The Croatian Banking Association (HUB) on Tuesday said that it strongly condemned acts of any of its members which may be in contravention with the legal and ethical norms of this association.
The condemnation ensues after media outlets reported that the RBA bank was trying to hire a PR agency whose task would be, among other things, to put pressure on the Constitutional Court in connection with loans pegged to the Swiss franc.
“The Croatian Banking Association expresses dissatisfaction over any suspicion of unethical conducts of our member during the selection of a PR agency for promotional purposes. For now all we have is information available in the media about this case, and therefore we cannot comment on it in detail,” the HUB says.
The Franak association on Monday reacted sharply to the news of a tender issued by Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) for a PR agency which would influence the Constitutional Court in the dispute over the nullification of contracts for Swiss franc-denominated loans, underscoring that any pressure on the judiciary was unlawful. The Index.hr website on Sunday posted that RBA was looking for a PR agency that would exert pressure on the Constitutional Court. In their tender RBA is looking for a crisis communication service concerning CHF loans. One task includes “exerting pressure on the Constitutional Court and other courts in Croatia.”
That prompted the Croatian National Bank (HNB) on Monday to report that it was unpleasantly surprised by the RBA advertisement for a PR agency in which it notes that one of its tasks will be to put pressure on courts in the dispute over Swiss franc-denominated loans, adding that it would urgently conduct an inspection of RBA and take the necessary steps.
HUB today underlines that the developments surrounding the CHF-indexed loans were different from country to country, pointing out the complexity of this problem.
HUB says that all communications activities it has taken regarding this case are legitimate and aimed at providing objective information about this complex topic.
