Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court has delayed until February 9 hearings on the lawsuit launched by shareholders of collapsed Corporate Commercial Bank against the revocation of the bank’s licence.

The delay announced on Monday was prompted by an earlier failure to secure proper representation of the bank, known by its Bulgarian acronym KTB, at the lawsuit filed by majority shareholder Bromak EOOD and a company controlled by Omani sovereign wealth fund.  

KTB had been initially represented by administrators appointed by Bulgaria’s central bank BNB, which last month scrapped KTB’s banking licence and asked Sofia City Court to declare the lender insolvent.

Another reason for the delay, the administrative court said, was that the BNB representatives at the trial lacked proper authorization. According to the court, they should have been authorized by the BNB’s Board of Governors, which has cancelled KTB’s licence, and not by BNB’s Governor Ivan Iskrov.

The lawsuit at the Supreme Administrative Court has stalled the insolvency proceedings against KTB launched by the BNB with Sofia City Court. The insolvency lawsuit could only proceed after the Supreme Administrative Court has ruled on the appeals.