Orders nº T-230/20 of Tribunal General de la Unión Europea, February 08, 2021

• Resolution Date: February 08, 2021
• Issuing Organization: Tribunal General de la Unión Europea
• Decision Number: T-230/20

(Interim relief - Economic and monetary policy - Prudential supervision of credit institutions - Specific supervisory tasks assigned to the ECB - Decision to withdraw a credit institution’s authorisation - Application for suspension of operation of an act - No urgency)

In Case T-230/20 R,

PNB Banka AS, established in Riga (Latvia), represented by O. Behrends, lawyer,

applicant,

v

European Central Bank (ECB), represented by F. Bonnard, V. Hümpfner and C. Hernández Saseta, acting as Agents,

defendant,

supported by

Republic of Latvia, represented by K. Pommere, V. Soņeca and E. Bārdiņš, acting as Agents,

intervener,

APPLICATION under Articles 278 and 279 TFEU seeking the suspension of operation of the decision of the ECB of 17 February 2020 withdrawing the applicant’s authorisation,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COURT

makes the following

Order

Background to the dispute, procedure and forms of order sought

1 The applicant, PNB Banka AS, is a credit institution governed by Latvian law which supplies a wide range of banking, financial and capital management services.

2 On 12 September 2019, at the request of the Finanšu un kapitāla tirgus komisija (Financial and Capital Market Commission, Latvia) (‘the FCMC’), the Rīgas pilsētas Vidzemes priekšpilsētas tiesa (Riga City Court, Vidzeme District, Latvia) declared the applicant insolvent pursuant to the Latvian legislation on civil procedure and appointed an administrator who, as a result, replaced the applicant’s management as its legal representative.

3 That same day, the FCMC, in accordance with Article 80 of Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 of the European Central Bank of 16 April 2014 establishing the framework for cooperation within the Single Supervisory Mechanism between the European Central Bank and national competent authorities and with national designated authorities (SSM Framework Regulation) (OJ 2014 L 141, p. 1), submitted a proposal to the European Central Bank (ECB) that the applicant’s authorisation be withdrawn on the basis of the Latvian legislation on credit institutions.

4 By its decision of 17 February 2020, the ECB withdrew, with effect from 18 February 2020, the applicant’s authorisation as a credit institution pursuant to Article 4(1)(a) and Article 14(5) of Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 of 15 October 2013 conferring specific tasks on the European Central Bank concerning policies relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions (OJ 2013 L 287, p. 63), Articles 80 and 83 of the SSM Framework Regulation, and the Latvian legislation on credit institutions (‘the contested decision’).

5 By application lodged at the Court Registry on 27 April 2020, the applicant brought an action for annulment of the contested decision.

6 By separate document lodged at the Court Registry on 16 November 2020, the applicant submitted the present application for interim relief, in which it claims, in essence, that the President of the General Court should:

- order that the operation of the contested decision be suspended;

- order the ECB to pay the costs.

7 In its observations on the application for interim relief, lodged at the Court Registry on 2 December 2020, the ECB contends that the President of the General Court should:

- dismiss the application...