NKBM chairman Aleš Hauc told reporters that the bank had filed the lawsuits based on a forensic investigation of past deals, but would not reveal any names.

He said a broad circle of people were involved and that something like that must not happen again at the bank. He announced new suits to follow in the autumn, so the damages figure was likely to increase.

Hauc had in the past been under pressure, in particular from small shareholders, to sue former executives and supervisors for the massive losses incurred due to questionable business decisions.

The shareholders appointed Aljoša Tomaž a new supervisor after Duška Jurenec withdrew from the post for failing to win discharge of liability for past year, along with former supervisory board chairman Dušan Jovanovič.