Ante Žigman and the current members of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency’s Council confirmed for a new mandate

8 February 2024 — Daniela GHETU
Ante Žigman and the current members of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency’s Council confirmed for a new mandate

Ante Žigman will continue to serve as President of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) for a new mandate of six years, flanked by four members of the Administrative Council: Jurica Jednačak, Antun Palarić, Tomislav Ridzak and Anamarija Staničić, who will replace the previous member Ilijana Jeleč, HANFA announced on 7 February.

The Croatian Government’s proposal to appoint HANFA’s current Administrative Council for another mandate was validated by the country’s Parliament.

"HANFA will continue to act in the public interest, paying special attention to maintaining financial stability and consumer protection. We have a lot of work ahead of us in implementing the climate transition in the financial sector, establishing a new supervision of the crypto asset market, supporting the further development of the capital market and maintaining the stability of the traditional non-banking financial sector. In order to achieve these goals, we will continue to strengthen international cooperation with regulators similar to us, and especially with regulators in the region who are on the European path. In the new mandate, we will be firmly committed to the tasks set out for us by law, adapting to the changing world around us", said the President of the Administrative Council, Ante Žigman, on the occasion of the appointment. 

HANFA is a regulatory and supervisory body whose jurisdiction covers a wide range of financial non-banking services, from regulation and supervision of the capital market, through the insurance market to investment and pension funds, factoring and leasing. HANFA is in charge of supervising the assets of the financial non-banking sector, which at the end of the third quarter of 2023 amounted to EUR 111.2 billion and accounted for 29.6% of the assets of the total financial system of the Republic of Croatia

dr. sc. Ante Žigman has been the president of HANFA's Board of Directors since February 2018, and in the previous period he greatly intensified HANFA's international activities. Since June 2023, he has been a member of the Management Board of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and he has already been at the head of the Management Board for Risks and Financial Stability of EIOPA. In addition, he is a member of the Executive Board of the International Association of Insurance Supervisory Authorities (IAIS) as a representative of the CEET region (Central and Eastern Europe and Transcaucasia). Just some of his earlier positions were: assistant minister of finance for macroeconomic analysis and planning, state secretary in the Ministry of Finance, vice president of the Fiscal Policy Committee of the Croatian Parliament and member of the Public Debt Subcommittee of the Economic and Financial Committee of the EU (ESDM). He spent a significant part of his career at the Croatian National Bank, from where he was appointed to the Administrative Council of HANFA from the Governor's Office. 

Jurica Jednačak held the position of president of the Association for Business and Intermediation in Financial Markets at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce from 2013 until taking office as a member of the HANFA Board of Directors. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Zagreb. From 1997 to 2000, he was an associate at the Institute for International Relations, and from 2001 he worked as the head of the Securities Listing Department at the Zagreb Stock Exchange. He was employed at Hrvatsko Telekom from 2003 to 2006 as assistant director of the Corporate Treasury Department, after which he moved to the Investment Banking Department of Zagrebačka banka, where he was the head of the Brokerage Service for corporate clients. He became the Director of Brokerage at Zagrebačka banka in 2007, where he worked until taking office as a member of HANFA's Board of Directors in February 2018. 

Antun Palarić became a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia in 2009, after which he continued his career in HANFA as a member of the Administrative Council from 2018. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb and passed the judicial and notary exams. He was a judicial intern and judicial advisor of the Municipal Court in Dugi Selo and president of the Municipal Court in Klanjec. From 1992 to 1995, he was the head of the Cabinet of the Minister of Justice and Administration and the head of the Cabinet of the Minister of Justice. Since 1995, he has worked as an assistant minister in the Ministry of Administration. From 1999 to 2000, he was the director of the State Directorate for State Administration and Local Self-Government, after which he served as secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. In 2004, he became the state secretary of the Central State Administration Office, and in 2009, he became a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia. He also served as a member/chairman of a number of state commissions and commissions, such as the Commission of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for the resolution of disputes on the rights of counties, cities and municipalities, the Commission of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for the boundaries of local self-government units, the Croatian Archives Council, etc. 

dr. sc. Tomislav Ridzak was appointed a member of HANFA's Board of Directors in 2018, and he came to this position from the Croatian National Bank from the position of director of the Directorate for Financial Stability. He held that position from 2012 to 2018, and he was employed at the Croatian National Bank since 2009. After graduating from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Zagreb, he completed postgraduate studies in economics and finance at the University of York in the United Kingdom, and obtained the title of Doctor of Science at Jurja Dobrila University in Pula. He started his career as a researcher at the Institute of Economics, Zagreb, and from 2003 to 2009 he worked at Interkapital vrednosni papiri d.o.o. and ICAM d.o.o. as manager of asset management, portfolio manager and securities market trader. 

Anamarija Staničić comes to the position of member of the HANFA Administrative Council from the position of director of the Sector for Harmonization of Regulations and International Cooperation, which she held from the beginning of 2018 until now. After graduating from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb, she got a job as an intern at HANFA in November 2006. After that, she gradually progressed from the position of expert associate to the position of senior and chief advisor to the position of Director of the Sector. In this position, she was responsible for national and EU regulations and HANFA's international cooperation. Among other things, Hanfina is a representative in several committees of the European Supervisory Authority for Securities and Capital Markets (ESMA) and in the working groups of the Council of the EU. 

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