Organized Crime and Coruption Project

Five offshore companies that own shares in Universal Bank have given up their voting rights after an investigation by the Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS) showed that Universal violated Serbian banking laws.

Among these offshore companies are Luce International, registered in the Virgin Islands, and Twidel Holdings Limited, each connected to Seriban real estate tycoon Miroslav Misković and each owning about 4.96 percent of Universal.

A series of investigations by CINS detailed the relationship between Misković, Luce International and Twidel Holdings Limited. Twidel is registered with the Cyprus law firm, Neocleus, and uses the same registered address as several of Misković’s companies.

In addition to Luce International, four other offshore companies gave up their voting and regulatory rights in the Universal Bank: Twidel Holdings Limited, which owns 4.96 percent, Chatteropia Holding Limited (4.99 percent), Golden Leaves International Investment (4.99 percent) and Infinity Management CO LTD (2.94 percent).

These companies gave up their rights after one of Universal Bank’s shareholders, the founder of the economic forum www.aikb.net, submitted a complaint to the Serbian Securities Commission, citing CINS research published on the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’s website.

Under Serbian banking laws, any individual owning more than 5 percent of bank’s stock must register the ownership and win approval with the Serbian National Bank. The companies were used as a front to hide Miksovic’s true ownership stake by buying just under the 5-percent figure, the CINS investigation found.

The investigation also uncoverd an interest free loan from Luce International to Vanity International Corporation of Belize. Misković founded Vanity International, and Bosnian businessman Fahrudin Radoncic was once a partner in Vanity, according to records obtained by OCCRP.

Vanity bought more than $55 million worth of property in the Balkans, according to records obtained during the investigation.

CINS reported that the offshore companies were set up to hide the true ownership of Universal and shield Miskovic’s involvement. A spokesperson for the bank said it was not aware of the ownership structure until the report was published in early 2011.

After the story was published, The national bank and the  Securities Commission told CINS that they took action against Universal Bank, but they did not provide any details, citing official and business confidentiality.

“The national bank of Serbia has noted irregularities in the ownership structure of the Universal Bank and is taking appropriate action in accordance with its responsibilities,’’ the national bank said in a statement.

The national bank did not provide any further details, but stated that if connections between shareholders in the Universal Bank are confirmed, these individuals will be barred from directly or indirectly influencing the bank’s policy and will be stripped of their ownership.