ZAGREB, Dec 29, 2020 - The Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) said on Tuesday that it would remove fmore than 800 registered regulated businesses from the UK and Gibraltar rom its registers due to Brexit.

According to a statement from HANFA, as of 1 January 2021 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is considered to be a third country in relation to the EU, which is why changes will occur in HANFA's registers  regarding providers of financial services from the UK and Gibraltar.

"On 1 January 2021 HANFA will remove more than 800 registered regulated entities based in the UK and Gibraltar from its registers, which until then were authorised to provide services and/or perform activities in Croatia based on the EU passport, as well as 57 notified alternative investment funds," HANFA said.

The businesses in question provide investment services and perform investment activities, manage funds, provide (re)insurance services and distribute insurance products.

A complete list of these companies is available at HANFA's web site.

There are no businesses from the UK or Gibraltar that provide services in Croatia through a branch office so HANFA will not need to update those registers.

HANFA recalls that on December 24 the European Commission and the UK reached an agreement regulating their future cooperation.

The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement covers three areas - an agreement on free trade, partnership in protection of citizens' rights, and an agreement on governance.

ZAGREB, December 15, 2019 - The Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) mostly complies with recommendations by European regulators regarding the prevention of suspicious transactions, an analysis by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) shows.

ESMA analysed the work of regulators in 30 European countries in the categories supervision of financial companies and the system of detection of suspicious transactions. Also analysed were the regulators' responses to poor-quality reporting or non-reporting of suspicious transactions.

ESMA also assessed the quality of regulatory analyses of suspicious transactions, cross-border data exchange, and supervision resources.

HANFA was assessed as mostly compliant in three of the six assessment areas, fully compliant in two areas and partially compliant in one.

In the area of supervision of financial companies, Croatia was assessed as mostly compliant, together with Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway.

An analysis of the supervision of systems for the detection of suspicious transactions put Croatia in a group of countries that are fully compliant with European regulations, together with Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Great Britain.

HANFA's response to poor-quality reporting and non-reporting of suspicious transactions brought it an assessment of partial compliance with European recommendations. The same assessment was given to the regulators of Denmark, Greece, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Iceland and Slovakia.

In the fourth area, the European regulator analysed suspiciuos transactions, describing Croatia as mostly compliant, together with 19 other countries.

In the fifth area, ESMA analysed cross-border data exchange on suspicious transactions, describing Croatia as mostly compliant with European recommendations, along with 15 other European countries.

In the area of national competent authorities' resources, Croatia is fully compliant with European recommendations, along with 16 other European countries.

More business news can be found in the dedicated section.

Neither Prime Minister Plenković nor Zdravko Marić himself have come out and actually denied the rumours about the Croatian finance minister's potential departure from the government.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of December, 2018, although no one has officially confirmed this, some claim that a quick analysis of the statements made by both Prime Minister Plenković and Zdravko Marić himself suggest that it is apparently ''almost certain'' that the longtime Croatian finance minister is set to leave his government position.

This information has begun circulating at a very inconvenient time and amid quite a bit of controversy, given the fact that Zdravko Marić's older sister has been promoted in HANFA, which is ironically the organisation investigating the finance minister for his activities during the height of Agrokor saga, which still isn't over. Good timing you say? You're right.

To quickly recall, this isn't the first time the Croatian finance minister has fallen out of favour in such a public manner. Marić used to work at Agrokor before taking on his government position, and as more and more came to light in regard to Agrokor's messy story, many began to suspect that he knew much more than he was letting on about the crimes which allegedly took place under the gigantic company's former owner, Ivica Todorić.

Despite having held strong to his statement of innocence and managing to survive this political test, ultimately retaining his position, the cloud of suspicion surrounding him never truly went away, it only engulfed Martina Dalić instead, the fomer deputy PM, who became a welcome distraction for the minister tormented by his past.

Regardless of the passage of time and the stepping down of Martina Dalić, the curse of the former Agrokor crisis has come knocking at Croatian finance minister's door once again, and this time it looks like he won't be getting off quite as lightly.

Upon being asked, Prime Minister Plenković's response has been scrutinised deeply, and for some it could be concluded that the Croatian finance minister's time is up, purely and simply because the he did not deny it when asked, writes Večernji list.

Similarly, Marić didn't deny it himself, either. The question now is not only who would potentially replace Marić in the government, but whether or not this could potentially be a chance for the reconstruction of the current government.

While unconfirmed, speculation suggests that Marić's departure from the government will take place next month, which would in itself be logical because he has already compiled a budget for next year.

The exact name of the person who either may or definitely replace Marić is still unknown, primarily because this information remains officially unconfirmed. But those speculating have suggested that it could be Tomislav Ćorić, the curent minister of energy and environmental protection, but sources close to the government claim that if he is doing his job well and that such a move would make no real sense. It would also be his third new ministry if it were to occur. So, it seems difficult to imagine Corić taking over Marić's job.

The speculation of potential names continues, despite the fact that the rumours of the current Croatian finance minister leaving his position early next year remain unconfirmed. 

Make sure to stay up to date on this situation and much more on the domestic and European political stage by following our dedicated politics page.

ZAGREB, March 1, 2018 - Following the Zagreb Stock Exchange’s (ZSE) decision to resume trading with stocks of companies from the Agrokor Group on 2 March (Friday), the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) said on Thursday it had ordered the ZSE to suspend without delay trading with the said stocks in order to protect investors and secure organised and regular trading.