Hanfa Council Meeting: PutNaTržište sandbox and Croatian Investment Account initiatives in the focus of discussion

At today’s meeting, members of the Council of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (Hanfa) discussed the activities of PutNaTržište sandbox project, the Draft proposal for the Croatian Investment Account Act, and recent developments in the investment and pension fund industries.

During the meeting, representatives of Hanfa’s expert team presented PutNaTržište sandbox, Croatia’s first educational and simulation-based programme designed to inform and prepare companies for raising capital through the capital market, initiated by Hanfa in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance. The project involves a broad range of institutional and professional partners, including banks, funds, investment firms, law firms, audit firms and business associations. The Register of Partners currently comprises 51 partners and is publicly available on Hanfa’s website.

In addition to an overview of the activities carried out to date, including the establishment of the methodological and legal framework, the development of a communication strategy and the implementation of promotional activities, the next stages of the project were also presented. Particular emphasis was placed on the beginning of the operational phase and the opening of official applications, the planned timetable for the pilot project, and the further development of PutNaTržište sandbox towards full-scale implementation. A representative of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia presented the Draft proposal for the Croatian Investment Account Act. The Croatian Investment Account is a new investment vehicle intended for retail investors, designed to enable citizens to invest more easily in the capital market over the long term through certain financial instruments, without a prescribed minimum initial investment amount. Each individual will be permitted to hold only one Croatian Investment Account and will be able to change the authorised intermediary while maintaining the continuity of the account.

The objective is to channel a portion of citizens’ savings, which are currently held predominantly in bank deposits, towards capital market investments. This will provide citizens with an additional long-term investment opportunity while at the same time increasing the liquidity of the Croatian capital market. The cumulative contribution limit will be EUR 200,000 per individual. If no funds are withdrawn during the first five years, the limit may be increased by an additional EUR 50,000.

One of the key features of the Croatian Investment Account is its tax treatment. The purchase and sale of financial instruments, portfolio rebalancing and the reinvestment of returns within the account will not require the determination of tax consequences for each individual transaction, provided that the conditions laid down in the Draft Proposal are met.

This measure forms part of the Strategic Framework for Capital Market Development for the period 2025–2030 and the accompanying Action Plan. Its purpose is to further encourage citizens to invest and provide additional impetus for the growth and development of the Croatian capital market.

The development of the capital market was also addressed by a representative of the Capital Market Group of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, who welcomed the proposed introduction of the Croatian Investment Account as an incentive for broader participation of citizens in the capital market and long-term investing. The representative highlighted the importance of a simple and cost-efficient implementation model, as well as the role of authorised intermediaries in making investing more accessible to citizens. He also expressed support for PutNaTržište sandbox initiative, noting that broadening the investor base should be accompanied by an increase in the number of companies raising funds through the capital market.

A representative of the Association of Investment and Pension Funds of the Croatian Chamber of Economy presented developments in the Croatian UCITS market, which continued to record strong growth in 2026. Total assets of UCITS reached EUR 4.85 billion at the end of July, representing an increase of 28% compared with the same period of the previous year. Despite heightened geopolitical risks and rising interest rates, the domestic UCITS market continued to record net inflows and growth in assets under management, alongside growing interest of citizens in long-term investing. At the same time, the industry remained actively involved in a number of regulatory initiatives, including improvements to prospectus approval processes, preparations for the transition to the T+1 settlement cycle, and activities related to the development of the Croatian Investment Account.

The pension fund sector was presented by a representative of the Pension Funds Group within the Association of Investment and Pension Funds of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, who noted that mandatory pension funds recorded growth in net assets and delivered positive returns throughout 2026 despite challenging market conditions and geopolitical developments.