STA, 22 July 2022 - Slovenia's largest banks, NLB and NKBM, have announced they will stop charging negative interest rates on large deposits on the accounts of individuals and legal entities starting from 1 August, after the ECB raised its key interest rates on Thursday. Smaller banks are taking similar measures as well.

"Following the decision by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank to raise key interest rates in the euro zone by 0.5 percentage points, NLB has taken a decision to stop charging compensation for high balances on accounts and in deposit transactions," the bank said on Friday.

A similar message came from NKBM. "From 1 August, the bank will abolish the deposit charge for customers who are natural and legal persons. This means that we will no longer charge the fee, regardless of their account credit," the bank said in a press release.

Negative rates on large deposits will also be discontinued from August by Sparkasse. The bank only imposed such charges on legal entities. The DBS bank will discontinue such charges on physical persons in August.

The banks SKB, Unicredit and Delavska Hranilnica had previously announced they would lift the charges as soon as the ECB decided to end negative interest rates.

STA, 18 March 2022 - A Cuban woman living and working in Slovenia has been discriminated against by a bank, which without warning closed her account because of her nationality, the equality ombudsman has found. It appears that more than one Cuban citizen has been subjected to such treatment.

The Cuban national has been living and working in Slovenia for at least a decade. She has a permanent residence in Slovenia and has no contact with Cuba. As for her Cuban citizenship, she explained that under Cuban law it cannot be easily renounced, Advocate of the Principle of Equality Miha Lobnik said.

She submitted a discrimination complaint with the ombudsman's office after her personal bank account was closed by the bank without explanation or notice, saying this happened on the grounds of her ethnic origin and citizenship.

When she asked the bank for an explanation, it replied that it had unilaterally terminated the bank account agreement in order to adapt its operations to US standards to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.

The ombudsman assessed that the bank had pursued a legitimate objective in seeking to manage money laundering and terrorism financing risks. However, he also found that the closure of the client's bank account was only partly appropriate and not the only possible or even proportionate measure.

Lobnik confirmed that the bank had indeed discriminated against the Cuban citizen in access to services on the basis of her personal circumstances of nationality.

"The anti-discrimination authority also learned that US regulations do indeed restrict financial institutions from doing business with Cuban citizens, but only if they live in Cuba or have business ties with Cuba," the press release by the ombudsman's office says, adding that notwithstanding the US and potential other restrictions, banks in Slovenia must comply with the Slovenian constitution and other regulations banning discrimination.

The newspaper Delo reported on Friday this was a wider problem since at least seven Cuban citizens living in Slovenia have been reportedly subjected to such treatment by the banks.

Musician and teacher Lazaro Hierrezuelo, who has been living and working in Slovenia since 2010, told the paper that both his personal and business accounts had been closed due to what his bank phrased as a new policy demanded by the new owner and under which they were not allowed to do business with Cuban citizens. At least three other banks subsequently refused his and his compatriots' requests to open accounts, he added.

The ombudsman recently found that a Syrian man living in Slovenia had been discriminated against by a financial company, which did not enable him to use its services.

STA, 2 March - After Slovenia's largest bank, NLB, acquired the Slovenian subsidiary of Russia's Sberbank, Sberbank's operations in Slovenia resumed today with NLB chairman Blaž Brodnjak reassuring clients they have "no reason to worry any more, open accounts at other banks or transfer assets to other banks". They have full access to their money again, he said.

"Sberbank is already part of the NLB group and NLB owns it. Business will be conducted absolutely normally today, cash withdrawals will be unlimited and all Sberbank clients can use NLB ATMs free of charge already," Brodnjak said after Sberbank was closed for two days, and transactions and money withdrawals for clients limited to EUR 400 a day.

There will be no major changes for the 40,000 Sberbank clients, as they will continue to use this bank and keep their bank cards, he added.

NLB will first change the name of the previously Russian-owned bank, which was on the verge of collapse after the Russian bank's European division was forced to suspend operations in the face of the Ukraine crisis.

Then the bank will be gradually integrated into NLB. Only after this process is concluded, which is expected to take over a year, will the bank accounts be transferred to NLB.

Some operative problems may still occur today as the bank reopens but customers should not worry about that, Brodnjak said.

"Sberbank has NLB's potential at its disposal today, and liquidity reserves of billions of euros, which exceed all deposits at Sberbank, have no burdens and can be accessed at any time," he stressed.

Sberbank has its own liquidity reserves as well and now it can also access those of the whole NLB group, he added.

"We will give as much money as necessary, but we are convinced there will be no more rush as of today."

Brodnjak would not reveal how much NLB paid for Sberbank beyond saying that the sum was "appropriate given the circumstances".

The takeover has already been approved by the Competition Protection Agency, which said it had issued a decision on the early implementation of concentration while taking into account the public interest in the Republic of Slovenia.

In line with the relevant law, the agency may exceptionally issue such a decision before authorising the implementation of concentration to a certain extent or under certain conditions.

The condition is that the entity demonstrates in the proposal for acquisition that such implementation is necessary in order to maintain the value of the investment or to provide services of general interest, the agency said.

NLB signed the agreement on the takeover of the only Russian-owned bank in Slovenia with the central bank on Tuesday to preserve the financial stability in the country in the face of sanctions against Russia.

With the acquisition of Sberbank, NLB again becomes the leading Slovenian bank, controlling some 30% of the market measured by total assets to leapfrog the Hungarian OTP Bank Group.

Brodnjak said he was proud to see NLB, which needed to be rescued in the past, assume the role of a rescuer.

Sberbank currently has a dozen branches in Slovenia and NLB will soon have 71. Brodnjak said it was too early to say how the acquisition would affect this number and the number of Sberbank staff in the future.

At the moment, no changes will be made, and the management will also stay the same. However, the NLB will strive to appoint a new supervisory board as soon as possible, he said.

STA, 1 March 2022 - Slovenia's largest bank, NLB, has acquired the Slovenian subsidiary of Russia's Sberbank in a move that the central bank said would preserve the financial stability in the country after Russian-owned banks suffered a loss of trust due to sanctions against Russia.

"There were two options for the resolution of the Slovenian Sberbank: either it ceases operations and savers are compensated in accordance with guarantee scheme rules, or it gets a new owner," the central bank said Tuesday evening.

The sale means that Sberbank branches will reopen tomorrow after two days of closure and limited transactions for clients. "All Sberbank clients will conduct banking services without disturbances from tomorrow." [ed. Wednesday]

NLB has acquired Sberbank's equity as well as all assets, liabilities and clients. "This is a fast and effective solution for all clients who suddenly found themselves in a difficult situation," NLB chairman Blaž Brodnjak said in a press release.

"At the close of the transaction, Sberbank Slovenija will get a strong and committed owner who will ensure smooth operation with its capital and know-how," he was quoted as saying.

The decision was reached in agreement with the EU's Single Resolution Board, which determined that Sberbank's subsidiaries in Slovenia and Croatia were "failing or likely to fail due to a rapid deterioration in their liquidity situation," even as it decided no resolution was necessary for their Austrian parent, which will be liquidated.

SRB chair Elke König said the three decisions "protect financial stability and the depositors up to an amount of EUR 100,000 in Austria and with no limits in both Slovenia and Croatia."

"Today, we acted to protect the public interest and ensure financial stability. All of this has been done without having to use public funds, so not only are Sberbank's customers protected, the taxpayer is too."

The price of the NLB transaction has not been revealed. Central bank governor Boštjan Vasle told the TV show Odmevi that there had been significant interest by the largest and most important banking institutions. The Single Resolution Board picked the solution that satisfied the largest number of criteria.

Slovenian Sberbank is the only Russian-owned bank in Slovenia.

STA, 28 February 2022 - Prime Minister Janez Janša has assured Slovenian citizens who have their deposits with the Slovenian subsidiary of Sberbank that their savings are safe after the Russian bank's European division was forced to suspend operations.

"The Financial Ministry is working with Banka Slovenije and EU institutions so that disruption to operations and the transfer of savings deposits to a new owner take as little time as possible," Janša was quoted as saying by the Government Communication Office on Monday.

Janša thus responded to disruption in the banking system due to sanctions imposed on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine after the European Central Bank and the Single Resolution Board decided to suspend the operations of Sberbank Europe, which also has a subsidiary in Slovenia.

Banka Slovenije, the Slovenian central bank, said a moratorium had been imposed to find a fast and constructive solution for the Slovenian subsidiary to allow the clients to resume transactions without disruption.

Until Wednesday morning cash withdrawals and payments are limited to EUR 400 with further details to be presented on Tuesday.

The central bank is looking into several possible avenues to resolve the situation. According to the newspaper Finance these are selling or transferring the bank's assets, liabilities and clients; transferring the bank's assets and liabilities to a new entity partly or fully owned by the state, that is a kind of bad bank; or, alternatively, full transfer to such a bad bank.

Unofficial information obtained by Finance is that the first of the three scenarios, that is an attempt to transfer the clients, possibly to NLB or Gorenjska Banka, is currently playing out in Slovenia. It should be known on Tuesday whether those two banks would in fact submit bids.

The ECB would decide on clearing a potential transfer of clients to another bank applying a "super fast procedure", Finance reports.

After sanctions were imposed on Sberbank, Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj said solutions were being secured that would guarantee the safety of deposit holders. Savings are also guaranteed by the Savings Deposits Guarantee Fund and the state budget, he noted.

"The government is looking into the situation, we are in contact with businesses and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) and we will do everything we can to help businesses," said Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek as he noted that Sberbank worked with businesses on both sides.

"The conclusion we have come to with the GZS is that it's unacceptable to solve crisis with war and that we will, unless a solution is found, insist on the sanctions imposed by the EU, which means the European and our economy will be hurt," he said, promising multi-layered solutions.

STA, 28 February 2022 - As transactions with the Slovenian subsidiary of Russian bank Sberbank have been suspended, there are difficulties with welfare payments to Sberbank clients. The Labour Ministry said that some 100 transfers of child benefits had been rejected, and difficulties with other transfers are also expected. 

Sanctions on Russia Leave Sberbank in Slovenia with Limited Operations until Wednesday

The ministry said on Monday that it had been informed by the Public Payments Administration that around 100 payments of child benefits to clients of Slovenia's Sberbank had bounced.

"Transfers for other rights paid by the Ministry of Labour, the Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities are also expected to be rejected," the ministry added in a press release.

The ministry is looking for a solution for the rejected transfers to be re-transferred and is compiling a list of all Sberbank clients, who would be notified by social work centres to report a new transaction account.

The business newspaper Finance has meanwhile reported that the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute (ZPIZ) has managed to transfer pensions to 4,273 pensioners who hold an account in Sberbank.

Finance has also reported that the clients of Sberbank who are employed in state administration have already been urged to open a transaction account in another bank by Friday so that they could receive their wages.

According to the newspaper, such a recommendation has also been issued by some private employers.

The Slovenian central bank said today that, as a consequence of sanctions against Russia, the operation of Sberbank in Slovenia had been temporarily limited to card transactions.

Other services will be unavailable at least until Wednesday, and branch offices closed. Withdrawals and payments are limited to EUR 400 per day.

Slovenia'a Sberbank announced that "in light of recent geopolitical events", a significant outflow of client funds had been recorded in a very short time.

It added that the limited operation was a temporary and "rather drastic measure" that was aimed at protecting the interests of clients and employees from possible additional effects of existing and new sanctions.

Gorenjska Banka Halts Takeover of Sberbank Slovenija

STA, 28 February 2022 - It is not viable to proceed with the acquisition of the Slovenian subsidiary of Sberbank in the current situation, Gorenjska Banka said on Monday after the former's operation was limited in the wake of sanctions against Russia. Gorenjska Banka noted it had not assumed any contractual obligations in the acquisition process so far.

Gorenjska Banka, the Slovenian bank owned by the Serbian AIK Banka, signed an agreement to acquire the Slovenian subsidiary of Russia's Sberbank in November last year.

The appropriate way to salvage the subsidiary to ensure smooth operations for its clients will be determined by Slovenia's central bank, a press release from Gorenjska Banka reads.

Gorenjska Banka meanwhile continues to operate as an independent, autonomous banking institution, ensuring the safety and reliability of banking services both domestically and internationally, the release adds.

Under last year's deal, Gorenjska Banka, AIK and the AEC group - the umbrella holding company of the business system of Serbian businessman Miodrag Kostić - also agreed with the Russian owners to acquire another five Sberbank subsidiaries in the region, including in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Hungary.

Sberbank has been present in Slovenia for ten years and is the ninth largest bank in the country. The Slovenian subsidiary posted a pre-tax profit of EUR 1.12 million at the end of 2020. The bank's capital adequacy ratio was 19.8% and it had a balance sheet total of EUR 1.84 billion.

It is the successor of Volksbank, which had been present in Slovenia since 1993. It moved from Austrian ownership to Russian ownership in 2012, and until recent developments, it was expected that its new owners would come from Serbia.

STA, 28 February 2022 - As a consequence of sanctions against Russia, the operation of the Russian bank Sberbank in Slovenia has been temporarily limited to card transactions, the central bank announced on Monday. Other services will be unavailable until Wednesday, and branch offices closed. Withdrawals and payments are limited to EUR 400 per day.

This comes as the European Central Bank (ECB) said that the Sberbank Europe group, including its branches in Slovenia and Croatia, would "fail or is likely to fail", as it would probably not be able to settle its liabilities on time due to deteriorating liquidity.

Banka Slovenije said in a press release that a decision was made on Sunday at the level of the ECB and the Single Resolution Board to suspend the operations of Sberbank Europe, which has a subsidiary in Slovenia.

A transitional period. i.e. short-term moratorium has been adopted, during which a "quick and constructive solution will be found for the Slovenian subsidiary" in order to ensure uninterrupted operation for all its clients, the central bank added.

"For the clients of the Slovenian Sberbank, this means that the bank's operations will be limited to payment card operations from Monday to Wednesday morning. Other services will be temporarily unavailable and branch offices will be closed. During this time, we will find an appropriate way to salvage the bank."

The press release adds that Sberbank was the only bank in the Slovenian banking system that is Russian-owned, while all other banks operated as usual.

The Slovenian branch of Sberbank announced today that "in light of recent geopolitical events" a significant outflow of client funds had been recorded in a very short time.

It added that the limited operation was a temporary and "rather drastic measure" that was aimed at protecting the interests of clients and employees from possible additional effects of existing and new sanctions.

"With this measure, we will limit the excessive outflow of deposits from the bank. A sudden high outflow of deposits would have an even more negative impact on the bank's current operations," the bank said, adding that payment orders would not be executed in the next two days.

The bank noted that it was a Slovenian bank that operated in the local market, that it was regulated by Banka Slovenije and that it did most of its business with Slovenian clients.

Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj commented on the developments by saying that, in addition to sanctions, solutions had been adopted to ensure the security of savers in Sberbank. He noted that savings were safe.

"The security of savings is guaranteed by the Deposit Guarantee Fund, to which banks pay regular annual contributions, and the state budget. In addition, savings of up to EUR 100,000 are secured by state guarantees. This also applies to Sberbank," he added.

Sberbank has been present in Slovenia for 10 years and is currently the ninth largest bank in Slovenia in terms of total assets.

Gorenjska Banka, the Slovenian bank owned by the Serbian AIK Banka, signed a deal to acquire the Slovenian subsidiary of Sberbank last November, but the transaction is now uncertain due to the sanctions against Russia.

Slovenia's Sberbank recorded EUR 1.12 million in pre-tax profit in 2020, and its capital adequacy was 19.8%. Total assets amounted to EUR 1.84 billion.

At the end of 2020, the bank held EUR 1.34 billion in deposits by non-bank clients, of which deposits by individuals amounted to EUR 484 million. Loans to households amounted to EUR 446.69 million, and loans to companies to EUR 755.42 million.

It employed 388 people in the network of 12 branch offices in Ljubljana, Maribor, Koper, Kranj, Celje, Šentjur, Šentjernej and Tepanje, and in the micro entrepreneurship financing centre in Ljubljana.

STA, 24 February 2022 - The Slovenia-based banking group NLB posted a record profit of EUR 236.4 million in 2021, a substantial growth compared to the previous year, excluding effects from the acquisition of Komercijalna Banka in Serbia, shows unaudited data published on the website of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

"The results of our business operations in 2021 show that we have successfully left the epidemic far behind us and more importantly, that we have emerged from it stronger than ever," said NLB CEO Blaž Brodnjak as the unaudited 2021 results were published.

Last year, NLB acquired Komercijalna Banka Beograd to become a major player in seven markets in South-East Europe, and integrated two banks in Montenegro - NLB Banka Podgorica and Komercijalna Banka Podgorica.

"The supervisory board is pleased that the NLB Group has successfully utilised the opportunities offered by the supportive economic environment of strong GDP growth in the region, healthy private consumption, and loan demand," said Primož Karpe, chairman of the supervisory board.

Net interest revenue was up by 37% to EUR 409.4 million last year, to which Komercijalna Banka contributed EUR 98.5 million. Excluding this, a 4% growth was recorded, mostly due to strong rise in loans.

The growth in net fee and commission income was at 39%, which NLB labelled as "impressive".

The group attributes this to "high demand for investment products, such as asset management and bancassurance products, together with high income from activities related to general business activities".

Loans were up by 9% and deposits by 8%. Deposits from customers increased by 5%, which shows that savers transferred part of their savings to alternative investments.

NLB released EUR 35.8 million worth of impairments and provisions.

In the future, the group plans to focus on intensive digitalisation and improving of user experience and its sustainability.

STA, 6 January 2022 - UniCredit Banka Slovenija will join the five banks in Slovenia that have already introduced a fee on high deposits for individuals. The bank announced on Thursday that it will introduce it for all physical persons whose deposits exceed EUR 100,000.

The first to introduce the fee in April 2021 were market leader NLB and SKB, which were followed by NKBM, Addiko Bank, and Delavska Hranilnica.

The five banks' total assets represent over 60% of Slovenia's banking market.

At all these banks, deposits of over EUR 100,000 are subject to the charge, which at most of the banks stands at 0.04%.

Eurozone banks increasingly opted for this measure last year due to extremely low interest rates and high liquidity, after first imposing it on legal persons.

STA, 31 May 2021 - The Hungarian OTP Bank Group announced on Monday it had signed a contract to acquire the outright stake in NKBM, Slovenia's second largest bank. The deal is expected to be finalised in the second quarter of next year as the acquirer is waiting approval from relevant regulatory authorities.

Owned by the US fund Apollo (80%) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (20%), NKBM controls 20.5% of the Slovenian market and is the second largest bank in the country.

OTP already owns SKB Banka, which it acquired from France's Societe Generale for EUR 323 million under an agreement signed in 2019.

Combined with NKBM, the new bank would control some 29% of the market measured by total assets to leapfrog the current market leader, NLB.

The price of the NKBM acquisition remains confidential. The Reuters news agency reported in April that it could be worth nearly a billion euro.

OTP was an early favourite to acquire NKBM, though the business newspaper Finance, which first reported today about the deal, says several other bidders expressed interest as well, among them Erste Group from Austria and Belgium's KBC.

NKBM was sold to Apollo and the EBRD in 2016 for EUR 250 million, and NKBM purchased the Abanka bank in mid-2019 for EUR 444 million, when the OTP Bank Group was also in play to buy Abanka.

NKBM and Abanka were among the banks that the state bailed out at the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014 after difficulties brought about by the economic and financial crisis.

Slovenia promised to the European Commission, in return to approval of state aid, that it will privatise the banks. In the case of Abanka, the condition was also that it is merged with the Banka Celje bank before privatisation.

NKBM ended 2020 with a net profit of EUR 208.9 million, and its total assets stood at EUR 9.17 billion.