The substantial holdings in the registered capital of banks that enable to exert considerable influence on the management or activity will be decreased from 5% to 1%. A bill to this effect was approved by the Government following discussions with the National Committee for Financial Stability. The permission of the National Bank will be required for acquiring holdings of 1%, IPN reports.

Minister of Justice Oleg Efrim said the given decision will enable the supervising authority to intervene on time and will help the central bank to follow the changes in the structure of the commercial banks.

Under the bill, the person who made a purchase without obtaining the permission of the National Bank beforehand will be unable to acquire other holdings in the registered capital of banks. The pledging of bank shares is banned in a move to avoid the non-transparent change of shareholders. Penalties consisting in fines and imprisonment will be introduced for causing damage to the financial institutions.

“All the amendments are aimed at avoiding raider attacks in the banking system,” said the vice governor of the National Bank of Moldova Emma Tabarta.

Vice president of the National Commission for Financial Markets Iurie Filip expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that the Commission wasn’t involved in the process of appraising the bill. He said he does not agree with the proposal to ban the pledging of bank shares. “There are over 8,000 bank shareholders in the country. Their activity will be limited by such a move,” he stated.

The bill was approved in principle and is to be adjusted based on the proposals formulated in the Government’s meeting before being submitted to Parliament.