YEREVAN, January 12. / ARKA /. The Central Bank of Armenia said today it has imposed 40 million drams worth penalties on some commercial banks and currency exchange offices after a series of 170 inspections late last year.
The inspections conducted in November and December 2014 were to find out whether local banks and exchange offices complied with the requirements of the national banking and currency legislation. The regulator said as a result it has imposed penalties, suspended licenses and issued warnings to 16 commercial banks and 12 exchange offices.
The Central Bank said also it will continue inspecting the banks and exchange offices and punish those caught in violating the law.
Late last year Central Bank chairman Artur Javadyan had warned that the regulator would take stringent measures against financial institutions for ‘speculative currency trading’ as the national currency, the dram, was losing its value against USD.
The Armenian dram began losing its value on November 24. On December 17 its official exchange rate fell to record low over the last 10 years to 527.20 drams per one USD. But after the Central Bank and the government took action to stabilize the tension the national currency strengthened against USD to 456.17 drams. Today the US dollar has been trading at 474.97 drams.-0-
