Alta Banka Bitola: Interim Management, 10,000 Denar Limit
North Macedonia's central bank has imposed interim management on a bank majority-owned by Belgrade's Alta Banka, which lost its license. Customers can spend 10,000 denars a week.
The collapse of Belgrade’s Alta Banka has spilled across the border: the National Bank of North Macedonia has placed Alta Banka in Bitola under interim management, and customers of that bank can now withdraw only a limited amount. The Bitola bank is majority-owned by the Belgrade parent. The decision follows directly from a move by the National Bank of Serbia, which revoked the parent bank’s license overnight between October 30 and 31, turning a banking crisis in Serbia into a problem for depositors in a neighboring country as well.
We reported earlier that the opposition party SDSM is demanding the resignation of Governor Trajko Slaveski. His institution is now taking over management of the bank’s assets, and he explained the decision at a press conference.
What exactly did the Macedonian central bank decide?
The executive board of the National Bank of North Macedonia adopted a decision on interim management that took effect immediately. According to Meta.mk, it was made on November 1. Management of the bank’s assets passes to people appointed by the National Bank, and the sources we read do not name them.
The bank keeps its license and is not in bankruptcy. Slaveski said everything is being done because of the situation with the shareholder:
“This measure is temporary and was introduced solely because of developments involving the qualified shareholder, Alta Banka AD Belgrade, in order to protect the bank’s assets and the interests of depositors. Alta Banka AD Bitola is highly capitalized, liquid, with a solid credit portfolio quality, and meets all supervisory standards,” Governor Trajko Slaveski said.
The measures, he said, can last three months at most, but the regulator expects the ownership to change sooner.
How much money can customers withdraw?
Individuals face a weekly outflow limit of 10,000 denars from their accounts, used through cards issued by the bank. Answering reporters’ questions, Slaveski clarified that bill payments count toward that amount, while customers’ obligations to the bank itself do not. He justified the figure with an estimate of daily needs, citing the average salary and pension and a benchmark of about 40,000 denars a month.
Companies get nothing comparable: for now they cannot transfer money out of the bank through payment systems or withdraw cash at ATMs and counters. Payments within the same bank remain unlimited, for companies and individuals alike.
Mobile and online banking, according to Slaveski, will not be available immediately but on one of the coming days. He also announced adjustments to the branch network for customers who hold deposits but have no cards. Visa temporarily suspended the bank’s cards, and the service was restored at noon on November 1.
Who is the owner, and who is the buyer?
Belgrade’s Alta Banka has lost its voting rights but keeps its ownership. Slaveski put it this way:
“We are taking away the voting rights of Alta Banka AD Belgrade, but the ownership right remains.”
The Serbian owner will, as announced, get a short deadline to put the shares up for sale. If it does not, the National Bank of North Macedonia will carry out the sale. The governor says four to five parties have shown interest, domestic financial institutions and buyers from abroad, but he stressed that this information is unofficial.
Alta Banka Belgrade bought Stopanska Banka AD Bitola a year ago, with the approval of the Securities Commission and the National Bank of North Macedonia. Slaveski defended the approval given at the time: the parent bank held a license then, operated normally in the Serbian financial system and met the verified conditions for buying the shares.
What happened before?
A day earlier, Alta Banka Bitola had announced that its branches and ATMs were working as usual and that clients could freely use their deposits. The Macedonian National Bank said at the time that revoking a license in Serbia does not automatically mean revoking the license in Bitola, but that it was monitoring the risks of the ownership link.
According to Slaveski, about two million euros was withdrawn from the bank by October 31 in cash and other transfers. On suspicions about transfers from Serbia to North Macedonia, the governor claimed that, according to all available data since the start of the crisis at the Belgrade bank, the inflows mentioned in public did not occur.
The National Bank of Serbia justified the license revocation by citing supervisory activities aimed at getting the bank to raise its liquidity. It found that the bank’s financial condition had deteriorated substantially and that depositors’ interests were at risk. The Deposit Insurance Agency will be appointed bankruptcy trustee by court order.
In Montenegro, meanwhile, the Council of the Central Bank revoked the authorization to provide payment services from the payment institution Alta Pay Group of Podgorica, because the conditions set by law are no longer met. The Central Bank of Montenegro says the institution is not a bank, does not take deposits and does not affect the stability of the financial system. The statement ends with this message:
“Citizens and businesses can continue to use the payment services of banks and other authorized payment service providers in Montenegro without disruption. The Central Bank will continue to inform the public responsibly, in a timely manner and transparently about all matters of importance for the security of payment operations and the stability of the financial system,” the Central Bank of Montenegro said in its statement.
