Market capitalisation of the Zagreb Stock Exchange is approximately ¤26.3bn ($30bn) with around 285 listed securities. The main market index is Crobex, in addition to which there are eight equity and two debt indexes. Dividend income tax is levied at 12% (except for domestic legal entities), while capital gains tax will be introduced from January 2016, also at 12%.

In order to comply with Emir, the Croatian CSD (SKDD) founded a new company – SKDD-CCP Smart Clear – for the purpose of contractual settlement of trades made on an exchange. Once SKDD-CCP has received approval from Esma, the European financial markets regulator, settlement of trades that match the criteria for contractual settlement will be carried out by the new entity. Meanwhile, all other trades (TFT, FOP and OTC) will still be settled by SKDD.

“Low liquidity remains the main obstacle and disadvantage of the market for the majority of foreign investors and there are no foreseeable changes on horizon in that respect,” says Valerija Bezak, head of global securities services Croatia at UniCredit.