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The statement by BAMC confirms earlier media reports that the understaffed bad bank is not yet fully operational and would rely on the banks themselves to manage the assets in the interim period.

BAMC said in a written statement the provisional period could take up to four months, during which time both banks will "continue to provide IT support, which will be wound down as the assets are transferred."

Today's move thus means that BAMC can carry out the "legal and accounting transfer" of the bad claims, whereas the actual physical transfer - the assets and all the related documentation - will take place early next year.

Some media have questioned the sensibility of letting banks continue to manage the assets, but the situation is apparently the result of BAMC understaffing and poor preparations by NLB and NKBM, Dnevnik newspaper reported today.

NLB and NKBM will transfer EUR 3.2bn-worth of toxic assets onto the bad bank in five instalments total, but the transaction value is just over one billion euros.

In exchange the two banks will get state-backed BAMC bonds in the same value, a transaction which BAMC said would be carried out before the end of the year.

NKBM will get bonds worth EUR 622m and NKBM EUR 390m-worth. The bonds, with a maturity of two and three years, will be listed on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange next week.