The Czech National Bank has warned of a rise in cases of entities taking deposits from the public without authorisation and announced it will further tighten its sanctioning policy to protect the public’s money. Only banks and other duly authorised entities may take public deposits in the Czech Republic. Deposit-taking is tightly regulated, with deposit insurance provided by the Deposit Insurance Fund and mandatory for banks and credit unions. The CNB noted that unauthorised activity often involves collecting funds via loan agreements used to circumvent the rules, leaving clients’ money outside deposit insurance and beyond the standard supervisory framework. It has already imposed fines this year amounting to tens of millions of Czech korunas, including penalties of CZK 12 million and CZK 15 million in 2025, but considers existing fines insufficient to achieve general deterrence given the increasing frequency of such conduct.
Czech National Bank 2025-02-07
Czech National Bank to tighten sanctions for unauthorised public deposit-taking
The Czech National Bank (CNB) has warned of rising cases of unauthorised entities taking public deposits and plans to tighten its sanctioning policy to protect public funds. Only authorised banks and entities may take deposits, with deposit insurance provided by the Deposit Insurance Fund. The CNB has imposed fines totaling tens of millions of CZK this year but finds current penalties inadequate for deterrence.