The banking group published a statement on Sunday about ABLV Bank Luxembourg, stating: “With the bank licence still in force and an administrator to be appointed for ABLV Bank, AS, our subsidiary is capable of continuing its operations with a new shareholder.”

Last week Luxembourg’s financial supervisory body, the CSSF, filed an application with the district commercial court for the suspension of payments by ABLV Bank Luxembourg.

The move was urged by the European Central Bank after the Capital Markets Commission imposed a moratorium on ABLV Bank. It emerged on 13 February that the latter is the target of an investigation by the US treasury department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to propose a measure naming ABLV bank an institution of primary money laundering concern. This prompted a sharp deterioration in the bank’s financial position, the ECB said.

On Sunday the group, however, stressed that ABLV Bank Luxembourg had “always had an extremely strong liquidity and a capital adequacy ratio far above regulatory requirements.”

“The liquidity of the Luxembourg bank fully covers the amount of its clients’ deposits; however, some key Luxembourg counterparties have decided to block ABLV Bank Luxembourg, S.A. USD accounts without any legal ground,” it wrote.

The group further stressed that the Luxembourg subsidiary was not accused of wrongdoing in the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network report.

Furthermore, it said ABLV Bank Luxembourg had “always fully and strictly complied and will continue to appropriately comply without exception with the international, European and Luxembourg legal and regulatory requirements applicable, including on anti-money laundering and the fight against terrorist financing.”