The Croatian Banking Association today reiterated its warning regarding the measures of the HNB that are slowing down the growth of lending, which is particularly felt by small and medium-sized enterprises, and due to which, to the greatest extent, small banks that have expansion opportunities cannot do so, all the way to the constitutionality of the measure regarding the registration of treasury bills for which the bank must pay a ‘penalty’ in the case of borrowing by a company that is ownership-related to it.
Currently, as stated by HUB director Zoran Bohaček, the situation is that lending is being transferred from banks to insurance companies and enterprises, which have no restrictions on placements, meaning that loans are being ‘pushed’ into the unregulated sector. Bohaček also reiterated that the measure regarding the registration of treasury bills expanded to companies that are ownership-related to the bank cannot survive. He illustrated this with an example: if a company has excess funds, and it is ownership-related to the bank, that money could not be placed, as the bank would have to pay a penalty to the HNB through the registration of treasury bills. It is questionable whether, according to the law, a company should even disclose its business plan, and whether, in the event that the company does not place the money, it will harm the business, and thus also the small shareholders.
