The Banking Agency refuses to submit the Final Report of the interim manager of Bobar Bank

Banja Luka, 23. March 2015 — At the request of Transparency International BiH, the Banking Agency of Republika Srpska refused to submit the Final Report on the course of the interim administration procedure against Bobar banka ad Bijeljina and its termination, with an explanation of the implemented measures of the interim administration procedure. Agency immediately after the end of the interim administration.

Since the end of the interim administration procedure, TI BiH has been insisting on the disclosure of the Final Report, and the Agency is the first 19. January 2015 informed TI BiH that the disputed Report was not finished, and the procedure of temporary administration over Bobar banka ad Bijeljina was completed on 23. December 2014 . After TI BiH continued to insist on submitting the Final Report, because only in that way can the public be informed about the measures taken, the RS Banking Agency refused to provide the Final Report, emphasizing that it is a business secret. TI BiH intends to initiate an administrative dispute regarding the Agency’s decision, bearing in mind that the Law on Freedom of Access to Information, ie the public interest in this case, was not taken into account, given the consequences caused by the sudden closure of a bank.

Also, the fact that it was first announced that the Report was not ready, and only then the Agency refused to provide it, raises suspicions that the interim administrator either never drafted a document with which he had to explain his work in detail, or this is just a way to cover up authorities, but also illegalities that have been suspected since the beginning of the Bobar Bank affair.

The Government of the Republika Srpska proposed amendments to the Law on Banks in 2013. years precisely for the purpose of more precise determination of the competencies of temporary and liquidation managers, but also for the purpose of greater supervisory powers of the RS Banking Agency. Thus, among other things, it is planned to compile the Final Report on the Interim Administration Procedure, from which it would be clear which measures have been taken and what their effect is. The RS Banking Agency voluntarily and without taking into account the Law on Freedom of Access to Information, which treats the publication of information of public importance as a rule, decided to declare the Report a business secret, thus denying the public information about all activities undertaken in the Bobar Bank case.

TI BiH believes that there is no valid reason to ban access to the Final Report of the interim administrator in the Bobar Bank case, and that its publication can only contribute to shedding light on the whole affair, while hiding information raises additional doubts about the legal work of the Banking Agency and interim administrator.

Press rls – March 23, 2015