March 2 (SeeNews) - Bosnian lender ASA Banka [SAJ:IKBZ] said it has acquired Sarajevo-based Sberbank BH, a local subsidiary of Austria-based Sberbank Europe, which in turn is controlled by Russia's Sberbank.
With the acquisition, ASA Banka is becoming the third largest lender in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday.
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The announcement comes a day after Bosnia's Serb Republic said it will take over Sberbank Banja Luka, the other subsidiary of Sberbank Europe in Bosnia.
Last week, the banking agencies of Bosnia's two entities, the Federation and the Serb Republic, said they took control of the two local units of Sberbank Europe to preserve the stability of Bosnia's banking system and protect the bank's depositors and creditors from the potential fallout of Western sanctions on certain Russian banks.
The U.S. and the EU decided on Saturday to exclude important Russian banks from the SWIFT system in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
ASA Banka's shares last traded on the Sarajevo Stock Exchange (SASE) on February 16, closing 0.49% lower at 55.2 marka ($31.3/28.2 euro).
(1 euro = 1.95583 marka)
ASA Banka d.d. Sarajevo (formerly known as Investiciono-Komercijalna Banka d.d. Zenica) is among the biggest banks in SEE. You can download our SEE Top 100 ranking
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