BTA Bank AO : statement on the 6th consecutive rejection of Mukhtar Ablyazov bail request

Almaty, 7 October 2016 - BTA Bank was pleased to note the decision of the French court to reject again former Bank Chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov's application to be released on bail while awaiting the outcome of extradition proceedings. It is the 6th consecutive rejection of Mukhtar Ablyazov bail request since he was arrested on the 31st July 2013 in France in connection with crimes that he is alleged to have committed against the Bank in Ukraine and Russia.

The Court of Appeal of Lyon confirmed again its initial decision taken on 11 March 2016 not to grant Mr Ablyazov bail despite Mr Ablyazov's claim that the duration of his custody was abnormal, a reason he invoked to appeal the 11 March decision.

Herewith we would like to note that M.Ablyazov earlier appealed provisions of the French Criminal Procedure Code (hereinafter - CPC), articles 696-11 and 696-19 of the CPC of France, governing the detention of persons - subject to extradition, in terms of their compliance with the norms of the French Republic Constitution and regulations of the European Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter - EC). Consideration of the matter was referred to the Constitutional Council, which on September 9, 2016 recognized the provisions of the CPC compliant with the norms of the Constitution. The decision of the Constitutional Council is final and could not be a subject to any appeal.

Mr Ablyazov has been found by the High Court in England to have been at the centre of a massive fraud, which not only nearly brought down our Bank, but also caused severe losses to global investors including those from France.'

The English High Court has already found him liable for fraud and ordered him to pay the Bank over $4bn.

A representative from BTA bank said:

'Mr Ablyazov has already fled justice in England, as well as Kazakhstan. He fled England in breach of an order that he remain there and on the eve of the English court sentencing him to prison for breaching other court orders. His continued detention in France is therefore essential to ensure that he does not flee again. This would render worthless the 3 years' French extradition process.

The Bank now looks forward to the decision of the Conseil d'Etat, which will confirm whether Mr. Ablyazov should indeed be extradited to Russia, consistent with all the previous French court rulings on Mr Ablyazov and with the decree of the French Prime Minister '.

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Press contacts:

Xavier Decramer

Tel: 06 04 67 36 46

Email: xavier.decramer@eurosagency.eu

BTA Bank

Tel: +7(727) 266 47 99

Email: pr@bta.kz

Website: www.bta.kz

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Notes to Editors:

• BTA Bank launched global legal proceedings against Mr Ablyazov in 2009 after accountants at PwC identified a massive hole - more than $10 billion - in the Bank's balance sheets which led to the discovery of a large-scale fraud committed by Mukhtar Ablyazov while he was Chairman of the Bank.

• The Bank undertook a restructuring process which was agreed by creditors in 2009 and again in 2012. Lazard Freres was the Bank's financial advisor in the restructuring.

• The asset recovery process was agreed and undertaken as part of the restructuring and involved legal action against Mukhtar Ablyazov. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8b243288-6f72-11df-9f43-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2bHSOrhvG

• The most comprehensive legal proceedings are 11 claims filed by BTA Bank in the English High Court seeking to recover more than $6 billion in assets misappropriated by Mr Ablyazov. The Bank has secured numerous judgments for in excess of $4 billion against Mr Ablyazov and others and is in the process of seeking to enforce those judgments against assets currently held in receivership.

• In February 2012, the Bank secured an English High Court judgment, subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal, to commit Mr Ablyazov to 22 months in prison for contempt of court. Rather than abide by the court's ruling, he fled the UK and became a fugitive from justice. http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWHC/Comm/2012/237.html&query=BTA+and+Bank&method=boolean

• In November 2012, The UK Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the conviction of Ablyazov. Lord Justice Maurice Kay said: 'It is difficult to imagine a party to commercial litigation who has acted with more cynicism, opportunism and deviousness towards court orders than Mr Ablyazov'. http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1411.html&query=BTA+and+Bank&method=boolean

• After Mr Ablyazov fled the UK in February 2012 in violation of court orders, BTA Bank sought to locate him and eventually traced him to southern France.

• BTA Bank provided information about Mr Ablyazov's whereabouts to French authorities who acted promptly to arrest him based on an Interpol 'Red Notice' concerning frauds committed against the bank.

• Mr Ablyazov was arrested 31 July 2013 in France and is being held there in custody. He has been refused bail by the French courts three times on the basis that he is likely to flee France if released on bail.

• On 26 November 2013, Mr Justice Henderson ruled that Mr Ablyazov had misappropriated a further US$300 million in AAA-rated investment bonds from the Bank in 2008. In assessing the case, the Judge concluded that Mr Ablyazov's defence to the Bank's claims was variously 'implausible', 'untenable' and 'frankly incredible'. Mr Ablyazov defended these claims until shortly before they came to Court, but the judge found against him. http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2013/3691.html&query=BTA+and+Bank+and+v+and+Ablyazov&method=boolean

• On 9 January 2014, The Court in Aix-en-Provence granted both the Russian and Ukrainian requests to extradite Mr Ablyazov. However, the decision was annulled by the Court of Appeal in April because of a procedural error made by the court. The case was sent for re-trial in the Court of Lyon.

• On 24 October 2014, The Court of Lyon granted both Russia and Ukraine's requests to extradite Mr Ablyazov. Mr Ablyazov once again appealed the decision.

• On 4 March 2015, the French Supreme Court upheld the earlier ruling by the Court of Lyon to extradite Mukhtar Ablyazov to Russia or Ukraine.

• On 12 October 2015, it was reported in the French media that the French Prime Minister had issued a decree for the extradition of Mukhtar Ablyazov to Russia.

• Hogan Lovells has been acting for the Bank since May 2009 in its series of major fraud cases before the English Courts.