Criminal Acts in the Field of Economic Crime in Banking Operations in Serbia

As defined by the law, a bank is a stock company with the head office in the Republic of Serbia, which has a National Bank of Serbia licence for work and which performs deposit and credit activities, and which may also perform other activities according to the law. The number and variety of the forms which may be assumed by economic crime is extremely dynamic and, consequently, complex. This particularly pertains to the forms of economic crime in banking operations, considering the fact that such activities are very important for business and legal operations in national economies. A significant characteristic of current banking operations is the wide application of information and communication technologies, without which no modern business field may be conceived. Taking the primary topic into account, the paper initially treats the definition and the basic features of economic crime and the criminological characteristics of the forms assumed by economic crime in banking operations. This is followed by a focus on the normative aspect of the criminal and legal regulations of the Republic of Serbia in the sphere of norms concerning criminal acts of economic crime in banking operations, whereas the research part of the paper deals with the frequency of criminal acts of economic crime in banking operations when the work of judicial authorities in Serbia is concerned, bearing in mind the criminal proceedings conducted against adult perpetrators. Methodology-wise, the paper is founded on the theoretical analysis of relevant modern stands in theory, the normative, analytical and deductive methodological framework and the basic quantitative data analysis. The primary legislative source consulted in the research section of the paper is the Criminal Code. The reference period analyzed in this section is the 2018-2020 three-year period, and the data which are analyzed are the officially registered data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.