Oma-säästöpanki, a bank, is facing two uncertainties in a short period of time. The first issue involves gross embezzlement that has been suspected over several years. The CEO of Oma-säästöpanki, Pasi Sydänlammi, stated that the damage caused by the bank due to the alleged crimes is approximately EUR 150,000. A former employee of the bank has been charged with gross embezzlement and forgery, with the crimes allegedly occurring between February 2019 and October 2023. The suspect was identified due to Oma-säästöpanki’s internal control processes. These incidents were uncovered in October and it was suggested that the suspect’s gambling problems may have played a role.
The second issue involves a profit warning issued by Oma-säästöpanki due to a violation of lending guidelines that resulted in a provision of EUR 19.5 million in its first-quarter result. These losses were attributed to activity contrary to the bank’s lending guidelines that were discovered at the end of the first quarter. Despite this warning, CEO Sydänlammi clarified that this misconduct is not connected to the suspicion of gross embezzlement in district court proceedings. The stock price of Oma-säästöpanki fell over 14% on Helsinki stock exchange following this profit warning.
These recent events have brought attention to Oma-säästöpanki’s financial health and raised concerns about its internal control processes in place. In addition, investors are awaiting further details about these incidents as well as credit risks through an upcoming publication of Oma-säästöpanki’s first-quarter interim report which will provide more insight into these issues
