Wealth & Finance Finance Awards 2015

www.wealthandfinance-intl.com 17 Nova Banka Bank of the Year - Southeast Europe & Client Choice for Banking Services - Bosnia and Herzegovina Nova Banka has operated in the finance market of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1999 and was one of the first private banks in this region. Since inception the bank has grown into one of the leading banks in the Republic of Serbian and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The bank offers a broad portfolio of traditional banking services (includ- ing various types of loans, documentary credits, deposits and savings, payment transactions and money transfer, exchange transactions and the like), but also carries out a large number of primarily non-banking activities such as brokerage operations, custody operations, factoring and forfeiting. The organizational structure of the bank consists of their Head Office in Banja Luka, which is located in a modern and contemporary building, owned by the bank, in the centre of the city and where the establish- ment of core banking functions and 58 other organizational units, ie, 12 offices, department for operations in securities values “New Broker”, 13 branches, 19 of selected counters and 13 agencies). Additionally the bank operates larger number of organizational units of the Bank is located in the Serbian Republic, while a slightly smaller number is located in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as organizational units of the bank’s products and distribution channels to customers, who are primarily retail and SME customers, and second- arily large corporate clients. As an established market player, the bank has been recognized as a very desirable employer, and on 31 December 2014 it had 634 employees. The strong corporate culture in the bank has resulted in a high degree of loyalty within their workforce and their highly motivated employees work across 59 organizational units. The bank has a good level of liquidity, solvency, profitability and capital adequacy above the minimum prescribed by law. Since November 2002, the bank has been listed on the Banja Luka Stock Exchange of Securities and, since June 2009, constitutes one of the six action, only from the financial sector, according to the account of BH index, which is published on the Vienna Stock Exchange. The bank’s shares are traded on a daily basis at the Banja Luka Stock Exchange, and in that sense they are very liquid shares. The nominal value of one share of the Bank amounted to BAM 1.00. The Bank has a diversified ownership structure. On average shares of the bank are owned by approximately 400 individuals and legal entities. The ownership of domestic natural and legal persons of 80% of shares, which gives the bank the character of a local bank. However, the single largest shareholder of the Adriatic Fund BV from the Netherlands with 14.8% of the shares of the bank, highlighting its international reach. The bank’s vision is to be a reliable and profitable medium-sized bank in the banking sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In order to achieve this the bank is present in the largest cities in the country and focus on providing high-quality products and services that meet customer needs, primarily the domestic clients as well as SMEs. In the last few years, the bank has recorded a marked growth in all fields and segments, resulting in a high level of profitability compared to banks operating in the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The bank has also initiated a number of activities to differentiate and strengthen corporate identity, socially responsible management and implementation of corporate governance standards. Therefore the com- munities in which it operates have recognized and acknowledged this work and the bank is now experiencing a steady period of growth.