Ante Žigman at the “Zagreb Financial Forum 2025” conference: Hanfa encourages further market development by maintaining market stability and infrastructure, promoting innovation and implementing initiatives
On 4 November 2025, the President of the Hanfa Board Ante Žigman participated in the conference “Zagreb Financial Forum 2025”, organised by Poslovni dnevnik. In the interview with the editor-in-chief of Poslovni dnevnik, Mladen Miletić, he discussed the topic “The balance of power: innovation, regulation and resilience of the financial system”.
He referred to the development of the capital market as one of the important determinants of economic development, recalling positive market developments and examples of initiatives that further encourage market development and citizens’ confidence in the market. “Our citizens have easier access to the capital market now, and there has been an increase in issuers and investors’ confidence in the market. Citizens are increasingly interested and encouraged to participate in the market, as evidenced by three successful IPOs this year, the interest in bonds and treasury bills of the Ministry of Finance in recent years and the use of m-Treasury and e-Treasury for easy access to investments. Hanfa’s contribution to this process lies in maintaining the stability of the system and market infrastructure, but also in implementing initiatives such as the RoadToMarket sandbox, which further develop the market environment and encourage the creation of new opportunities for market participants", said Ante Žigman.
In the interview, he also talked about the comparison of the Croatian capital market with other EU markets and those in the United States, the importance of regulation, and the reduction of regulatory burden. Regulatory changes aimed at reducing the regulatory burden represent an important step towards modernising the regulatory framework and strengthening the competitiveness of the Croatian capital market, in line with the objectives of the national strategy and the European guidelines. Mr Žigman highlighted Hanfa’s focus on national regulations falling within its competence, explaining that there have been discussions about the removal of potential barriers and excessive regulatory requirements, and about the possibility of opening up space for new forms of investment and alternative sources of financing. “The future of the financial ecosystem should first and foremost be based on stability and innovation to allow us to move from a classic bank-centric system to a dynamic capital market. It is important for all financial market actors to build a system that creates added value for citizens, the economy and society at large,” Mr Žigman concluded. “
