The National Bank of Ukraine published official comments in response to questions from Mr Hetmantsev about Sense Bank’s governance and supervision, stating that it does not choose candidates for state-owned bank governing bodies and had no legal basis to refuse approval of the nominees put forward for Sense Bank. Its role is limited to assessing fitness, propriety and, where relevant, independence after nomination by the competent bodies. Following the publication of new information, it has now initiated administrative proceedings to assess whether supervisory board member Mykola Hladyshenko still complies with the requirements for independent directors. The comments set out the governance chain for state-owned banks. Sense Bank supervisory board candidates were selected by a commission established under a Cabinet of Ministers procedure and appointed by the shareholder, while the management board after nationalization was formed by the shareholder and the Deposit Guarantee Fund under a simplified resolution procedure. In 2025, the NBU told the shareholder that competitive selection under Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine On Banks and Banking was required for the executive body, but the shareholder maintained that the existing board should remain until contracts expired. On supervision, Sense Bank was fined in 2023 and 2025 for AML/CFT breaches totaling UAH 51.8 million, follow-up reviews in 2024 and 2025 confirmed implementation of remedial measures, and there are currently no grounds to classify the bank’s conduct as systemic financial monitoring violations. The NBU also stated that Vasyl Veselyi visited its premises twice in 2024 to meet supervisory staff, not the Governor, and that five banks currently provide acquiring services to the gambling sector.
National Bank of Ukraine2026-06-03
National Bank of Ukraine says it had no legal basis to block Sense Bank appointments and opens proceedings on Mykola Hladyshenko
The National Bank of Ukraine clarified it does not select candidates for governing bodies of state-owned banks and had no legal grounds to refuse approval of Sense Bank nominees, limiting its role to post-nomination fitness, propriety and independence assessments. It opened administrative proceedings to reassess the independence of supervisory board member Mykola Hladyshenko, and noted that while Sense Bank was fined UAH 51.8 million in 2023 and 2025 for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing breaches, follow-up reviews confirmed remedial measures and there is no basis to treat its conduct as systemic violations.