For the first time in Armenia, European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has awarded an Armenian bank with a
status of a confirming bank as part of the Trade Finance Project. The status
was awarded to Ameriabank, following a relevant contract signed in Istanbul on
May 9 as part of TFP, the press-service of Ameriabank reports.
"The status is of big importance for development
of trade finance in the region. This will boost exports and make export letter
of credit, confirmation and bank guarantee service more accessible for
exports. The status of confirming bank
is an achievement, as Ameribank has been included in the list of EBRD
confirming banks. This fact once again confirms the high status of Ameriabank
as a reliable and recognized business partner in the international arena,"
says Suren Kocharyan, Head of the Trade Finance Department of Ameribank.
In late November 2012 Ameriabank introduced a new
service - acceptance of letters of credit
(an advising bank), the bank's press-service told ArmInfo. The first
contract unique for the Armenian banking system had been signed later
connecting a foreign bank with an Armenian company. Introduction of this
service will give more opportunities to Armenian companies to find new export
markets. The new banking service
enables Ameriabank to boost cooperation with big foreign banks to attract more
trade finance customers. For this
purpose, Ameriabank has already introduced a service of issue of letters of
credit.
To recall, Ameriabank CJSC is a universal bank
providing investment, corporate and retail banking services in a full package
of bank services. The majority shareholder of the bank is America Group (since
Nov 2011) with 99.99% shares.