The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has no concerns whatsoever as to the liquidity and the solvency of First Investment Bank (FIBank) (

), Rumen Stoyanov deputy governor of BNB, told DarikNews.bg.

From a regulatory standpoint the bank has not been sanctioned so far and has always complied with the regulations.

Maya Georgieva, executive director of FIBank, confirmed the same before Darik, commenting on the rumors that the bank is in a liquidity crisis and is on the verge of bankruptcy.

FIBank has high liquidity and does not experience difficulties covering its obligations on deposits. Clients of FIBank feeling insecure are welcome to withdraw their money from the bank, Georgieva added.

FIBank released its first quarter results yesterday and everyone can see for themselves that the bank is profitable. FIBank has attracted more than 580 mln leva in new deposits, while its liquidity exceeds 23% and the capital adequacy stands at nearly 14%. The figures exceed both the international and the BNB standards, Georgieva added.

There is investor interest in the bank Georgieva said. Powerful investment banks, such as JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley have approached the bank with a list of investment projects in Bulgaria, which involve large-scale banks, willing to acquire FIBank. Only the majority shareholders of the bank, however, may say if this will happen, Georgieva said, as quoted by DarikNews.bg.

FIBank's stock depreciated by 7.25% to an average of 6.91 leva per share yesterday on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE).