«Treats and risks in banking system: auditor`s view»
On March 27, 2012 a regular meeting of FBK Economic club «Treats and risks in banking system: auditor`s view» (in Russian) was held in Moscow. The experts shared their viewing of development of the situation in the bank sector and also discussed the problem of mutual relations in the triangle «Market regulator – Auditors – Banks».
When opening the meeting Аlexey Теrеkhоv, FBK`s Vice-president for Audit and Consulting Services to Financial Institutions noted, that bаnking system now has both strengths (presence of major «anchor banks», noticeable even on the world level, Deposit Insurance System and high loyalty of population, underdevelopment of derivative instruments, that reduces system risks), and weaknesses (low diversification of assets, speculative character of investments, underdevelopment of competitive environment, banks orientation to the government support in stress situations). If the idea of Ministry of Finance about the increasing of demand to banks minimum capital to 1 billion roubles in 2015 is realized that the government share in banking system will be just increased: «Other reserves for bank capitals increasing except government ones are not noticeable for a while», - the expert noted. He also believes that banks monetary resources are low now as before. «There is a stability but changeable: capital - assets ratio and capital – deposits ratio don`t inspire with confidence for a while», - the expert noted.
General Director of the State Corporation «Deposit Insurance Agency» Аlexander Тurbanov believes that banking system is stable on the whole. «There are some confirmations of it. First of all, our banks experienced without shock an uneasy period at the turn of 2011 when there were problems with liquidity and crediting abroad. Secondly, I should like to note the work of insurers. We had only 2 insured accidents in 2011, amount of compensation was estimated at millions of roubles whereas in 2010 – 4 accidents and it made up billions of roubles. Thirdly, the Central Bank stress-tests results have shown that under even sharp worsening of the situation the financial stability would be kept up. And at last the CB itself is ready for the worsening of the situation». Thus, according to A. Turbanov, by DIA estimations «there is no need to carry out the readjustments for the present» in 2012. Nevertheless, А.Тurbanov considers that threats to stability are the increase of credit delays outlining lately, bank loans for the affiliated persons and the supposed privatization of government shareholdings of banks.
Leonid Shneydman, Director of the RF Ministry of Finance Department for Regulation of Public Financial Control, Auditing, Accounting and Reporting noted that the independent audit is a factor of stability including the banking sector. According to him, in order to the independent audit has socially-significant functions it is necessary to strengthen the interaction of oversight bodies and external auditors. «It is also necessary to develop conditions for competition in bank audit. Nowadays this market is closed enough, the admission is limited there. It should be taken steps for widening the circle of skilled auditors». As «a call of the time» L. Shneydman has named information exchange between external independent auditors and oversight bodies. To tell the truth, the matter of transinformation content, according him, needs the special workup.
There also arose a question about the so-called «comfortable auditors» who audited banks that were later suspended an accreditation. At that, according to Angela Khanachevskaya, Deputy Chief of Banking Regulation and Supervision Department of the Bank of Russia, the Central Bank has never made a list of «comfortable auditors» and the term itself and its interpretation have appeared in journalistic sphere. А.Тurbanov from his part reminded that DIA had faced with an unprofessional work of one auditing company, had taken excluding this company from the self-regulating auditors organization to court. FBK`s Vice-president has presented data from the site of the Central Bank (CB) about the reasons of banks licence recall. «We looked through the statistics from 2006. In 50 per cent of cases it is a violation of banking legislation and only in 25 per cent – unreliability of reporting». At the same time the reasons of this unreliability, according to the expert, are very different. From conscious information hiding to slump of markets into crisis.
Ivan Rozinskiy, VTB`s Senior Vice-president suggested, estimating Russian banking system and government share in it, to study the European experiment. In his opinion the fact of banks government support is self-evident, the stage of system development: «Russian banking sector passes the same way as the other countries when they were on the today`s Russian level of development». And then all countries carried out a policy of government withdrawal from the banking system.