China-Controlled Bank Expands in Georgia, Gaining Access to Millions of Citizens’ Financial Records

A China-linked lender has taken a majority stake in one of Georgia’s largest banks, creating a significantly larger institution and putting the personal and pension records of nearly 1.7 million people under foreign control, officials and analysts warn. BasisBank, which is owned by the Chinese conglomerate Hualing Group, bought Liberty Bank, the nation’s third-largest retail lender, doubling its balance sheet and elevating concerns about data privacy and possible efforts to shield assets from international penalties.

The sale of Liberty Bank was orchestrated by businessman Irakli Rukhadze, a close associate of the ruling Georgian Dream party, who had recently divested other media and business holdings amid growing diplomatic pressure from Britain and elsewhere. Critics say the timing of several high-value sales suggests a deliberate move to move sensitive assets out of politically exposed hands before sanctions could be applied. “This looks less like routine business and more like a rush to reduce exposure,” said Maia Kvirikashvili, a Tbilisi-based transparency advocate.

BasisBank is not new to Georgia. Hualing acquired most of the Tbilisi-based bank more than a decade ago and has steadily expanded operations. In 2025, BasisBank reported about 4.9 billion lari in assets and posted a net profit near 122.4 million lari. With the Liberty deal, the combined group will hold about 11.2 billion lari — roughly one-tenth of the country’s banking assets — and will manage payrolls and pensions for a large swath of the population.

Negotiations dragged on for more than a year and were repeatedly stalled by documentation and regulatory hurdles, participants in the talks said. Rukhadze complained last autumn that compiling the necessary paperwork, particularly material originating from China, proved difficult. But for critics the administrative problems were a secondary issue. Roman Gotsiridze, a former head of the National Bank and now a member of parliament, argues the central bank should have blocked the transfer because of the sensitivity of pension and social benefit databases. “Handing control of so much personal data to a foreign-owned firm raises real national-security questions,” he told reporters.

Cybersecurity and privacy experts also warned that consolidation of financial and social-payment records heightens risk. “When one entity holds both banking and pension databases for a large portion of the country, any breach or misuse could be devastating,” said Levan Tsereteli, who studies digital risk at a Georgian university. He urged tighter oversight and clearer rules on cross-border data access, saying current safeguards are sparse.

National Bank President Natia Turnava defended regulators’ decision, saying the enlarged bank will foster stronger competition and that the combined institution will remain smaller than the two market leaders. “We assessed the transaction against our regulatory standards and concluded it serves the stability of the sector,” she said in a statement. Still, opposition politicians and civic groups are calling for parliamentary hearings and for European partners to review whether the deal creates economic or security vulnerabilities.

For ordinary Georgians, the deal could mean little change at the branch counter but potentially major consequences behind the scenes, experts said. With almost two out of five residents now tied into accounts managed by a China-linked company, lawmakers and regulators face mounting pressure to tighten supervision and to explain how citizens’ data and pensions will be protected.