Alfa-Bank

Alfa-Bank was founded in 1990. Alfa-Bank is a universal bank that carries out all the main types of banking operations on the financial services market, including servicing private and corporate clients, investment banking business, leasing, factoring and trade financing.

Alfa-Bank serves approximately 334,000 corporate clients and 14.3 million individuals. There are 733 branches and branches in Moscow, regions of Russia and abroad, including a subsidiary bank in the Netherlands and financial subsidiaries in the UK and Cyprus.

Financial performance

Main article: Alfa-Bank's financial performance

2023:118 billion rubles of net profit

In 2023, Alfa-Bank earned 118 billion rubles of net profit under RAS, while a year earlier the credit institution reported net losses of 117.1 billion rubles. The bank spoke about the results of work in 2023 on January 30, 2024.

Alfa-Bank's website reports that in 2023, the bank's assets grew by 45%. Thus, the corporate loan portfolio added 51%, and the retail portfolio - 40%. The deposit portfolio also showed an increase of 46% due to an increase in the volume of funds of individuals by 53% and legal entities - by 40%.

Alfa-Bank earned 118 billion rubles of net profit

The bank also points to an increase in the customer base of 4.6 million people at the end of 2023. The number of its retail clients of the credit institution increased to 30 million customers. The customer base of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) increased by almost a quarter and reached 1.6 million people. According to the chief managing director of Alfa-Bank Vladimir Verkhoshinsky, this is due to the "expansion of phygital branches into the regions." By the end of 2023, the bank had more than 700 phygital branches throughout Russia.

At the end of 2023, Alfa-Bank showed significant growth not only in net profit, but also in the client base, - comments Vladimir Verkhoshinsky. - Our digital solutions continue to occupy the first lines of Markswebb ratings by an even greater margin from competitors. Such growth and development became possible primarily due to the well-coordinated work of the entire team. In 2023, Alfa-Bank became the leader of all major ratings among the best employers in Russia. We continue to actively invest in technology, in service and in people.

In 2023, Alfa-Bank announced its readiness to enter the Vietnamese market. In addition, according to RBC, the bank considered expanding its business in China.^[1]

Digitalization

Main article: Digitalization at Alfa-Bank

History

2024

Purchase of the Rosbank Plaza business center in the center of Moscow

On October 29, 2024, it became known that Alfa-Bank became the owner of the Rosbank Plaza business center in Moscow, located on Masha Poryvaeva Street. The transaction is estimated at ₽14,4 billion and is related to the bank's plans to expand the office network and optimize business processes. Read more here.

Creation of a virtual mobile operator on the Beeline infrastructure

On October 29, 2024, Alfa-Bank announced the launch of its own virtual mobile operator. An MVNO project called Alfa-Mobile involves the use of the VimpelCom cellular infrastructure (beeline brand). Read more here.

Alexey Khotin's confirmed debt to Alfa-Bank exceeds 106 billion rubles

On October 9, 2024, the Moscow Arbitration Court introduced an initial bankruptcy procedure for the former owner of Ugra Bank, Alexei Khotin, - debt restructuring. The applicant in this case is Alfa-Bank, which was one of the largest creditors of Khotin's companies. Read more here.

Increase in the down payment on IT mortgages from 20.1% to 50.1%

On October 10, 2024, it became known that Alfa-Bank increased the down payment on preferential mortgages for IT specialists to 50.1%. Previously, this figure was 20.1%. Read more here

Purchase of 73% of the legal entity of the publication RB.ru

In September 2024, Alfa-Bank acquired 73% in the legal entity of the business publication RB.ru. The deal will allow the bank to develop new educational projects and media platforms for entrepreneurs, as well as bring to a new level existing initiatives aimed at supporting small and medium-sized businesses in Russia, according to a press release. Read more here.

Creation of a factoring subsidiary - Alfa Factoring LLC

In September 2024, Alfa-Bank registered a subsidiary for provision factoring services - LLC Alpha factoring"." The authorized capital of the new legal entity is 10 million, rubles Leonid Kultygin, who previously held the post of head of the factoring directorate of Alfa-Bank, was appointed general director of the company. More. here

Participation in the Trans-Eurasian Fiber Optic Communication Line Project

In early September 2024, Alfa-Bank entered into a joint TEA Next project with Rostelecom, which provides for the construction of the Trans-Eurasian fiber-optic communication line. As part of the transaction, Alfa-Bank received 49.99% of Atlas LLC, the operator of this project. Read more here.

Recovery of 26.5 billion rubles and 47.3 million Swiss francs from the parent holding ABH Financial

On August 1, 2024, the city's arbitration court Moscow fully satisfied the claim of Alfa-Bank Joint-Stock Company against the Cypriot company, ABH Financial obliging the latter to pay ₽26,5 billion and CHF47,3 million. The decision was made in favor of the largest private bank. Russia More. here

VimpelCom bought a stake in the Krasnodar telecom company Kubintersvyaz from Alfa-Bank

In April 2024, VimpelCom increased its stake in the Krasnodar telecommunications company Kubintersvyaz by 13.3%, having bought back shares from the Main Information and Computing Center of Moscow JSC (GIVC of Moscow JSC), which belonged to Alfa Bank. Read more here.

Creation of Alfa-Mobile virtual mobile operator

In February 2024, Alfa-Bank registered a new company called Alfa-Mobile. He will provide communication services. Read more here.

2023

Customer Data Breach

Hackers posted the data of Alfa-Bank customers in the public domain. This was announced on October 20, 2023 by the Telegram channel "Information Leaks." According to him, the merged file contains 1 million lines, including:

• FULL NAME
• phone number (175 thousand unique numbers);
• e-mail address (18.7 thousand unique addresses);
• date of birth;
• bank card number, expiration date and type;
• Bank account number.

According to the authors of the Telegram channel "Information Leaks," some names indicate the signs "died" and "closed" with the code indicated. In total, this dump contains 43,931 records representing a unique set of individual data, they add.

Earlier in October 2023, the Market Overview Telegram channel wrote that the Ukrainian hacker groups KibOrg and NLB had hacked into Alfa Bank's base. The report says that the attackers announced gaining access to the data of 30 million clients of the credit institution, including full names., Dates of birth, account numbers, phones and other information.

As confirmation, a database of 44 thousand customers was allegedly posted in the public domain. Including published data presumably the founder of Alfa-Bank Mikhail Fridman, his son Alexander Ozhelsky, designer Artemy Lebedev, rappers Timati and Basta.

Alfa Bank itself denies the data breach. The press service of the credit institution told RBC that this information is not true, and all customer data is protected.

This is a fake, there is nothing more to add, - reacted in Alfa Bank.

At the same time, earlier the Russian Telegram channel "Information Leaks" repeatedly reported reliable data on data leaks in large companies. This channel is owned by research company DLBI.^[2]

Sanctions against Alfa Bank led to the blocking of $0.6 billion in US banks

Sanctions against Alfa Bank led to the blocking of $582 million in American banks. The credit institution announced such data as part of a lawsuit with an individual entrepreneur Svetlana Kartunova, who in November 2022, through a court, demanded that Alfa-Bank repay the debt and interest for unlawful withholding of funds.

According to Interfax, citing the case file, Alfa-Bank did not fully fulfill the client's instructions to buy currency for 2.8 million rubles - the funds were never received by the counterparty's account. The money was transferred through US correspondent bank JP Morgan Chase.

In its defense, Alfa-Bank refers to force majeure circumstances arising from the imposition of sanctions against Russia and against the credit institution itself on April 6, 2022. The court of first instance and the court of appeal sided with the individual entrepreneur, but the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District overturned the decisions and transferred the case for the next consideration. The meeting in the Moscow Arbitration Court will be held on November 14, 2023.

During the review of the case, Kartunova petitioned the bank to seek agreements with JP Morgan Chase Bank, Alfa Bank's appeal to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department (OFAC) from April 6, 2022 and OFAC's responses to such appeals, the response of the OFAC licensing unit to the bank's appeal of July 7, 2022. In addition, the plaintiff asks to provide "information on how much of the $582 million blocked according to the appeal of Alfa-Bank dated July 7, 2022 in American banks is the funds of clients of Alfa-Bank JSC, which are not affiliated with Alfa-Bank JSC and with the owners of Alfa-Bank. By October 18, 2023, Alfa Bank is under blocking US sanctions^[3]

Alfa-Bank established a microfinance subsidiary Alfa Finance

On October 16, 2023, it became known about the creation of Alfa Finance in the Alfa Bank group. Its authorized capital is 200 million rubles. Read more here.

Alfa-Bank bought 49.99% of Atlas

Alfa-Bank bought 49.99% of Atlas (TEA NEXT operator). The partnership with this credit institution within the framework of the project for the construction of the Transevrasian fiber-optic communication line in Rostelecom was announced on October 12, 2023. At the same time, the financial and other parameters of the transaction are not disclosed. Read more here.

The verdict of the co-owner of the IT company Active CIS is 4.5 years in prison for embezzlement of 2.5 billion rubles from Alfa-Bank

In August 2023, the Savelovsky Court of Moscow sentenced the co-owner of the IT company Active CIS Ruslan Kryazhev to 4.5 years in prison on charges of embezzling 2.5 billion rubles from Alfa Bank. Such an amount, according to the court decision, the businessman will have to reimburse the credit institution. Read more here.

In Russia, the first CFAs were issued, tied to real financial assets - to the shares of Lukoil

On August 11, 2023, it became known about the release of the first in, Russia digital financial assets (CFA) tied to real financial assets - to the value of shares "" and the Lukoil key rate. This tool decided to release Alfa-Bank. The volume of the first issue will be 300 million, the rubles circulation period is one month.

As Kommersant notes, CFAs previously placed similar to classic bonds or tied directly to the value of real assets. Alfa-Bank's project is essentially an analogue of structural bonds actively placed by Russian banks among qualified investors, the newspaper explains.

If the price of Lukoil shares for the period of circulation of the CFA rises, then the owner of digital assets will receive only their initial value. If the share price falls, then the return value of the CFA will decrease proportionally. At the same time, the bank in any case will pay an additional income of 1.7% to the investor, that is, the guaranteed income of the instrument will be about 20% per annum, the article specifies.

As Denis Dodon, director of innovation at Alfa-Bank, explained, "the product's economy is such that secondary circulation has been limited to maximize profitability for the client." The bank is preparing other similar issues, which should "become a flagship product."

Structural bonds, the income of which is tied to the value of the underlying asset, are usually issued without capital protection. In them, various currencies of both friendly and unfriendly countries, debt market rates, including key, individual assets or "baskets" of assets (securities, metals) and others, act as base assets.

Expanding the diversity of base assets will make the market more attractive for corporate clients and attract additional liquidity to the market, says Denis Iordanidi, CEO of Lighthouse.^[4]

Penalty for illegal advertising calls

The Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (OFAS) in the Penza Region fined Alfa-Bank for illegal advertising. The press service of the department announced this on July 5, 2023.

According to the FAS, the credit institution extended its services to the phone numbers of subscribers who did not express their consent to receive advertising. So, a citizen turned to the Penza OFAS of Russia, who received phone calls advertising Alfa-Bank services. The applicant did not give consent to receive advertising for his subscriber number to the telecom operator or other persons.

The Commission of the Penza OFAS of Russia recognized the advertising of the bank's services as contrary to the requirements of Part 1 of Art. 18 of the Federal Law "On Advertising." At the end of June 2023, a resolution was issued against the bank, according to which it was found guilty of committing an administrative offense, the liability for which is provided for in part 1 of article 14.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Alfa-Bank was fined 250 thousand rubles, added to the Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service in the Penza Region.

Earlier, the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal recognized the decision of the Moscow Regional Department of the FAS to bring Alfa-Bank to administrative responsibility for violating the law on advertising. The decision was made on the appeal of the Russian, which contained information about his receipt of advertising through an SMS message from the bank without his consent. As a result, Alfa-Bank was fined 120 thousand rubles following an investigation. The credit institution did not agree with the specified decision and went to court, but he confirmed the legality and validity of the decision of the Moscow regional OFAS.^[5]

Purchase of 19% of Tavros

Alfa-Bank bought 19.01% of the producer of meat and sugar "Tavros." The corresponding entry in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRUL) was made on June 27, 2023. Read more here.

Recovery from Svyaznoy 548 million rubles

On June 8, 2023, the Moscow Arbitration Court decided to recover 548.4 million rubles from the Cypriot structure of DTSRetail Ltd retailer Svyaznoy in favor of Alfa Bank. We are talking about a bank guarantee agreement dated April 3, 2023. Read more here.

2022

Agreement with the Svyaznoy network on a settlement agreement on a debt of 6 billion rubles

At the end of November 2022, it became known about the settlement agreement, which Alfa-Bank and Svyaznoy agreed to conclude. The credit institution demanded to recover almost 6 billion rubles from the cellular retailer. Read more here.

Alfa-Bank and other banks stole 60 million rubles due to outdated NCR ATMs

As it became known at the end of October 2022, 60 million rubles were stolen from Alfa Bank and other banks due to outdated ATMs. A criminal case was initiated on the fact of theft on an especially large scale (paragraph "b" of part 4 of article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Read more here.

Alfa-Bank filed a lawsuit against Svyaznoy for 6 billion rubles

On September 8, 2022, it became known about Alfa-Bank's new lawsuit against Svyaznoy. The credit institution continues to collect debt from the retailer. Read more here.

Hit by blocking US sanctions

On April 6, 2022, the US White House announced the introduction of full blocking sanctions against Sberbank and Alfa Bank. Inclusion in the SDN (Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons) list involves blocking all assets of credit institutions in the United States, introducing a ban on American citizens and companies from conducting any transactions with them. Read more here.

IT businessmen Matsotsky and Galitsky will resign from Alfa-Bank's board of directors along with sanctioned Fridman and Aven

On March 1, 2022, Alfa-Bank announced the upcoming changes in the board of directors. In the near future, Mikhail Fridman, Peter Aven, Alexander Galitsky and Sergey Matsotsky will leave its composition. The council will be headed by Alfa-Bank President Oleg Sysuev. He now holds the position of First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Oleg Sysuev has been working at the bank since 1999. Among other things, Sysuev oversees the development of the regional network, social projects and heads the Committee on Sustainable Development (ESG) of Alfa-Bank.

Against the background of the military operation Russia in To Ukraine European Union February, he introduced restrictive measures against several banks, including Alfa-Bank. The sanctions relate to transactions with transferred securities and money market instruments issued after April 12, 2022.

Alfa-Bank shareholders Mikhail Fridman and Peter Aven came under personal EU sanctions and intend to challenge them in order, as stated in their joint statement, "to cancel the unjustified and unnecessary damage to the well-being of numerous employees, customers, partners and stakeholders, as well as the business that we have created with our partners over the past 25 years."

The founder of the GS INVEST IT holding Sergey Matsotsky and the managing partner of Almaz Capital Partners Alexander Galitsky joined the bank's board of directors in June 2020. The reasons for their withdrawal from the council are not reported.

Sergey Matsotsky chose not to comment on his departure from the board of directors. It was also not possible to get comments from Alexander Galitsky.

2021

Creation of microcredit company "A Money"

At the end of December 2021, it became known about the creation by Alfa-Bank of a microcredit company (MCC) "A Money." This is a joint project with IFC Seimer. Read more here.

Creation of a company for the development of "X5 Bank"

In mid-November 2021, it became known about the creation of Kh5 Financial Decisions LLC. This is a joint venture (JV) between retailer X5 Group and Alfa-Bank, registered for the development of the Kh5 Bank financial service - a payment system that will be built into all business applications of Kh5 Group services. Read more here

Alfa-Bank evicts VKontakte from Singer's house due to low rental price in documents

On September 22, 2021, it became known that Alfa-Bank filed a lawsuit to invalidate the sublease agreements with VKontakte. The credit institution believes that the deal following which the social network occupied a room in the Singer House in the center of St. Petersburg was concluded at a value below the market value. The lease agreement was signed by Andrei Isaev, who was in charge of the building at that time, and later he was accused of embezzling the property of the  Baltic Bank. Read more here.

Recovery of funds invested in Durov's TON blockchain project

In September 2021, the Gagarinsky Court of Moscow recovered $22 million from the ex-Minister for "Open Government" Mikhail Abyzov, and $30.8 million and 5.6 billion rubles from Alfa Bank at the suit of the Prosecutor General's Office. Read more here.

Opening co-working spaces in Sochi for remote employees to combat burnout

At the end of June 2021, Alfa-Bank announced the opening of a co-working space in Sochi for remote employees. Thanks to this initiative, the credit institution intends to help employees fight professional burnout.

Most of our employees have been working from home for over a year. Not everyone is comfortable with this, many dream of changing the situation for at least a couple of weeks. Now they can go to Sochi and work from there - with sea air, the beach and picturesque surroundings. Completely different feelings than from the annoying removal from the house, - said the HR director of Alfa-Bank Marat Ismagulov, whose words are quoted by the press service of the organization.

By June 29, 2021, two coworking spaces were opened at Alfa Bank in Sochi - in the Olympic Park and next to the sea station in the city center. Each center has 70 jobs, Wi-Fi, talks for large meetings and Zoom talks for calls, soft corners and electronic lockers for storing personal belongings. To work in co-working spaces, you need to book a place through a corporate mobile application.

In addition to jobs, for "a full reboot and burnout prevention," the bank offers yoga, stretching and zumba classes on the beach, and on weekends - excursions to tea plantations, to Abkhazia and to the sights of Sochi. The company plans to open a winter co-working space for employees at one of the city's ski resorts. The amount of expenses for these projects is not specified.

By the end of June 2021, Alfa-Bank continues to practice a hybrid format of work due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic: some employees work completely remotely, someone combines work in the office and at home. Earlier, the bank opened coworking in Moscow, focused primarily on teamwork.^[6]

Detention of a manager on charges of stealing 300 million rubles from cells

In June 2021, Alina Tretyakova, deputy head of the VIP clients department of Novosibirsk-Voznesensky Alfa-Bank, was detained on suspicion of stealing more than 300 million rubles from bank cells.

In November 2020, clients discovered an autopsy of 3 cells:

• 130 million rubles were stolen from the ex-deputy head of the Novosibirsk police Vyacheslav Pevnev, who had long been in business, saved money for 20 years;
• an unknown amount was stolen from a lawyer, a member of the Zaeltsov Bar Association Yuri Goldberg;
• from the third cell (rented by a pensioner) they did not take anything, there were jewelry that would later be easy to find.

On May 26, 2021, a search took place in Tretyakova's house. Her lawyer reports that Tretyakova was transferred from a witness to the accused, she is charged with embezzlement of about 300 million rubles, the issue of arrest is being resolved.

It was later revealed that:

• video surveillance in the department was not conducted for 2 days;
• the stay of visitors in the depository was not controlled;
• a permanent employee was not assigned to the depository;
• the passage of bank employees with access to the depository was not controlled;
• locks and keys were not replaced when the tenant changed;
• the keys were taken outside the bank.

Sale of 41% of Potok small business lending platform

On April 8, 2021, it became known that Alfa-Bank's share in Potok Digital was reduced from 60% to 19%. The deal was concluded with Potok Holding, to which the bank first sold 40% of the startup, and now - 41%. Read more here.

Purchase of cashless tip service Netmonet

In mid-February 2021, it became known about the sale of the Netmonet service to Alfa Bank. It is planned to close the deal before the end of the month. Its cost has not been disclosed. Read more here.

2020

Sale of confidential data of Alfa-Bank customers on the darknet

July 24, 2020 it became known about the sale of detailed data of Alfa-Bank customers on the darknet. The credit institution confirmed the leak of information, but assured that it turned out to be small, and some of the information is no longer relevant.

At the disposal News of "" was a screenshot of a text fragment of a database with 64 records containing full name, city of residence, client's mobile phone, as well as account balance and date of the document update. During the check, the journalists of the publication were convinced of the reliability of the data.

The seller did not specify to the newspaper how much record he had in his hands, but assured that he was ready to unload 5 thousand lines with information per week.

Yes, the data, partially irrelevant, of several dozen Alfa-Bank clients came to third parties. The bank is currently investigating the incident. Already, we can say that, based on the format of the leaked data, the leak did not occur from the bank's internal systems, Alfa-Bank said in a statement.

The bank added that customers' money is safe - the leaked data does not allow access to customers' accounts, and the leak itself did not come from the internal systems of the credit institution.

Alfa-Bank clients are not the only ones who have suffered from personal data thieves. On the same hacker forum, the darknet sells databases of clients of the Moscow Credit Bank, VTB, Gazprombank and other financial structures, arranged according to the same scheme. Sellers report that they intend their "product" mainly for call centers.

The purchase volume is from 100 records at a price of 30 rubles per line with the current balance from 5 thousand to 300 thousand rubles. If the balance is above 300 thousand rubles, then the cost will increase to 50-60 rubles per line. According to the seller of the database, the format of the data coincides with the table of Alfa-Bank.^[7]

Employees sell customer data to scammers to steal funds

In May 2020, the deputy prosecutor of Arkhangelsk approved the indictment in the case against the bank's employees - 25-year-old Andrei Odoev and 24-year-old Vladislav Sukhanov. It was established that Odoev, working at Alfa-Bank, transferred the data of six bank clients to fraudsters from Moscow. The data was used by criminals to make fake passports and open bank cards.

Thanks to the actions of Odoev and Sukhanov, more than 8.5 million rubles were stolen from three accounts. For their "help," bank employees received 62.5 thousand rubles each.

Sale of interest in CardsMobile to Viafocus Limited

On February 7, 2020, it became known that Alfa-Bank sold 25% in the company CardsMobile the Cyprian Viafocus Limited"." More. here

2019

Neutralizing a fraudster

Mikhail Izosimov, a specialist in the department for working with executive documents of Alfa-Bank, lost a lot in cards. His savings to pay the debt were not enough, and he decided to borrow them from the bank. He had access to a special program that was used to execute court decisions to recover money from insurance companies in favor of Alfa-Bank clients.

Izosimov saw in it an opportunity to earn money and came up with a simple scam: when he received writ of execution, he entered false numbers into the program, and the money from insurers went not to customers, but to his account. Investigators date the first such tranche on June 27, 2019. It was a test of strength: Izosimov transferred 35,000 rubles to himself.

Then Izosimov dared. A couple of weeks later, he repeated the attempt, and his appetites increased many times: on July 15, he sent himself 458 thousand rubles, and two days later - 951 thousand. And then he got caught.

The suspicious operation interested Rosgosstrakh, connected the security service - and the strings led to Izosimov. There was less than enough evidence: the man performed all the operations from a work computer, used his login and password for the program, and even the account to which he transferred the money was registered to him.

Mikhail Izosimov was charged with three episodes of fraud in the field of computer information, of which two were on a large scale (part 3 of article 159.6 of the Criminal Code). The punishment is up to six years in prison.

Data of thousands of clients of Alfa-Bank and Alfa-Insurance put up for sale

On November 5, 2019, it became known that the data of about 3.5 thousand customers of Alfa-Bank and about 3 thousand customers of AlfaStrakhovanie were put up for sale. The corresponding announcement was found on one of the specialized forums.

According to RBC, the database contains a full name, mobile phone number, passport and registration data, the amount of the credit limit or insurance, the subject and date of insurance. All Alfa-Bank contracts were issued in October, and insurance - on May 8, 2019, the seller claims.

To verify the authenticity of the data, the seller invites potential buyers to familiarize themselves with 23 contracts. Journalists checked these documents. When trying to transfer money to the specified phone numbers, the initials of the recipient coincided with those indicated in the contracts in 11 out of 13 cases. At the same time, the data of AlfaStrakhovanie customers were not confirmed. 

One of Alfa-Bank's clients told the publication that fraudsters had already called him , and he blocked the card.

 In Alfa-Bank, RBC confirmed the leakage of personal data, but said that it affected only 15 customers. The bank also assured that the incident does not threaten funds in accounts. However, the bank is still investigating to determine the scale of the problem and address the causes of the leak. 

A representative of AlfaStrakhovanie said that the company is aware of the facts of posting ads on the Internet , and that it has already introduced additional security measures.

The same person , an employee of the bank, and from the grassroots, could have leaked data from both Alfa Bank and AlfaStrakhovanie to the black market, a source close to the Central Bank told RBC.^[8]

Most likely, he was sitting on the processing of these contracts and decided to merge them into the black market in order to earn money, the source suggested.

Alfa-Bank chief information officer becomes a member of the Management Board

In August 2019, Sergei Polyakov, who oversees the information technology unit at Alfa-Bank, was elected a member of the bank's management board in accordance with a decision adopted by the credit institution's board of directors. Earlier, his candidacy was agreed by the Bank of Russia. Read more here.

Personal data of customers got into the public domain

On June 9, 2019, it became known about the leakage of data from 900 thousand customers of Russian banks. Passport data, phone numbers, places of residence and work of citizens of the Russian Federation were in the public domain.

As Kommersant writes with reference to the DeviceLock service, customers of Alfa Bank, OTP Bank and HCF Bank, as well as about 500 employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and 40 people from the FSB, were injured. Read more here.

Alfa-Bank "will reduce 3 thousand employees

On May 20, 2019, it became known that Alfa-Bank will reduce 3 thousand employees. This was announced by the chief managing director of the credit institution Vladimir Verkhoshinsky.

The reduction in staff at Alfa-Bank will occur in 2019 and is associated with an increase in the volume of remote services. In particular, according to V. Verkhoshinsky, the transfer of POS lending to digital format will lead to a reduction in the number of bank employees by 3 thousand people - up to 22 thousand. He said that in the first quarter, about 2 thousand people have already left the bank.

In addition, the Managing Director spoke about Alfa-Bank's strategy to launch products primarily for a mobile bank, a twofold increase in the share of the retail lending market, including by attracting 2 million additional customers^[9].

2017

Exit from ARB

On July 17, Alfa-Bank announced its withdrawal from the Association of Russian Banks (ARB). The bank explained its decision by the "unsatisfactory work of the management" of the association, which, according to Alfa-Bank representatives, ceased to take into account the interests of ARB members when making decisions.

"The

positions, conclusions and assessments currently formed in the association do not reflect the real opinion of all market participants, undermine trust and business partnerships between credit institutions, interfere with their constructive interaction and cooperation with the Bank of Russia and government agencies," the bank said in an official statement. - Often, credit institutions are not involved in the preparation of the most important documents that determine the directions of the association's activities. The stylistics of these documents sometimes contain unacceptable, in our opinion, formulations and accusations that undermine the trusting relationships that have developed in the banking community. "

In addition, as Alfa-Bank pointed out, "the association's unreasonable criticism of a number of legislative initiatives (for example, the proportional regulation of credit institutions), as well as the activities of the Bank of Russia to clear the banking market of unscrupulous participants, impedes the growth of the prestige of the banking system, customer confidence, the development of competition in the financial market and leads to a deterioration in the quality of banking services provided."

According to the bank's representatives, the president of the association is responsible for the current situation, who, as indicated in the financial organization, in his activities began to be largely guided by personal interests. However, numerous proposals by members of the association - credit institutions - about personnel changes in the management of the ARB, as well as about changing the management principles, were not heard.

Alpha-Bank intends to choose a different format of interaction in order to develop the banking sector of the Russian economy, represent its interests to the Bank of Russia and government agencies, as well as develop joint decisions on issues of interest to banking and optimize legislation regulating the activities of financial institutions. In particular, the creation of a new professional association or the transformation of existing professional associations representing the interests of credit institutions is not excluded.

Alfa-Bank breaks off relations with ARB

In March, Alfa-Bank issued a statement expressing its disagreement on a number of issues with the conclusions and assessments contained in the annual report of the Association of Russian Banks. The Bank did not participate in the preparation of the document, therefore, it considers it unacceptable to publish it on behalf of all members of the Association. The stylistics of the report, which accuses the Central Bank of the Russian Federation of cynicism, favoritism, working in the "military operations" mode, deliberately reducing the number of banks, using Jesuit language, undermining the stability of the banking system, as well as suppressing competition, contradicts the spirit of constructive interaction and cooperation that has developed between the regulatory body represented by the Bank of Russia and a healthy part of the national banking system. See more - Association of Russian Banks.

2015: Inclusion in the list of systemically important banks in Russia

Alfa-Bank was included in the list of ten systemically important banks approved by the Bank of Russia on October 2015, 20 in the fall of 2015. In July 2015, the Bank of Russia for the first time named banks that it considers systemically important. These are joint-stock company YuniKredit Bank, Bank GPB (JSC), VTB Bank (PJSC), Alfa-Bank JSC, Sberbank of Russia OJSC, Otkritie FC PJSC, ROSBANK PJSC, Promsvyazbank PJSC, Raiffeisen Bank CJSC, Rosselkhozbank OJSC. These banks account for over 60% of the assets of the Russian banking sector.

When determining systemically important banks, such criteria as the volume of assets of a credit institution, the volume of deposits of individuals in relation to all deposits in the banking system, the volume of transactions in the interbank market were taken into account. Systemically important banks will have to comply, among other things, with the requirements for compliance with the short-term liquidity indicator and additional capital adequacy requirements in accordance with Basel III.

According to financial statements in accordance with RAS, Alfa-Bank's assets as of October 1 amount to 1968 billion rubles, capital - 271.5 billion rubles, individuals entrusted the bank with more than 581 billion rubles.

Alfa-Bank has been working on the implementation of Basel II and Basel II standards for more than three years. The bank's capital adequacy ratios are higher than the thresholds and even partly higher than the new Basel III requirements: the total capital adequacy ratio (N1.0) is 12.06% as of October 1 (with a threshold of 10%), and the basic capital adequacy ratio (N1.1) is 7.63% (with a regulator requirement of 5.0%). The ratio of instant liquidity (N2) as of October 1 is 139.39%, which significantly exceeds the minimum permissible values.

2014: Offices with 24/7 call center access

Since January 2014, Alfa-Bank, in order to expand its branch network and increase convenience for customers, began to open branches of a new format, said Alexey Korovin, head of the Retail Business block of the bank in February.

Among their main differences from ordinary branches are the presence of cards for customers in special boxes right in the operating room in order to reduce the waiting time for their receipt, as well as a new "quick sales" zone, where customers can resolve their issues without waiting for a general queue for specialists.

The new branches will also have an area for confidential transactions with large amounts of money, the ability to independently print out the necessary information by customers in the operating room and a number of other improvements.

One of the elements of the new format of branches will also be an individual self-service area, available to customers 24 hours a day, where you can access your accounts and communicate with call center operators .

As Alexey Korovin explained, such a zone is a built-in niche equipped with a telephone for communication with the operator and a display through which you can access Alfa-Click Internet banking.

"We look and experiment how convenient this option is for the client, since, on the one hand, you can make a call to a call center without entering a bank branch, but from the street using your mobile phone," says Korovin.

The head of Alfa-Bank's Retail Business unit also told TAdviser that the bank plans to open about 80 offices with elements of a new format and will try to equip all of them with niches for round-the-clock communication with operators.

2011: Internet Acquiring Market Leader Bank

For 2011, according to Alfa-Bank, he was one of the leaders in the Russian e-commerce market with a turnover of $600 million. USA Considering that the turnover of the entire e-commerce market in, Russia according to independent estimates, is $1.8 billion, the share of this market sector occupied by Alfa-Bank reached 33%.acquiring Alfa-Bank has been providing Internet services since 2000.

2010: 40,000 corporate clients and 4.1 million individuals

The customer base of the bank's corporate and retail clients has grown over the previous several years - as of April 1, 2010, Alfa-Bank Russia served over 40 thousand corporate clients and 4.1 million individuals.

The network of branches and branches of the bank in Russia and abroad grew to 326 organizations, including a subsidiary bank in the Netherlands and financial subsidiaries in the UK and the USA.

2004: Trial with Kommersant newspaper

At the end of August 2004, Alfa-Bank sued the Kommersant newspaper in connection with the publication about the work of this credit institution during the banking crisis in July of that year. The bank claimed that the article "The Banking Crisis Went Out," which talked about queues near bank branches, scared depositors and that as a result, about 20 percent of them took their funds. Alfa-Bank estimated the losses incurred in this regard at 20.8 million rubles, in addition, the bank demanded another 300 million rubles from Kommersant as compensation for reputational harm and the publication of a refutation.

On October 20, 2004, the Moscow Arbitration Court fully satisfied Alfa-Bank's claim, recognizing that the newspaper publication could provoke panic among depositors, and at the end of January 2005 the newspaper completely transferred the recovered funds. The editors devoted a separate issue for January 31, 2005 to refuting the information contained in Kommersant's July article. On this day, the eight-lane newspaper, leaving most of its pages empty, came out with only four publications: Full Plaintiff, Stengazet, a photocopy of payment orders to transfer money to Alfa Group accounts, and Refutation itself, published twice on different pages (the second time the newspaper text was turned upside down). However, on March 23, 2005, the Federal Arbitration Court of the Moscow District reduced the amount of reputational damage recovered from 300 million rubles to 30 million rubles, and Alfa-Bank returned the difference to the Kommersant publishing house.

Notes