The National Bank of Georgia [NBG] responds to the allegations made regarding the issuance of a banking activity license to JSC “Hash”.

“We declare with full responsibility that the banking system and financial sector of Georgia is open and transparent. The NBG always acts in accordance with the requirements of all the standards and norms defined by the Georgian legislation and international practice. NBG has been and will remain a supervisory body, which on the one hand ensures the stability of the financial system of Georgia and at the same time will not allow the financial sector to evade international sanctions.

When making the decision to issue a license to the company “Hash”, the NBG, in relation to both founders of the company - Sulkhan Papashvili and Volodymyr Nosov - strictly followed the national legislation and international practice. Among them, in the part of the formal and factual compliance of the documentation submitted for licensing with the law, and made the only legal and justified decision. In addition, the license was issued after all the requested documentation was fully submitted by the management of JSC “Hash” within the established deadlines.

It should also be noted that WhiteBIT, a company owned by Volodymyr Nosov, holds VASP licenses in various EU countries. Among them, in Spain and Lithuania. After the start of hostilities in Ukraine, WhiteBIT left the Russian market. Besides, no international financial sanction, which Georgia aligns with, has been issued to any of the founders of “Hash Bank”. This applies to US, EU and UK sanctions.

JSC “Hash” will work only in test mode for 7 months after receiving the banking license, and the implementation of banking activities in the real environment will be limited. The bank aims to position both traditional and technology-oriented customers of the market for the transition to a digital strategy.

In general, the current practice is that digital bank licenses are issued with accompanying conditions, which significantly reduce the risks of harm to depositors. If the actual circumstances in relation to the owners of a significant share of the bank change, the NBG will traditionally act within the framework of the current legislation. Accordingly, bank depositors and financial stability will not face risks.

Also, as it is known, at the initial stage the so-called digital banks start operating in a real-time environment only a few months after the license is issued, which is additional time for NBG to observe the processes”, - reads the issues statement.