TI BiH won another dispute against the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska for hiding information regarding Bobar Bank

The District Court Banja Luka confirmed again that the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska violated Law on Free Access to Information and illegally hid the decision on the account blockade

Banja Luka, 12th April 2016 — Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) won the second dispute against the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska, because it refused to submit a copy of the decision on the basis of which it was allowed to block accounts of natural and legal entities which had debts towards Bobar Bank ad Bijeljina. The interim trustee of Bobar Bank passed the controversial decision during the interim administration, and the Agency never published this decision, although it provoked strong reactions.
Citizens and business people found the mentioned decision illegal, since it implied a complete blockade of accounts in all banks, and that it was not in accordance with the Law on Enforcement Procedure, which stipulates that the citizens must have the basic life resources. Since the Banking Agency acted upon the decision it brought itself, and not upon legally defined procedure, TI BiH also requested the announcement of this decision, in order to determine its validity, but the Agency refused to provide this information, explaining it once again as a trade secret.
After TI BiH filed the lawsuit against Bobar Bank, the District Court in Banja Luka rejected arguments of the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska that the decision on the blockade of the accounts is a confidential document representing a trade secret, which confirms the opinion of TI BiH that all details regarding Bobar Bank affair should have been published, in accordance with the Law on Free Access to Information.
This is the second verdict TI BiH won against the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska, and both refer to the non-transparent work of the interim management that the Agency illegally keeps secret, as it was already confirmed by the first verdict. Recent arrests of the leading people in the financial sector of the Republic of Srpska only confirmed doubts about the irregularities in the work of the relevant institutions, primarily of the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska, as a supervisory body with wide regulatory powers, which still refuses to justify its role and thus enable the enlightenment of the whole affair about Bobar Bank.

Press rls – 12 4 2016 doc eng