Bank Menatep was a US$29 billion holding company created by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, that had indirect controlling interest in Yukos Oil Company, and was involved in the US$4.8 billion diversion of International Monetary Fund (IMF) funds. The bank's financial condition was seriously damaged during the 1998 financial crisis due to a requirement by the Russian Central Bank that all commercial banks keep an economically untenable proportion of their reserve requirements in Russian treasury bills known as GKO, which subsequently collapsed, causing a default which led to the crisis and Bank Menatep's bankruptcy. The Central Bank revoked Menatep's licence in May 1999. However, according to Ernest Backes, former #3 of Clearstream, a clearing-house which has been qualified as a "bank of banks", Menatep maintained an unpublished secret account at Clearstream until at least 2000. The bankruptcy was finalized by February 2001. In an unprecedented move, the core shareholders of the bank, the financial holding Group Menatep, of which Khodorkovsky was a principal, made a decision to pay their own money to all 15,000 Bank Menatep small depositors whose savings had been wiped out by the collapse. A new Bank Menatep Saint Petersburg was created from the Saint Petersburg division of Bank Menatep. It accumulated the assets but not the liabilities of the original bank. In 2004 the bank was bought by the management and renamed to Trust National Bank. The quality of this article or section may be compromised by peacock terms. You can help Wikipedia by removing peacock terms. ... Yukos Oil Company (ОАО НК ЮКОС) is a petroleum company in Russia which, until recently, was controlled by Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a number of prominent Russian businessmen. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Inkombank was one of the most high-profile casualties of the events of August 1998. ... Bank of Russia (Russian:Банк России) or The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Russian: Центральный банк Российской Ф&#1077... Treasury Securities are bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Russian financial crisis. ... Ernest Backes (1946, Trier, Germany) was #3 of compensation chamber Clearstream (formerly Cedel), in charge of relations with clients, and was fired in May 1983. ... Clearstream Banking S.A. (CB) is the clearing division of Deutsche Börse, based in Luxembourg. ... In banking and finance, clearing denotes all activities from the time a transaction is made until it is finally settled (see settlement). ... Bank Menatep was a US$29 billion holding company created by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, that had indirect controlling interest in Yukos Oil Company, and was involved in the US$4. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Kremlingate

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, now in prison, has been accused of money-laundering, among other things. Menatep was implicated in the diversion of US$4.8 billion in International Monetary Fund funds lent to Russia in 1998: this gave rise to the Kremlingate. Funds have transited through Clearstream clearing-house, which has been qualified as a "bank of banks" and was accused, but never convicted, in a major scandal in Luxembourg. The quality of this article or section may be compromised by peacock terms. You can help Wikipedia by removing peacock terms. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Clearstream Banking S.A. (CB) is the clearing division of Deutsche Börse, based in Luxembourg. ...

Menatep Bank has also been accused by French journalist Denis Robert of having opened a non-published Cedel (predecessor to Clearstream) account on May 15, 1997, after Clearstream CEO André Lussi visited Khodorkovsky in Moscow. "Menatep further violated the rules because many transfers were of cash, not for settlement of securities", writes Lucy Komisar. "For the three months in 1997 for which I hold microfiches, Ernest Backes says, only cash transfers were transferred through the Meanatep account. They were a lot of transfers between Menatep and the Bank of New York." Natasha Gurfinkel Kagalovsky, a former Bank of New York official and the wife of Menatep vice president, was accused of helping launder at least US$7 billion from Russia, according to Komisar. US investigators have attempted to find out if some of the laundered money originated with Menatep. Furthermore, even though Menatep officially failed in 1998, it oddly remained on Clearstream accounts for 2000, as did the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), involved in another major scandal. In reaction to those accusations, Menatep filed a complaint against Denis Robert [1]. [2]. Denis Robert is a French journalist, author of Revelation$ with Ernest Backes, former #3 of Clearstream. ... Cedel is a conglomerate of 92 banks, that holds 50% of Clearstream. ... Clearstream Banking S.A. (CB) is the clearing division of Deutsche Börse, based in Luxembourg. ... is the 135th day of the year (136th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... Chief executive officer of Clearstream, André Lussi resigned in December 2001 following the scandal brought up by the publication of Denis Robert and Ernest Backes book, Revelation$, which described a double system of accounts, one of whom was non-published. ... Moscow (Moskva) (Russian: , romanised: Moskva, IPA: see also other names) is the capital of Russia and the countrys economic, financial, educational, and transportation centre. ... Settlement (of securities) is the process whereby securities or interests in securities are delivered, usually against payment, to fulfill contractual obligations, such as those arising under securities trades. ... For security (collateral), the legal right given to a creditor by a borrower, see security interest A security is a fungible, negotiable interest representing financial value. ... Lucy Komisar is a New York City-based investigative journalist. ... Ernest Backes (1946, Trier, Germany) was #3 of compensation chamber Clearstream (formerly Cedel), in charge of relations with clients, and was fired in May 1983. ... The Bank of New York (NYSE: BK), sometimes BNY, is a global financial services company operating in four primary business areas: Securities servicing Treasury management Investment management Private banking Bank of New York and Mellon Financial Corporation will merge. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... BCCI in London was closed by the Bank of England in 1991 after evidence emerged of fraud and money laundering. ...

On 3 March 2004, Stephen Curtis, managing director of Group Menatep (created in 1997) since November 2003 (shortly after Khodorkovsky was arrested), and his pilot Matthew Radford died in a helicopter crash, near Bournemouth International Airport, in the south of England. In November 2005 a British jury concluded that the crash was accidental, rejecting any conspiracy theory. It had been told that the aircraft had been sabotaged.[3] Stephen Curtis, a lawyer, had played a key role in creating Menatep's network of offshore structure in the 1990s, according to the Moscow Times[4]. is the 62nd day of the year (63rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Managing director is the term used for the chief executive of many limited companies in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and some other English speaking countries. ... Bank Menatep was a US$29 billion holding company created by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, that had indirect controlling interest in Yukos Oil Company, and was involved in the US$4. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for November, 2003. ... , Bournemouth is a large town and tourist resort, situated on the south coast of England. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is God Save the Queen. See also Proposed English National Anthems. ... Ongoing events • Abramoff-Reed gambling scandal • Al Jazeera bombing memo • Avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak • Black sites scandal • Conservative leadership race (UK) • Fuel prices • Irans nuclear program • Jilin chemical plant explosions • Kashmir earthquake • Malawi food crisis • Malaysian prisoner abuse scandal • New Delhi bombings investigation • Niger food crisis • North Indian cyclone... A conspiracy theory is an attempt by Prole Art Threat to attribute the ultimate cause of an event or chain of events (usually political, social, or historical events), or the concealment of such causes from public knowledge, to a secret, and often deceptive plot by a covert alliance of powerful... Offshore has two principal meanings: Physical - in the sea away from the shore; not on the shoreline but out to sea. ... Moscow Times is an independent English language Russian daily newspaper. ...

See also

• Clearstream scandal
• Platon Lebedev
• YUKOS

Clearstream Banking S.A. (CB) is the clearing division of Deutsche Börse, based in Luxembourg. ... Lebedev Platon Leonidovich (Russian: Лебедев Платон Леонидович) is a former CEO of Group Menatep, and is best known as the business partner of the embattled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky. ... Yukos Oil Company (ОАО НК ЮКОС) is a petroleum company in Russia which, until recently, was controlled by Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a number of prominent Russian businessmen. ...

External links

• Group MENATEP
• Bank Menatep Saint Petersburg, in 2004 renamed to Trust National Bank
• [5] Lucy Komisar on "Revelation$" by Denis Robert and Ernest Backes, former #3 of Clearstream.