​LAST YEAR WAS A STABILIZATION PERIOD AFTER 2014-2015 CRISIS – NBM GOVERNOR

After the 2014-2015 crisis, the 2016 has become a better year – a year of instauring stability in Moldovan banking system, maintains National Bank of Moldova (NBM) President Sergiu Cioclea.

In an interview to Bank & Finances Magazine, the governor said that economy demonstrates signs of rehabilitation, inflation has quickly fallen, the national currency exchange rate has stabilized, hard-currency reserve have been partially replenished.

“We witnessed the improvement of the situation in the money market. The Economic and financial stabilization is an inalienable condition for resuming the main banks’ activity – crediting”, Cioclea said.

The NBM made great efforts not only for normalizing situation on the macroeconomic level, but also for resolving fundamental problems in the banking sector, which led to crisis: shareholders non-transparency, corporative administration shortcomings, crediting the interested sides and unsatisfactory risk management.

“NBM took decisive steps concerning stockholders, who purchased and owned considerable packages of Moldovan bank shares in violation of the law. Banks, who are under the regime of special supervision, presented plans on situation settlement under the continuous monitoring of NBM and international consultants”, he stressed, regarding as important the adoption of the Law on bank invigoration and bank resolution.

The president pointed that presence of this law allows timely intervening in case problems appear in banks and their saving by means of private funds.

“In general, I am satisfied with what we managed to achieve over a comparatively short period in 2016, though some projects and reforms are moving more slowly than we expected due to various reasons, including due to lack of necessary time at the administrative level”, the banker said.

As for the NBM reorganization, Cioclea said that it is necessary first of all for giving the regulator the chance to undertake new responsibilities in the field of regulation, supervision, money laundering combating and other issues.

Talking about the necessity of adopting new laws, the banker said that within the agreement with IMF and the EU-Moldova Association Agreement, the authorities have to adopt laws on combating money laundering and terrorism financing, on investment and banking activities, on deposit guaranteeing and a whole series of normative acts for NBM.

“I understand that there is a considerable amount of new laws and provisions the banking community has to understand and master before these are implemented. We will do our best to help banks achieve this goal”, Cioclea said.

He said that the regulation and improvement of the legal basis is a continuous process that is characteristic only for Moldova.

“The “Basel 3.5” Agreement is already being discussed at the international level, which confirms that the financial sector is a growing organism, which is permanently developing. Moldova’s peculiarities are that we have “arrears” in the field of legislation, besides, urgent legislative measures should be adopted for liquidating consequences of the 2014-2015 banking crisis”, Sergiu Cioclea said.