives. Its file has not been well managed and taken seriously by successive governments since the 2011 revolution, due to conflicts of interest and involvement of several officials and senior state officials in this case.
The Tunisian state is being sued, in the context of the bank affair, for spoliation by the Dutch-based investment fund ABCI Investment. The responsibility of the Tunisian state in the BFT case was recognised in 2017, and the requests for review were all rejected.
