After Bobar Bank: RS Banking Agency Refuses to Shed Light on New Financial Scandal

 

The Banking Agency of Republika Srpska and Banka Srpske have refused to submit complete audit reports of Banka Srpske upon request by Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH), declaring them confidential, regardless of the public interest and the fact that it is a bank in public ownership, reports the Patria news agency.  

At the same time, the Agency refused to provide any information about the measures it has taken in this case, acting completely non-transparently and irresponsibly, as in the case of Bobar Bank.

Namely, after a shortened audit report appeared in public indicating illegal operations of Banka Srpske, TI BiH requested from the RS Banking Agency and Banka Srpske copies of the complete external auditor reports for 2013 and 2014.

At the same time, the Agency was asked about the measures taken against the disputed bank, in the form of requests for additional data and information as part of the control of creditworthiness and legality of operations, all in order to shed light on the new financial scandal.

The Banking Agency refused to release all requested information, declaring it confidential, thereby failing to consider the public interest in disclosing all measures taken so far, as well as the complete audit reports, in order to dispel suspicions about yet another financial scandal.

Banka Srpske also refused to release the requested reports, and thus, less than a year after the collapse of Bobar Bank, users of financial services are faced with new disturbing suspicions about the legality of operations in the financial market supervised by the RS Banking Agency.

Once again, the Agency refuses to act or explain its actions, thereby rendering its role in the financial system protection system meaningless.

Such practice only further deepens suspicions about the regularity of the Bank's operations, and the public must urgently be disclosed all information about the operations of Banka Srpske in order to restore the damaged trust in the banking sector, but also to clarify suspicions about the work of this bank.

The Banking Agency, as a supervisory body, has shown in both the case of Banka Srpske and the case of Bobar Bank that it is not ready to show even a minimum of responsibility, nor to justify its existence and role.

TI BiH has already filed a lawsuit against the Agency regarding the violation of the Law on Freedom of Access to Information in the case of Bobar Bank, and expects a verdict on it, and will continue to insist on the submission of all requested information through all available legal means in this case as well, both from the RS Banking Agency and from Banka Srpske, because it is a bank in public ownership and is obliged to provide information of public importance, TI BiH stated.