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1. Which deposits are guaranteed under the Deposit Guarantee Scheme in Slovenia?
2. How to act in the event of a bank bankruptcy or a bank merger?
3. Other useful information for depositors
Which deposits are guaranteed under the Deposit Guarantee Scheme in Slovenia?
1. What is a guaranteed deposit?
A guaranteed deposit of an individual depositor (a private individual, a private individual independently engaged in business activities, a sole trader or a legal entity that does not satisfy the criteria for being classed as a large or medium-size enterprise) at a bank is the sum or total balance of all the deposits of an individual depositor as at the day that bankruptcy proceedings are initiated against the bank up to a total of EUR 100,000.
2. Are all types of deposit guaranteed under the scheme in Slovenia?
Deposits based on a current account, savings deposits, cash deposits, and certificates of deposit and bills, provided that they are issued as registered securities and are registered in the name of the relevant person, are all covered by the guarantee.
A depositor’s other claims against the bank are also classed as deposits for the purpose of the guarantee . The law defines them as money remaining in an account or positive balances that are the result of ordinary banking transactions that the bank must repay in accordance with current legal and contractual terms.
3. Are there deposits that are not guaranteed?
Yes, the following deposits are not covered by the guarantee:
- deposits deriving from bonds and other registered debt securities other than certificates of deposit and bills, where they are registered to a name,
- deposits which, due to their characteristics, are taken into consideration in the calculation of the banks' own funds,
- deposits arising out of transactions for which the holder of the deposit has been convicted by final judgment for the criminal offence of money laundering,
- bearer deposits and deposits that are in any way anonymous or for which the depositor cannot be identified because the bank does not have the information about the deposit holder at its disposal. Substantively these are deposits registered to the bearer, and password-activated deposits from the past, where the identification of the deposit holder has not yet been made.
It is recommended that all depositors who are holders of anonymous deposits or deposits for which the bank did not require basic registration information when being opened contact their banks and provide their information. Only in this way can such deposits be covered by the guarantee, once the other conditions are met.
4. Are the deposits of all depositors guaranteed?
No. The following deposits are not covered by the guarantee:
- deposits of other banks and financial corporations invested in their own name and for their own account,
- deposits of central governments, central banks and local governments, and deposits of legal entities that are funded directly or indirectly by central government or local government budgets,
- deposits of legal entities that are classed as large or medium-size enterprises under the ZGD-1, or that satisfy the relevant criteria for the same (the same applies to sole traders’ deposits),
- deposits of shareholders in the bank that hold at least 5% of the bank’s capital or voting rights,
- deposits of legal entities that are subsidiaries of the bank,
- deposits of all types of fund (undertakings for collective investment [open and closed investment funds]), pension funds’ deposits and deposits in insurance corporations’ assets covering technical provisions.
5. Are deposits at all banks guaranteed?
Yes, deposits at all banks and savings banks providing banking services in Slovenia are covered by the guarantee. A public notice of the Bank of Slovenia and the Slovenian Banking Association about the deposit guarantee is published at the premises of banks and savings banks (http://www.zbs-giz.si/system/file.asp?FileId=3166). The law stipulates that:
- deposits at banks and savings banks established in Slovenia that have obtained a Bank of Slovenia authorisation to provide banking services are guaranteed under the Deposit Guarantee Scheme in Slovenia;
- deposits at banks from Member States that provide banking services in Slovenia directly or through a branch are guaranteed under the deposit guarantee scheme in the country in which the bank is established;
- deposits at a branch of a bank from a third country (a bank established in a country outside the EEA) that holds a Bank of Slovenia authorisation to establish a branch are guaranteed either under the deposit guarantee scheme in the country in which the bank is established or by means of mandatory participation in the Deposit Guarantee Scheme in Slovenia as required by the Bank of Slovenia. There are no branches of a bank of a third country in Slovenia at present.
Banks covered by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme in Slovenia display a sticker marked “Banka Slovenije: Dovoljenje za opravljanje bančnih storitev” (Bank of Slovenia: Authorisation to Provide Banking Services).
Branches of banks of Member States do not display the sticker, because they have obtained the authorisation to provide banking services in their home country.
How to act in the event of a bank bankruptcy or a bank merger?
1. What should depositors do if bankruptcy proceedings are initiated against the bank where they hold their deposits?
In the event of the bankruptcy of their bank, depositors should wait for a public notice to depositors from the Bank of Slovenia officially informing them of the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings and of the terms and conditions for exercising their right to payment of guaranteed deposits, and should then act in accordance with this notice.
2. What information will be in the notice?
- the date on which the payment of deposits will begin, and the identity of the successor bank that will pay out the guaranteed deposits;
The law stipulates that the successor bank must begin paying out guaranteed deposits within twenty working days of the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings against the bank; the deadline may be extended by a further ten working days in exceptional circumstances.
- the date on which the amount of an unpaid guaranteed deposit will be converted into a sight deposit at the successor bank;
Depositors who for any reason fail to exercise the right to dispose of the guaranteed amount by the aforementioned date will have their unpaid guaranteed deposits converted into sight deposits at the successor bank on the basis of law. The money (either in cash or in the form of a transfer to an account at another bank) will be paid to them when they report to the successor bank. Any depositor who decides to continue a business relationship with the successor bank will be able to convert the sight deposit into a transaction account, another savings deposit, a cash deposit or any other form of deposit or investment at the bank.
- the date by which attorneys and notaries must report information to the bank in bankruptcy for the payment of guaranteed deposits to claimants for attorney accounts and notaries accounts so that the bank is able to put them on the list of guaranteed deposits for the individual depositor;
- other information regarding the exercise of depositors’ claims against the bank in bankruptcy; and
- other formalities required for the exercise and implementation of the guarantee.
3. Will depositors have to register their claims with the bankruptcy panel or bankruptcy court in order to claim a guaranteed deposit?
No, there is no need to register a claim with the bankruptcy court. On the day that bankruptcy proceedings are initiated against the bank the depositor automatically acquires the right to payment of the guaranteed deposit on the basis of law. The law stipulates that all claims arising from deposits classed as guaranteed are automatically registered in the bankruptcy proceedings when the Bank of Slovenia presents the court with an official record of deposit balances. Deposits are automatically classed as registered irrespective of the amount (even those that total in excess of EUR 100,000).
4. Will it be necessary to lodge claims for the payment of guaranteed deposits?
No, it will not be necessary.
5. What will happen with a guaranteed deposit in the event of a bank bankruptcy if the depositor is abroad at the time, or is unable for any specific reason to exercise his/her rights in connection with the guaranteed deposit? Until when can the rights be exercised?
After two months (the date will be announced in the notice to depositors about the initial payments of deposits), the amount of the guaranteed deposit will be converted into a sight deposit at the successor bank. This means that depositors will be able to report to the successor bank at any time after the date for the initial payments, where they will be able to exercise the right to dispose of their guaranteed deposit or sight deposit. A depositor’s right to payment of a guaranteed deposit may also be exercised by a person authorised to act on the depositor’s behalf after producing a notarised authorisation.
Other useful information for depositors
1. How are the deposits of a sole trader or a private individual engaged in business activities treated when he or she also has deposits at the bank that are not related to his/her business activities?
Deposits relating to the business activities of a private individual engaged in business activities or a sole trader are covered separately. In practical terms this means that a sole trader can have a total of EUR 200,000 in guaranteed deposits (a maximum of EUR 100,000 as a sole trader, and a maximum of EUR 100,000 as a private individual).
2. Are the deposits of minors guaranteed, or are they added to the deposits of the statutory representative (e.g. the mother or father)?
Deposits are guaranteed by depositor (the holder of the deposit at the bank), and the deposits of minors are therefore guaranteed separately and are not added to the deposits of the statutory representative. This also applies to trustees and signatories of minors’ accounts.
3. What is the guarantee situation when a spouse has the power to dispose of the money in an account of his/her spouse, and vice versa?
The power to dispose of the money in a specific account on the part of a spouse or any other person has no impact on the amount of the account holder’s deposit covered by the guarantee. A single holder account for which one or more persons are signatories is treated as an account of a single depositor, namely the account holder.
Single holder accounts with multiple signatories should be distinguished from joint accounts, where there are multiple holders (e.g. two spouses). In the event of the bankruptcy of the bank, the money in a joint account is divided between the holders as stipulated in the mandate, each share being included in the calculation of each holder’s guaranteed deposit. Where the mandate does not stipulate the shares of the individual holders, the money is divided equally between the holders.
4. How is money in the mandatory reserve fund of divided co-owners under the Housing Act (the SZ-1) guaranteed?
In the event of the bankruptcy of the bank, a deposit based on a reserve fund account and deposits placed by the administrator of a multi-dwelling building using money in a reserve fund are guaranteed in full.
5. Do banks in Slovenia collect money in advance in a fund designed to cover guaranteed deposits?
The Deposit Guarantee Scheme in Slovenia is designed as an ex-post system, which means that the banks do not pay contributions to the scheme and there is no dedicated fund for this purpose. Although the banks do not provide money in advance, constant readiness is prescribed for them in the form of special investments in highly liquid securities that the banks would be able to sell as necessary, using the proceeds to pay their liabilities.
In the event of a bank in a specific case being unable to provide sufficient money on time for the payment of guaranteed deposits, the law envisages the money being temporarily supplied by the state.
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Deposit Guarantee Scheme