Best bank: NLB
Slightly later than expected, early 2023 saw the legal completion of OTP’s takeover of Nova KBM, Slovenia’s second-biggest bank, first announced in mid 2021. OTP announced in mid April 2024 that it planned to merge Nova KBM with SKB banka – which it bought from Societe Generale in 2019 – in the second half of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals. OTP said the merged entity’s brand will be OTP banka and it will be the country’s biggest bank, overtaking national champion NLB.
AfE 2024
This year, however, NLB is Slovenia’s best bank, led by chief executive Blaz Brodnjak. NLB, which returned to majority private ownership via a 2018 IPO, completed an important deal, as it closed the legal merger with former Sberbank Slovenian subsidiary N Banka in September 2023, following approval from the European Central Bank in August.