The custodian of the assets of Bancafe International Bank (BIB, off shore financial branch of Bancafé), Pricewaterhouse Coopers EC Inc. (PWC) is calling for funds to be distributed among investors.

Meanwhile the Bank of Guatemala (Banguat) denied such request, claiming that these assets belong to the Fund for the Protection of the Depositor (FOPA) who gave $203 million in order to provide liquidity to the financial system after the closure of the bank.

"The Banguat said through a statement emailed by its Press Department that it is opposed to the funds being delivered to the custodian.

The document states that "the Board of Exclusion of Assets and Liabilities (JEAP) of Banco del Café only excluded assets from this bank and transferred them to FOPA; therefore, it is not true that any assets from BIB were excluded that may give rights to the custodian to claim any refunds‘", reported Prensalibre.com.

Source: prensalibre.com

More on this topic

Guatemala: Regulation on Rating Agency Operations

April 2013

Rating agencies registration is now mandatory and banking institutions must be rated by one of them.

Rating agencies will have to submit their paperwork to the Superintendency of Banks (SIB). According to the chairman of the Monetary Board (JM) and the Bank of Guatemala (Banguat), Edgar Barquin, "among the amendments to the Law on Banks and Financial Groups is the addition that now banks must have a risk rating" .

Guatemala: Former Directors of Bancafé Prosecuted

March 2013

The Banking Unit of the Prosecution Office Against Organized Crime has accused them of a special case of fraud, comprising continuous money laundering and financial intermediation.

Eduardo Manuel González Rivera, his sons Manuel Eduardo and Jorge Alfredo Gonzalez Castillo, Ariel Estuardo Camargo Fernández, Moisés Cupersmith, Óscar Salazar Perdomo, Gloria Marina Barrios Pineda, Eduardo Antonio Palomo Escobar and his son Eduardo Alberto Palomo Marh, Patricio Andrade Falla, Álvaro Maldonado Vásquez, Celeste Aída Desirée Soto de Vetorazzi, Francis Frederick Fisher Theriot and Juan Eladio Campos Moraga, are accused "of having defrauded the company and led to its bankruptcy."

Bancafe Asset Recovery

June 2012

$6.89 million will be disbursed to account holders of the bank closed in Guatemala in 2006 by the Monetary Board.

The status of the case up to June 12, 2012 according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) is as follows:

On June 12, 2012, the Custodian finished the calculations required to carry out a fifth distribution.