| Dmitry Leus |
The Russian
banking system is showing signs of a liquidity crisis, with growing fears of a
financial crisis, and Alexei Kudrin is speaking about a full-fledged economic
crisis. At the same time, the Chairman of Bank Zapadny, Dmitry Leus, speaks
about hyper-liquidity and contemplates conducting an IPO.
- Dmitry Isaakovich, there is a general belief that small banks
must specialize in order to be successful. On the other hand, you offer a
relatively broad product line and behave like a universal bank. Why did you
choose such a strategy?
- Dmitry Leus: The truth is that we are not a
universal bank in the full sense of the term, as our main focus is still in
retail banking. But our retail offering is universal indeed – mortgage loans,
car loans, overdraft loans, and other consumer lending products. When it comes
to loans for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), we currently adopt a
more cautious approach. I am not saying that we are not working at all in that
sector, but corporate lending requires a more complex analysis of our
customers. In addition, the last two years have seen defaults mostly in the
sector of SME lending.
On the
other hand, an analysis of default statistics shows that mortgage lending is a
relatively safe product. Unfortunately, it is impossible to survive from
mortgages only, due to lower profit margins in this segment.
- Can you tell us more about the mortgage
lending market? Are you working with
the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending (AHML), an institution studying the
international experience of mortgage lending in order to introduce best
practices into Russia?
- Dmitry Leus: AHML requires its partners to fulfil certain criteria. However,
in my opinion, a large part of our country does not meet these criteria.
Unfortunately, unofficial revenues still constitute an important part of the
Russian economy.
In general, the belief that
credit should only be awarded based on documented income is misguided. Take a
15-year mortgage – who in our country can look back to a 15-years track record
within one single company? The focus should therefore be on the collateral. If
a loan can be justified in light of the collateral, then less attention should
be given to the income history of the creditor.
- Does that mean that you raise capital based
on your liabilities?
- Dmitry Leus: Correct. We basically use deposits
when lending, in addition to the Bank’s capital, of course.
- Is this not too risky? A bank’s liabilities
are of a short-term nature, as deposits may be withdrawn at any moment. A
bank’s assets, however, often take years to mature.
- Dmitry Leus: I do not deny that there is a certain risk involved.
Nevertheless, on average, a mortgage loan’s maturity amounts to 5 years. In
addition, any loan, even if it hasn’t been awarded according to AHML standards,
may be ultimately sold. Sberbank, for instance, offers such programmes, as well
as the other banks. There are also partner programmes that allow raising
liquidity when necessary. But for us this is the last resort, because it is not
our goal to work as an agent. We intend to preserve our client base and to
offer them the products and services they ask for.
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