NBS Revokes Alta Group Exchange Licence and Fines It 250m Dinars

The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) has revoked the licence of Alta Group d.o.o. Beograd to carry out currency-exchange operations and fined the company and its responsible person a total of 250 million dinars (about €2.1 million). The decision, issued by decree of the governor and announced on 6 November, follows a multi-day inspection by the central bank's foreign-exchange department. Alta Group is the parent company of Alta Banka, which the NBS shut down earlier this month and which is now in bankruptcy.

What the NBS found

According to the NBS statement, inspectors found serious and repeated irregularities, breaches of the Law on Foreign Exchange Operations and what the bank called a flagrant violation of rules on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. The findings and documents are being sent to the Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime and to the Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering. "The National Bank of Serbia will not tolerate illegal business," the statement said. The NBS did not say how many exchange points the company ran. Alta Group had not commented publicly in the reports we reviewed.

The dinar and the exchange offices

The decision comes amid higher demand for euros at exchange offices since the October election and the collapse of Alta Banka. The official NBS middle rate for Monday, 9 November, is 117.6230 dinars per euro, slightly weaker than the weekend's 117.6089 and close to the weakest level this year; the dinar is 0.3% weaker than at the start of 2026. Under NBS rules, exchange offices may not sell euros at more than 1.25% above the official middle rate.

The NBS said in late October that exchange offices had fully met demand: in October they sold citizens €571.6 million and bought €515.3 million from them, a net sale of €56.3 million. Dušan Uzelac, editor of the personal-finance portal Kamatica, told RTS on 7 November that the extra demand reflected fear rather than any shortage of foreign currency, and that the Alta case could not threaten the stability of the banking system.

What it means for depositors

Insured Alta Banka depositors are due to be paid through Banka Poštanska štedionica from 13 November, up to the €50,000 deposit-insurance limit. The exchange-office decision does not affect those payouts.