ZAGREB, January 10, 2020 – In 2020 the Croatian National Bank (HNB) will have additional macro-prudential measures at its disposal and it will impose them on commercial banks to maintain the financial system’s stability, and the exchange of data on customers’ creditworthiness will be reintroduced, according to some of the draft acts that are to be adopted.
In late 2019, the Finance Ministry put to public consultation a set of draft acts adjusted to the European acquis within the context of steps which should be taken on Croatia’s journey towards the euro area. The public consultation lasted until this week.
One of the steps is a letter which Croatia sent in 2019 considering its admission to the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II).
The letter of intent expresses Croatia’s intention to enter the exchange rate mechanism and to implement 19 measures in six areas in the next 12 months on the path towards the introduction of the euro as the official currency.
In this regard, Croatia is set to amend the legislation on credit institutions to enable the exchange of data on customers regarding the assessment of their creditworthiness.
Some 15 years ago a score of commercial lenders operating in Croatia set up a register of credit obligations of customers (HROK) enabling those lenders to exchange information on credits taken by customers.
However, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDRP), introduced by the European Union in mid-2018, eliminated this register.
The latest amendments provide for legal security in the exchange of information between banks for the purpose of assessing their customers’ creditworthiness.
Also, one of the novelties is that it will be the HNB and not the Croatian Banking Association that will calculate the national reference rate of the average cost for financing the banking system. The abbreviation in Croatian for this rate is NRS.
The outcome of a comprehensive stress test for five leading Croatian banks, conducted by the European Central Bank (ECB), will be announced in May.
The set of amended laws will enable the Croatian central bank to impose measures if they turn out to be necessary in accordance with the stress tests’ outcome.
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