Agrobanka's shareholders want new balance sheet audit

The minority shareholders of Agrobanka, gathered around the Slovenian Autocommerce group, demand another audit before the lender is overhauled, Bloomberg reports.

A new shareholders' meeting to pick the auditor will be held by the end of April, Branislav Bogdanovic, chairman of AC Broker, a Belgrade-based brokerage, said in a phone interview to Bloomberg.

AC Broker represents more than 20 percent of the mostly foreign institutional investors with stakes in Agrobanka, who have requested a new audit to check on the 2010 financial statement signed by KPMG’s Serbian arm.

- KPMG assessed the bank’s financial performance as positive for 2010 and said its capital stood at 167 million euros. However, as of June 30 last year the National Bank of Serbia assessed the bank’s capital at 625 million dinars or 6.12 million euros. KPMG has offered no explanation for the difference - said Bogdanovic.

KPMG has "implemented all relevant domestic rules, KPMG’s standardized procedures and international auditing standards," the global accounting firm said in a written answer to Bloomberg questions.

Serbia’s central bank fired Agrobanka’a management on December 29 and placed it in receivership after inspectors discovered its capital didn’t match the risk it had assumed with its business.