Press release after the Meeting of the Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia

10/08/2013 / Press release

1) The Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia discussed current supervisory matters.
2) The Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia discussed current economic and financial developments, and approved the release of the September 2013 report on Economic and Financial Developments and the July 2013 report on Slovenia’s International Economic Relations. The Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia also discussed and approved the October 2013 report on Macroeconomic developments and Projections. 
The report was also presented at a press conference.

3) The Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia also discussed the issue of the establishment of a single credit register in the Republic of Slovenia.

The Governing Board was briefed on the situation in the area of credit registers in Slovenia and the EU. In light of the financial crisis and in connection with the establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), there is an increased need for higher-quality information about indebtedness and credit risk.

4) The Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia discussed the Direct Investment 2012 publication.

The Governing Board was briefed on the information on direct investments in 2012 that will be published in the annual publication. The structure of inward FDI in Slovenia has not changed significantly in the last five years. The stock of inward FDI stood at EUR 11,724.3 million at the end of 2012, up slightly on the previous year as a result of other changes, transactions having declined. The most important inward investors in Slovenia are EU countries (Austria, Italy, Germany and France) and Switzerland, which hold their largest investments by far in financial services other than insurance sector and pension funds. The stock of Slovenia’s outward FDI declined in 2012, as a result of a decline in transactions and as a result of other changes. It stood at EUR 5,599.3 million at the end of 2012. Slovenia’s largest outward FDIs are in Croatia and Serbia, while EU countries account for just 13% of the total.

5) The Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia discussed the September 2013 report on the performance of the banks in the current year, developments on the capital market, and interest rates.

6) The Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia was briefed on the Bank of Slovenia’s newly launched possibility for additional contacts with the commercial sector. Vice-Governor – Deputy Governor Janez Fabijan will answer direct questions from business persons every Friday between 8 am and 9 am and between 2 pm and 3 pm.

7) In light of the recent media criticism of Janko Medja, the president of the management board of NLB d.d., particularly in connection with certain actions taken in related pre-trial procedure for criminal offences, in an assessment of his qualifications as a president of a management board the Bank of Slovenia found that at the moment there are no grounds for withdrawal of his authorisation to perform the function of a member of a management board in the sense of Article 68 in connection with Article 65 of the ZBan-1. On the basis of the available information and the data to which the Bank of Slovenia was given access in the aforementioned proceedings, at the moment there are no grounds for imposing any other measures on Mr Medja.

The Bank of Slovenia expects the shareholders or the supervisory board of the bank in question to continue assessing any impact that the announcement of the proceedings in which Mr Medja is involved might have on the activities at the bank and its ability to operate under such media pressure.

The Bank of Slovenia’s primary objective is to act to ensure the bank’s capital adequacy and its liquidity, and thus the stability of the banking system. In conjunction with the relevant authorities, the Bank of Slovenia will continue closely monitoring the situation in the future, and in the event of new circumstances coming to light that would entail lawful conditions for taking action, will also act without delay.