At its session today, the Council of the Croatian National Bank examined recent monetary and economic indicators, the report on the conditions in the Croatian banking system in the first quarter of this year, as well as the report on the operations of the Croatian Mint for 2013.

The Council of the Croatian National Bank granted approval to J&T banka a.s., Praha to acquire a qualifying holding that accounts for more than 50% of the initial capital of Vaba banka d.d. The acquirer is a bank registered in 1992 in Prague, and except in the Czech Republic it operates though its banks, investment companies and funds also in Slovakia, Russia, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Barbados. All requested documents were submitted alongside the application form for approval, including the evidence of payment of HRK 75m to the Vaba banka's escrow account. This provides Vaba banka with the necessary capital adequacy ratio, and an additional capital investment is envisaged by the end of this year so as to ensure the bank's growth and the stability of its future operations.

The Council of the Croatian National Bank approved the following appointments proposed by supervisory boards of six banks: Ivan Šverko is a new management board member of Croatia banka d.d., Zagreb; Christoph von Gleich assumes the duties of the management board chairman of Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank d.d., Zagreb; Klaudija Paljuh remains a management board member of Istarska kreditna banka d.d., Umag; Michael Georg Müller is appointed management board chairman of Raiffeisenbank Austria d.d., Zagreb; Igor Repin remains a management board member of Sberbank d.d., Zagreb.