MPs Ivana Kekin and Ursa Raukar of the Green-Left Bloc on Tuesday called for the resignation of the central bank governor, Boris Vujcic, and other members of the bank's management, following revelations that bank's officials and staff had traded in securities of commercial banks which they regulate.

In a news conference, Kekin announced that the Green-Left Block would demand their resignation in the Croatian Parliament, citing the law on central bank and the European Central Bank Statute under which a central bank governor may be replaced in case of a serious breach of duty.

“We think that failure to conduct oversight and ban insider trading qualifies as a serious breach of duty. The central bank governor did not prevent abuse of position by officials and staff at the bank,” Kekin said.

She said they expected a reaction from the State Attorney’s Office, and added that they would inform the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Commission and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Croatia.

Kekin’s reaction came after the Index.hr news website revealed Monday that according to documents they had access to some 40 employees of the central bank had traded in bonds of banks which are subject to oversight by the central bank, meaning they had insider information. The transactions date back to 2001.

Kekin said that the information published by Index.hr clearly showed that, through insider dealing, bank officials and staff had “directly violated the basic principles and legal provisions concerning capital markets.”

“That way, they violated the Criminal Code and the Capital Market Act as well as the EU Market Abuse Regulation and ECB rules, she added.

Dismissing responses by Vujcic and his deputy Sandra Svaljek that trading in bonds was fully legal prior to 2013, Raukar said that even at that time the Law on Capital Market and the Criminal Code “clearly forbade insider trading or any action that used insider information for own personal gain.” She stressed that Vujcic should have prevented such trading.

Raukar warned that this scandal compromised the public’s trust in the operation of the central bank and “raised questions about the bank’s role in the Franak and Agrokor cases.” She said that it also raised the question of whether Croatia was truly ready and willing to comply with the principles of the European Central Bank as the first condition for entry into the euro area.

MP Anka Mrak-Taritas of the Civic Liberal Alliance (GLAS) also called for the resignation of the central bank officials involved in insider trading.

“The most senior officials of the Croatian central bank violated not only Croatian rules but also those of the European Union, and must not be allowed to get away with it on technicalities and legal loopholes,” Mrak-Taritas said in a statement.

She said that it was very important that Parliament should react promptly in case the central bank officials involved did not step down of their own volition.