Modulbank

JSC KB Modulbank is the only Russia bank specializing in small business services. License CENTRAL BANK OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION No. 1927 of 16.03.2016. In addition to classic banking services, clients can use the support of an accountant, tax consultant, lawyer and business assistant. In addition, Modulbank offers customers additional products - a collective online cash desk Kass Module lending service, ModuleMoney loans for data on the movement of funds. ModuleCredit

History

2023

Settlement Availability in Indian Rupees

Settlement accounts and international transfers in Indian rupee have become available to clients of Modulbank. The bank announced this on April 3, 2023.

Now it will be easier for businesses to master markets, establish supplies and conduct settlements with counterparties in India. It is also another opportunity to receive foreign exchange payments to a Russian account. Opening and servicing an account is free.

{{quote 'For entrepreneurs who export and import, it is important to have accounts in alternative currencies so as not to depend on sanctions. In addition, India is playing an increasing role in the global supply chain and Rs accounts will make it easier to work with local suppliers, said Pavel Semenov, Chairman of the Board of Modulbank. }}

Modulbank is constantly working on expanding payment instruments, including payment exchange opportunities for foreign economic activity participants. As of April 2023, clients of Modulbank can settle with counterparties in thirteen currencies:, US dollar, euro yuan, the Kazakh tenge, the Belarusian the Armenian rubles, dramas, the Azerbaijani manats, lari, the Georgian somoni, the Tajik lira, the Turkish soums the Uzbek and catfish, the Kyrgyz and now Indian rupees. The portfolio of currencies will be replenished.

Appointment of Pavel Semenov as Chairman of the Board of Modulbank

Pavel Semenov became chairman of the board of Modulbank, replacing Svetlana Godlin in this post, who remained on the board of the bank and focused on the development of new business areas. This was announced on January 26, 2023 to TAdviser by representatives of Modulbank. Read more here.

2021

Shareholders of Modulbank

According to information as of September 2021, the shareholders of JSC KB Modulbank are:

• Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vostochny Bank Avetisyan Artem Davidovich - 90.829949%
• Chairman of the Board of Directors of KB "Modulbank" Artem Eduardovich Verba - 9.170051%

Sherzod Yusupov resigned from the shareholders of JSC KB Modulbank.

Sale of Vostochny Capital Management Company to Sovcombank

At the end of May 2021, Sovcombank closed the deal to acquire 100% of Vostochny Capital Management Company from Modulbank. Thanks to this transaction, the buyer intends to develop an asset management business. Its participants did not voice the financial and other terms of the agreement. Read more here.

2020

The court refuses Laguta, Novikov and Petrov to satisfy the claim

In November 2020, former co-owners and founders of Modulbank Oleg Laguta, Yakov Novikov and Andrei Petrov lost claims against the bank for compensation for termination of employment contracts.

The founders of Modulbank demand 435 million rubles from it

In April 2020, it became known that three founders of Modulbank - Andrei Petrov, Yakov Novikov and Oleg Laguta - sued their brainchild due to violations of labor agreements, follows from the file cabinet of Moscow courts. Vedomosti got acquainted with the lawsuit of Andrei Petrov, whose authenticity was confirmed by Petrov's lawyer, lawyer of the Knyazev & Partners MKA Roman Frantsev. The claims of Novikov and Laguta are the same, only filed in other courts, they explained to Vedomosti. The total amount of payments due to the three founders of Modulbank under the employment contract, according to their calculations, is 435 million rubles: the bank is in no hurry to pay them and calls them an "astronomical golden parachute"^[1].

Modulbank signed a labor contract with Petrov in 2014 - it was then that Laguta, Petrov and Novikov created this digital bank for small businesses. At first, it worked as a division of Regional Credit, owned by Artem Avetisyan, and Modulbank was renamed in 2016 - Laguta, Petrov and Novikov each received 7.5%. Its founders, according to them, invested 600 million rubles in Modulbank.

The starting point of the conflict was December 2019 - Petrov, Novikov and Laguta left the bank and left the capital. Their shares passed to Avetisyan, who now owns 90.8%, another 9.17% - from his partner Sherzod Yusupov. All three founders and Modulbank terminated the labor contract by agreement of the parties, and the bank satisfied the terms of this agreement, says lawyer Petrova Frantsev. So, it is stated in the lawsuit, Modulbank assumed the obligation to pay Petrov compensation for the termination of the employment contract. The amount and procedure for this payment was prescribed in the agreement: first, Modulbank pays 15 million rubles no later than Dec. 25. Each of the founders, and then until mid-summer, pays the so-called compensation for termination of the employment contract in monthly tranches, says Frantsev. Its size depends on the financial performance of the bank.

The bank paid the first 15 million, but then everything went wrong with the plan. Firstly, according to Petrov's lawsuit, Modulbank, contrary to the terms of the agreement, did not provide a calculation of the amount of compensation due to the founders (even after receiving an application with such a request). Secondly, Modulbank did not transfer the first tranche until March 1, which, according to Petrov's preliminary calculations, should have amounted to 20% of the total amount of compensation minus the paid 15 million - 18.1 million rubles: Petrov sued the bank for this amount. Novikov and Laguta did the same. "18.1 million rubles is a payment for February," says Laguta, "further the amount of the claim can be specified."

Modulbank only on April 27 received a notice of claims against it from former employees, says a representative of the bank, but did not receive the claims themselves and is not familiar with them. Avetisyan's spokesman did not respond to the request.

According to the founders, the key factor that determines the amount of payments is the net profit of Modulbank under RAS for 2019 based on the 102nd reporting form on the Central Bank website. It states that the bank's profit is 777 million rubles. Further, the initial cost of the business (3 billion rubles) was deducted from the value of the business in seven profits of the bank in 2019 and multiplied by the share of founders in the business. The formula took into account several more parameters and indicators of the bank.

The total amount of payments, according to preliminary calculations of the founders, should be about 435 million rubles. for three. The same amount, according to Petrov, was confirmed to him in a telephone conversation by the board of directors of Modulbank Alexander Chervov. In a telephone conversation with former top managers, Chervov confirmed receipt of a claim for a similar amount, but did not give consent to the payment of such an "astronomical golden parachute" to former employees, says a representative of Modulbank. The calculation on which Petrov, Novikov and Laguta insist, in addition to the mass of arithmetic errors, contains actual ones, says a representative of Modulbank: to make a payment on the calculation proposed by former employees means to distort the bank's statements in the interests of former top managers. What these distortions are, he did not explain. He also declined to comment on what formula for workers is in question if the bank, as an employer, agreed to the terms of termination of the employment contract by agreement of the parties.

If it is established that there are conditions for paying compensation, the payment will be made, Alexander Chervov later handed over to Vedomosti. "According to their [Novikov, Petrov and Laguta] work in the bank, comments have already been identified. How serious they are, it will be possible to speak after the end of an independent audit, "he said.

The indication by the parties of future payment dates outside of labor relations will force the court to assess the validity of the agreement as a whole, says FMG Group partner Nikolai Kolenchuk: in favor of employees, Modulbank partially fulfilled the agreement by paying 15 million rubles, that is, it actually recognized the force of the agreement. In general, the chances of a positive decision on claims are great, Kolenchuk believes, the question is only in the amount of unpaid compensation. The plaintiff, according to Kolenchuk, should prepare to prove in court that the financial result of the employee after his dismissal is associated with his contribution to the development of the bank during his employment, otherwise there is a risk that the court will consider the calculation procedure provided by the parties unreasonable. In this case, the defendants may insist that the parties have specified in the calculation conditions that neither party could foresee or influence, and therefore the agreement in this part may be invalidated.

Avetisyan, while Novikov, Petrov and Laguta worked in Modulbank, asked them to help with the digital transformation of Vostochny, recalls Petrov: "We planned to transform the small and medium-sized business segment and attract about 30,000 customers in one year." Vostochny announced such goals in September 2019.

"Moving to Vostochny, we agreed that it would be a short project," says Novikov. "The main work was planned to be completed in six months, we were not going to become managers."

Novikov and Petrov began work in December as advisers. Laguta did not move to the bank: he then held the post of chairman of Modulbank.

As a result, Petrov says, they developed a strategy, but later the bank stopped paying salaries. Both decided to suspend their activities at Vostochny, but they were never fired from the bank, he continues: they simply decided not to pay for our services. "The management of Vostochny is not able to comment on the motives for this decision. I think because the decisions are not made by them, "he notes.

Vostochny suspended the payment of wages to Novikov and Petrov in connection with the improper fulfillment by employees of their obligations, says a bank representative. What it was, he did not specify.

2019

The founders of Modulbank transferred their shares to Avetisyan without payment and transferred to Vostochny Bank

On December 10, 2019, it became known that the founders of Modulbank Oleg Laguta, Andrei Petrov and Yakov Novikov are transferring shares in the company and moving to Vostochny Bank, which will deal with digital transformation projects. It is planned to close the deal by the end of the year, Novikov told Vedomosti.

We signed a non-disclosure document and cannot disclose the terms of the deal, including who will own our share, he told the publication.

It became known that the founders of Modulbank Oleg Laguta, Andrei Petrov and Yakov Novikov are selling shares in the company and moving to Vostochny Bank

Before the co-founders left, they owned 7.5% of Modulbank. The largest shareholder is Artyom Avetisyan with 68.3%. Another 7.6% belongs to Sherzod Yusupov, Avetisyan's junior partner in Vostochny Bank, 1.57% belongs to Mikhail Sokolov. In addition, Avetisyan, through Finvizhn, owns 42% of Vostochny Bank.

According to Yakov Novikov, the founders initially agreed with Avetisyan that they had the opportunity to leave the business in five years.

Later, in April 2020, it became known that the decision of the founders to leave Modulbank was facilitated by the arrest in February 2019 and a criminal case against the founder of Baring Vostok, Mile Calvey, and six of his employees, Petrov says. Calvey linked the criminal case with the corporate conflict in Vostochny Bank: Avetisyan, who owned 32% of the bank's shares, together with Yusupov and other partners sought control over him.

The three founders of Modulbank decided to disperse with Avetisyan in a civilized manner, continues Petrov. "Firstly, due to a corporate conflict for Vostochny Bank, our deal to sell Modulbank at an estimate of 10-12 billion rubles fell through, and secondly, we considered that Artem violated the ethics of business relations by using a criminal case to resolve a corporate dispute with his partners in Vostochny Bank," explains the reasons for leaving the business Petrov. He does not disclose with whom negotiations were held.

It turned out that in December 2019, the founders of Modulbank gave their stake in the bank - 22.5% of the shares - to Avetisyan, having received nothing for it. The shares that the founders of the bank acquired from Avetisyan in 2016 on the basis of a sale and purchase agreement were not paid by them, said a person familiar with the terms of the transaction. As a result, the parties in December 2019 signed the termination of the sale and purchase agreement due to non-fulfillment of payment obligations - and the shares returned to Avetisyan. Now, according to Petrov's lawyer, the prospects for legal claims against Avetisyan regarding the conditions under which the share purchase and sale agreement between him and the founders was terminated are being considered.

As a result, the founders of Modulbank entered into agreements with the bank to terminate employment contracts, according to which Modulbank must pay all three equal amounts of money for business development in five years. Leaving the bank, the founders agreed that settlements with them would go gradually, says Novikov: they invested in the development of the bank for five years. "Modulbank is a successful project, technological and profitable," says Novikov. "We expected to receive a reward for the fact that in five years the bank began to cost 3-4 times more, taking into account the fact that at the time of our arrival - in 2014 - it cost about 3 billion rubles."

By December 2019, the capitalization of Modulbank is estimated at seven profits according to Russian reporting for 2019, that is, 7-10 billion rubles. In total, the founders invested 600 million rubles in the bank, Novikov said.

Andrei Petrov said that the founders of Modulbank in Vostochny will change the bank's business model with an emphasis on customer service through remote channels, updating the outdated IT infrastructure of Vostochny and forming a strong team. The labor contract is designed for a year.^[2]

Bank put up for sale for $200 million

According to Vedomosti, by December 2019, Modulbank has been put up for sale for at least a year. Many applicants refused to buy the bank because of its cost - about $200 million. As one of the bankers who considered buying notes, hardly anyone will acquire Modulbank due to the conflict between its owner Artyom Avetisyan and Baring Vostok for control over Vostochny Bank.

Modulbank IT team invited to Vostochny Bank

On September 10, 2019, Vostochny Bank informed TAdviser that it would use the expertise and experience of Modulbank to implement the Digital Transformation program. To this end, the team of Modulbank - the Chief information officer of Modulbank Ivan Karpov, as well as two of the founders of Modulbank, who will head the office of the Digital Transformation of Vostochny Bank, was invited to Vostochny Bank. Read more here.

2018: Opening of a development center in Novosibirsk

On April 12, 2018, Modulbank announced the opening of a development center in Novosibirsk. Until now, all technological and innovative solutions of the bank were created in Ufa.

We already have a Development Center in Ufa, which we continue to develop and recruit people there. The opening of another Development Center is associated with the growth of the bank and the number of tasks related to IT. We also continue to actively recruit talented developers for remote work throughout Russia, "said Andrey Petrov, Chairman of the Board of Modulbank.

According to company representatives, Novosibirsk is a strategically important city for the bank. The main customer service center is located here. In addition, the Siberian region is famous for a large number of high-class IT specialists. With the opening of the development center, Novosibirsk will become the second city in which innovative solutions of the bank are created.

The Modulbank development center is located on 2.6 thousand square meters. It holds more than 300 employees. In addition to the developers, there are sales teams and a customer care service. In the near future, the bank plans to hire more than 70 specialists in the city. In total, more than 800 people work in Modulbank, as of April 2018.

2017: Artem Avetisyan buys 24% of the bank from Sovcombank

On December 18, 2017, it became known that Sovcombank sold 24% of Modulbank, bought out in the spring of 2016 from Uniastrum Bank. As the first deputy chairman of the board of Sovcombank Sergei Khotimsky told Interfax, the funds from the sale are planned to be used to replenish the bank's capital. "Sold to Artem Avetisyan. We do not disclose the price, "he said.

Sovcombank in March 2016 bought from Uniastrum Bank a 9.99% stake in Modulbank for 415.5 million rubles. In May 2016, Sovcombank acquired another 14.01% of Modulbank from Uniastrum Bank for 582.7 million rubles, increasing its share in it to 24%.

Earlier, Modulbank (formerly Regional Credit) was 57.11% owned by Mr. Avetisyan, who bought 100% of Uniastrum Bank in the fall of 2015. After that, Uniastrum Bank itself became one of the shareholders of Modulbank, receiving a 24% stake. On the basis of the bank in 2014, a small business service was launched by former top managers of Sberbank.

2016

"Smart chat" will help Modulbank improve the mood of customers

Artificial intelligence will help Modulbank calculate customers with poor mood. To do this, the bank launched a program that analyzes the emotional state of the client online through a chat with a business assistant.

The system is based on a tonal dictionary, where more than 2 thousand control words are assigned a status - from negative to positive. The rules of the Russian language and the specifics of the banking sector are also taken into account. The analysis allows you to instantly rate: "Catastrophe," "Negative," "Neutral," "Good" or "Very good." The program will also clearly show the bank employee how the mood has changed over the past months.

"Artificial intelligence will help the care service better work out customer requests," says bank co-owner Novikov Yakov. - "At the same time," smart chat "is designed to identify the difficulties of the client in using the bank's products, as well as his readiness to refuse our services." For example, the mood chart of one of the clients looks like, who at first after opening an account did not understand how to independently prepare a payment through an online bank. After the business assistant helped him deal with this process, the client's mood improved, and the system showed positive dynamics.

Rename to Modulbank

On March 22, 2016, the Central Bank issued a license to Regional Credit Bank with a new name for the credit institution - Modulbank. The renaming of Regional Credit took place against the background of the bank's announcement of a change in its strategy^[3]

Modulbank is a service created by Regional Credit in 2014 to fully remotely serve individual entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Modulbank worked without the formation of a legal entity and without obtaining a banking license, using the technological capacities and banking infrastructure of Regional Credit.

As a result of the change in strategy, Regional Credit is completely reoriented to servicing legal entities (mainly small businesses) according to the model already worked out in the Modulbank project.

The Modulbank project within the framework of Regional Credit was headed by three immigrants from Sberbank: Oleg Laguta (former head of the development, coordination and control department of Sberbank), Yakov Novikov (former head of the small business lending department of Sberbank) and Andrei Petrov (former head of the small business department of Sberbank). Each of them in the Modulbank project received the position of managing director.

Regional Credit invested 620 million rubles in Modulbank, of which 200 million rubles in the first year of operation (until April 2015). According to Yakov Novikov, in reality, the project demanded 100 million rubles. investments less than planned, and will reach a payback in 2016 against 2017. At the end of the year, Modulbank (in general) is going to show a profit of 100 million rubles.

Employees of Modulbank, 2016

Modulbank uses CFT Bank developed by the Financial Technology Center as the basic automated banking system. For the RBS system, a "highly modified" iSimple product developed by the Russian iSimpleLab was taken. Microsoft Dynamics is used as the CRM.

An "anti-money laundering" AML system has been added to these systems, which analyzes customer transactions in real time, detects suspicious ones and, if necessary, blocks access to the Internet bank.

2015: Service "Modulbank" integrates with accounting "My business"

On April 15, 2015, it became known about the integration of the Modulbank project with the Internet accounting department My Business^[4].

An innovative component of the Modulbank service is remote service for entrepreneurs, which, in addition to traditional banking services, includes the services of a lawyer, accountant or business assistant. In fact, the bank covers the entire range of small business needs and partnership with My Business - the next step in expanding the functionality for a comprehensive solution to the problems of entrepreneurs.

Modulbank users who wish to connect access to the online service "My Business" can maintain accounting and pay taxes automatically, without manually entering data:

• bank statements are automatically loaded into My Business;
• the system independently distributes funds to items of expenses and income, calculates the amounts of taxes and contributions.
• the user sees online all movements on the settlement account;
• payment orders can be prepared directly in the personal account of My Business, and then signed in the Internet bank.

For all this to work, it is enough to enter the main details of the company once, information about the current accounts and connect electronic reporting.

Automatic data exchange between online accounting and Internet bank helps users to significantly reduce the time to reflect banking operations in accounting and tax accounting, to avoid errors in the execution of tax payments.

"We invested our forces and resources in the integration of Modulbank RBS with the online service of My Business, because these are perhaps the two most advanced financial services for entrepreneurs on the market today. Ease of use and optimization of processes between the bank and accounting for our clients were key tasks, "said Andrey Petrov, co-founder and managing director of Modulbank.

complex services offered by Modulbank for entrepreneurs are a completely new format of banking services that small businesses have been waiting for. The company "My Business" also once became a pioneer, creating the first online accounting service in Russia. By combining our capabilities, we significantly simplify the life of small businesses, as we take on many routine functions, "said Alexey Petrov, co-founder and product director of My Business, the partnership.

Notes