Central Banking Legislation Volume 2 : A Collection of Central Bank, Monerary and Bankin Law, Volume II

International Monetary Fund

• Publisher: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
• Year: 2003
• eBook ISBN: 9781451949605

NONE

YUGOSLAVIA

Bibliographical Note

PUBLICATIONS OF THE NATIONAL BANK OF YUGOSLAVIA

PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO BANKING AND CENTRAL BANKING

RELATED LAWS

Publication of Statutes and Regulations

Statutes, decrees, and other public notifications are published in the Službeni List Socijalističke Federativne Republike Jugoslavije. The Službeni List is available in Serbo-Croatian, Croatian-Serbian, Macedonian, and Slovenian editions.

The National Bank of Yugoslavia Law, 1965 ¹

NOTE:—The first national bank of Yugoslavia was established in 1883 with the title Privileged National Bank of the Kingdom of Serbia (Privilegovana Narodna banka Kraljevine Srbije), by virtue of the Law on the National Bank of January 6, 1883. By the Law on the National Bank of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes of January 26, 1920, the title was changed to National Bank of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Narodna banka Kraljevstva Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca). In 1929, by a Decision of the Board of Directors of October 8, 1929 based on the Law of October 3, 1929, the Bank became the National Bank of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Narodna banka Kraljevine Jugoslavije), and in 1946 it became the National Bank of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia (Narodna banka Federativne Narodne Republike Jugoslavije) by virtue of a Law of January 15, 1946 amending the Law of the National Bank of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Pursuant to a Decree on the merging of credit enterprises of the State sector of September 25, 1946, the six Republican economic banks and the four Federal banks were merged with the National Bank. In 1952 the Bank took over the activities of the State Investment Bank by Decision of the Government No. 994 of March 20, 1952 on the merging of the National Bank, the State Investment Bank, and the State banks for crediting of agricultural cooperatives and on the liquidation of the communal banks. (These activities were, however, taken over in 1956 by the newly established Yugoslav Investment Bank, pursuant to a Decree of the Federal Executive Council of July 12, 1956.)

The present title, National Bank of Yugoslavia (Narodna banka Jugoslavije), was established by the Constitution of 1963 and by the Law on the National Bank of Yugoslavia of February 25, 1965, by which it is presently governed (see below). The National Bank of Yugoslavia has the sole right to issue bank notes, as well as to perform the customary functions of a central bank.

I. BASIC PROVISIONS

Art. 1. The National Bank of Yugoslavia (hereinafter referred to as the National Bank) shall be the bank of issue of Yugoslavia.

By virtue of its issue and credit functions, as well as of certain functions in the field of international payments, the National Bank shall ensure the implementation of monetary and credit policy in accordance with the requirements of internal stability and liquidity in international payments.

Through its operations, the National Bank shall ensure the application of a uniform monetary, credit and foreign exchange system.

For performing its functions the National Bank shall have special rights and obligations established by this Law.

Art. 2. The National Bank shall perform its tasks in accordance with Federal laws and with decisions and resolutions of the Federal Assembly, as well as with decisions and resolutions of the Federal Executive Council adopted for implementing Federal laws and decisions and guidelines of the Federal Assembly.

The National Bank shall be independent in performing its tasks.

The National Bank shall be responsible to the Federal Assembly and to the Federal Executive Council for the performance of its tasks.

Art. 3. The National Bank shall promote the stability and development of the economy by regulating the necessary supply of money, by proposing measures designed to finance the activation of the productive capacity of the economy and by coordinating relations in the process of social reproduction within the framework of established economic policy, as well as by proposing and undertaking measures to ensure liquidity in payments with foreign countries.

Art. 4. The National Bank shall control the activity of business banks in respect of the implementation of short-term credit policy and in respect of their liquidity.

Art. 5. The National Bank shall ensure liquidity in payments with foreign countries; regulate methods of payments with foreign countries in accordance with existing regulations and international agreements; ensure the accumulation and maintenance of foreign exchange reserves; and exercise the necessary influence on the establishment of credit relations with foreign countries and ensure judicious conduct of these relations.

Art. 6. The National Bank shall survey and study questions in connection with the application of credit and foreign exchange policies and the application of the policy in respect of credit relations with foreign countries; it shall make reports on these matters and propose appropriate measures to the Federal Assembly and the Federal Executive Council.

Art. 7. The National Bank shall cooperate with the business banks in implementing the credit and foreign exchange policies and in implementing the decisions and resolutions of the Federal Assembly and the Federal Executive Council.

Art. 8. The National Bank shall be a legal person.

The Head Office of the National Bank shall be in Belgrade.

Art. 9. The obligations of the National Bank shall be guaranteed by the Federation.

Art. 10. The National Bank shall have its own By-Laws.

The By-Laws of the National Bank shall be established by the Governor of the National Bank and the council of the working community of the Bank.

The By-Laws of the National Bank shall be confirmed by the Federal Assembly.²

Art. 11. The working community of the National Bank shall have the right of self-management by virtue of this Law and the Bank’s By-Laws.

Unless otherwise provided by this Law, the general regulations on labor relations shall, where appropriate, be applied to labor relations of the workers of the National Bank.

Art. 12. Supervision of the legality of the National Bank’s operations shall be carried out by the Federal Secretariat for Finance.

The Federal Secretariat for Finance shall be charged with following the guidelines and carrying out the resolutions of the Federal Assembly and the Federal Executive Council which concern the operations of the National Bank.

Art. 13. The seal of the National Bank shall bear the coat-of-arms of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

II. OPERATIONS OF THE NATIONAL BANK

1. REGULATION OF MONEY SUPPLY

Art. 14. The National Bank, in performing its issue function, shall ensure the supply of money necessary for the unimpeded carrying on of production and trade.

The task referred to in the first paragraph of this Article shall be carried out by the National Bank in operational cooperation with the business banks, which supply working and other organizations with money through short-term credits.

The National Bank shall regulate the credit potential of the business banks by establishing the level of the reserves which they are required to hold at the National Bank and by granting credits to them.

The level of reserves that business banks are required to hold at the National Bank and the conditions under which the National Bank grants credit to business banks shall be equal for all business banks.

In performing its functions, the National Bank may issue obligations and deposit certificates, establish detailed conditions of creditworthiness for credit applicants, make recommendations for implementing credit policy and undertake other measures for which it is authorized by law.

The National Bank may, in agreement with the Federal Executive Council, limit temporarily, for a specified period depending on current economic developments, the value of short-term credits granted by business banks when this is required for preventing or alleviating major disturbances in the economy.

Art. 14A. The National Bank shall grant to business banks rediscount and documentary credits up to a specified amount.

The amount of the credits referred to in the first paragraph of this Article shall be determined by the application of a certain percentage to deposits and other resources at a bank’s disposal.

Business banks shall utilize the credits of the National Bank referred to in the first paragraph of this Article on the basis of specified documents.

The National Bank, in agreement with the Federal Executive Council, shall determine the percentage referred to in the second paragraph of this Article, the deposits and resources to which this percentage shall be applied, the documents referred to in the third paragraph of this Article, the credit repayment periods and further conditions for granting credits.³

Art. 15. The compulsory reserves of the business banks with the National Bank shall amount to up to thirty-five per cent of their sight deposits, time deposits with notice of less than one year and resources obtained by issuing bonds and deposit certificates with repayment periods of less than one year.

Up to the percentage mentioned in the first paragraph of this Article, the National Bank may prescribe various percentages of compulsory reserves for individual kinds of bank deposits and resources obtained by issuing bonds and deposit certificates.

Art. 16. In order to maintain stability of the economy, Federal regulations may determine sources, volume and purposes of assets which the National Bank may use in granting credits.

Art. 17. The National Bank may grant short-term credits to business banks for activating the productive capacity of the economy pursuant to Article 3 of this Law only for purposes determined by special Federal regulations.

Art. 18. The National Bank may grant credits to business banks from resources derived from distribution of income only from sources and to the extent defined by special Federal regulations.

Art. 19. The National Bank may grant credits to business banks on condition that the banks carry out their credit operations in accordance with the regulations establishing the credit policy and that they carry on their business in a manner which does not impair their liquidity.

The National Bank, in agreement with the Federal Executive Council, may direct that business banks, as the minimum obligation for the maintenance of their liquidity, shall grant a certain part of their total short-term credits with repayment periods of up to three months.

Art. 20. The Federal Executive Council, on the proposal of the National Bank, shall determine the interest rate for credits granted to business banks by the National Bank.

Art. 21. The interest which the National Bank charges for credits granted shall be revenue of the Federation, after deduction of the interest which the National Bank pays and that part of the interest which remains with the National Bank as recompense for performing its tasks.

Art. 22. The National Bank shall grant credits to the Federation within the limits and for the purposes designated by Federal law.

2. PAYMENTS AND CREDIT RELATIONS WITH FOREI...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Austria
• Belgium
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany, Federal Republic Of
• Greece
• Iceland
• Central Bank of Iceland Law, 1961
• Ireland
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Portugal
• Spain
• Central Bank Law
• Monetary Unit: A Note
• Decree-Law on the Bretton Woods Agreements, 1958
• Bibliographical Note
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Yugoslavia
• Appendices
• Footnotes