Alta Banka loses license: deposits insured to 50,000 euros

The Executive Board of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) decided on October 31, 2026 to revoke the operating license of Alta Banka a.d. Beograd. In the same decision, NBS found that the conditions for opening bankruptcy proceedings were met, and the Deposit Insurance Agency (AOD) announced the same day that the insured amount is 50,000 euros per depositor. The decision was announced overnight, and by morning queues had formed outside branches in Novi Sad.

What NBS announced and who takes over the bank

Management of the bank passes to AOD, and the court will appoint the agency as bankruptcy trustee by ruling. Proceedings have been launched against the bank, its shareholders, its management bodies and other responsible persons. According to the NBS statement, the aim of the measures is to keep the bank’s assets under supervision and prevent them from being dissipated, so that creditors, above all citizens and businesses, can access their funds again as soon as possible.

The timeline can be reconstructed from details reported by Republika. According to NBS’s reasoning, inspections aimed at improving liquidity found that the bank’s financial condition had worsened and could deteriorate further, which met the legal conditions for revoking the license. Unofficially, some citizens and companies had been withdrawing money from Alta Banka in recent days and moving it to other banks.

NBS also stated the following:

Savers will be notified in good time about which bank they can withdraw their insured deposits from

The central bank added that NBS and AOD have announced they will carry out the entire procedure as quickly and transparently as possible.

Who is insured, and up to how much?

In a statement on aod.rs, AOD says: “The insured amount of deposits is 50,000 euros per depositor.” The limit applies to the sum of all of a saver’s accounts at that bank, including accrued contractual interest, not to each account separately. A current account and savings held by the same person are therefore added together when the insured amount is determined.

The following are entitled to a payout of the insured amount:

• individuals
• entrepreneurs
• micro, small and medium-sized legal entities

According to Republika, citing Blic, deposits of large legal entities and state bodies are not covered by the insurance. For any amount above 50,000 euros, the depositor remains a creditor in the bankruptcy proceedings and claims it from the bankruptcy estate.

Dinar deposits are paid out in dinars and foreign currency deposits in euros, at the euro middle exchange rate on the day bankruptcy proceedings begin.

When do payouts begin?

AOD ties the deadline to the court, not to the calendar. The agency said in its statement that payouts will start no later than seven working days after the Commercial Court in Belgrade issues its ruling opening bankruptcy proceedings. A notice on the conditions, places and deadlines for payout will be published in the media and on aod.rs, no later than three working days after that ruling. The AOD statement reads:

“On October 31, 2026, the Executive Board of the National Bank of Serbia adopted a decision to revoke the operating license of Alta Banka a.d. Beograd. A notice on the conditions, places and deadlines for payout of insured deposit amounts will be published in the public media and on the website of the Deposit Insurance Agency (www.aod.rs) no later than three working days after the Commercial Court in Belgrade issues its ruling opening bankruptcy proceedings against the bank.”

Within the same three working days, AOD also publishes a call for small investors to submit claims for payout of protected receivables, with a deadline for submission.

Sources differ on the first day of payouts. In reply to an inquiry from N1, Alta Banka said that payout of insured deposits begins on Monday, November 2, in line with the procedures and instructions of the competent institutions. AOD does not name an exact date. Telegraf Biznis, in its headline, carries a statement by Pantelic that he expects bankruptcy to be formally opened over Alta Banka on Monday, which is an expectation about the court ruling, not about the start of payouts. Until AOD publishes its notice, the deadline in the agency’s statement is the one that applies.

Loans, cards and branches

Alta Banka said that card activities, as well as domestic and foreign currency payments, have been suspended, and that its branches are currently closed. In the same reply, the bank thanked clients “for their patience, understanding and the trust placed in it”.

Nothing changes for borrowers. NBS stresses that opening bankruptcy does not release borrowers from their obligations, and that after proceedings open they will receive clear instructions on how to settle their debts. Loan installments, including mortgages, are paid under existing contracts: the agreed interest rates, repayment terms and the EURIBOR and BELIBOR reference rates still apply. According to Republika, the loan portfolio may be sold to another bank, in which case clients simply get a new account number for payments, or it may be collected by AOD in the name and on behalf of the Republic of Serbia.

What the bank’s balance sheet shows

Republika cites figures from NBS’s public financial reports for 2026: Alta Banka’s total balance sheet assets come to about 214.93 billion dinars (around 1.65 billion euros). Loans and receivables from clients stood at about 111.5 billion dinars in September, roughly 48% of assets, while cash and funds held at the central bank came to about 88.3 billion dinars.

Net profit in 2025 was about 1.37 billion dinars (around 11.6 million euros), down from 1.60 billion dinars (around 12.1 million euros) in 2024. The same source notes that assets grew by almost 60% in 2025. Republika points out that a bank can hold substantial assets and still lack enough immediately available funds to meet client demands, and that liquidity is exactly what NBS’s reasoning about the inspections refers to.