NBS Ruling on Alta Banka: 140 Million Euros in Two Days
According to the license revocation ruling described by BIRN, about 140 million euros was withdrawn on October 28 and 29, and nearly 60 billion dinars in cash was reported in the vault.
The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) said in its ruling revoking Alta Banka’s operating license that about 140 million euros was withdrawn from deposits on October 28 and 29. BIRN published the contents of the ruling on November 4; its reporter Radmilo Markovic had seen the document. The ruling does not say which clients took out the money.
The license was revoked overnight between October 30 and 31, less than a week after the parliamentary elections of October 25. We have previously reported on the arrest of the owner, Davor Macura, and on another bank paying out insured deposits of up to 50,000 euros. The figures on the deposit outflow, the cash in the vault and the makeup of depositors had not been known until now.
How much cash did the bank report in its vault?
According to the report Alta Banka filed with the National Bank, on September 30, 2026 it held nearly 60 billion dinars (more than half a billion euros) in its cash desk, “in banknotes and coins.” About 100 million euros of that was foreign currency, and the rest was dinars.
The size of the holding was no secret. The bank’s public financial statements put its cash at about 50 billion dinars at the end of 2025 and about 40 billion a year earlier. Reported cash therefore rose by roughly half between the end of 2024 and the end of September 2026. BIRN notes that the regulator had long known about the large amounts of cash, since the bank reported them in every previous filing.
In the ruling, the National Bank says the bank’s reputation was “damaged” by negative press coverage between October 26 and 29. It also warns that, given the amount of cash held, the possibility of “internal or external fraud, fire, flood or earthquake” could cause a loss larger than the bank’s capital, which would “jeopardize the continuation of its business.”
Was that much cash ever there?
The Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime suspects Macura of taking 45 billion dinars (about 380 million euros) out of the vault. BIRN’s sources doubt that moving so many banknotes was possible at all. One of them, who was not named, says:
“The key question is whether the cash was there at all, that is, whether the amounts Alta Banka reported to the NBS matched the actual cash in the vault. It is far more logical that over a long period less cash was brought into the vault than was recorded in the books. Had the cash been there, it would most logically have been used to solve the liquidity problem.”
The same source says no one could carry 380 million euros in cash out in a few days. Of the operation itself, the source says: “That is a complex operation that requires enormous logistics.” None of these claims has been officially confirmed, and the suspicion against Macura remains only a suspicion for now.
What does the ruling say about liquidity and interest rates?
The National Bank found that the bank’s financial condition and liquidity had “significantly deteriorated.” Throughout 2026 the bank had a liquidity problem and recorded negative cumulative gaps, meaning that its obligations fell due earlier than its receivables. It attracted deposits with ever higher interest rates, while rates on its loans stayed the same.
The figures from the ruling:
- 3.13% was the weighted average interest rate on total deposits at Alta Banka, against 1.59% across the whole banking sector
- 5.61% on dinar deposits and 4.58% on euro deposits went to the public sector, public enterprises and banks in bankruptcy
- about 400 million euros was held by those depositors at the end of September, roughly a quarter of all deposits
- more than 10% of deposits belonged to the three largest depositors, and more than 21% to the ten largest
By our own calculation, using rounded figures, if 400 million euros is a quarter of deposits, total deposits came to about 1.6 billion euros. The two-day outflow of 140 million was then roughly nine percent of that base.
Who did not answer questions
Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic and the four vice governors did not answer BIRN’s questions. The same goes for the Deposit Insurance Agency and the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime.
Alta Banka previously operated as JUBMES banka. In 2019, Macura’s Alta Pay group bought a controlling stake from the state for about five million euros. The Commercial Court has opened bankruptcy proceedings against the bank, and the Postal Savings Bank is paying out insured amounts to depositors.
