Croatian Finance Minister Slavko Linic attended as an observer the meeting in Brussels at which it was decided to once again consider a plan to limit bankers' bonuses to one fixed annual salary, with the possibility to raise it to two if the majority of shareholders decide so.
"We didn't adopt a conclusion because the minister of Great Britain explicitly distanced himself from the proposal, so we will lose a few more weeks on alignment. All other ministers supported the proposed measures," Linic said after the meeting.
In late February, the European Parliament and member countries reached a political agreement on the enforcement of regulations for the banking sector which envisage limiting bankers' bonuses and regulations on the capital which banks must have.
Linic said the new European regulations would not significantly impact Croatian banks because under domestic regulations, the capital adequacy ratio was already higher than the European ratio.
"We have already prepared amendments to the law on credit institutions and included many of the solutions Europe is now trying to adopt," he said, adding that Croatian banks were secure in terms of capital.
Linic said bankers' bonuses in Croatia would be limited a lot too. "It's a process that has just begun. We too think a banker's bonus should not exceed one salary, but this is under discussion and we will see what the conclusion will be."
Asked if Croatia could impose higher limits than those in Europe, Linic said that it could, as the EU always prescribed only minimum limits.