Banca Romana de Scont (Romanian Discount Bank - BRS) yesterday entered the special discount regime of fund transfers, following a decision made by the National Bank of Romania (NBR).
Payments will be monitored by the Central Bank and will only be made depending on the sums cashed by BRS. BRS is facing liquidity problems and needs funds.
The bank managed to avoid the special administration regime, which practically meant that NBR had to appoint an administrator in charge with monitoring the bank's activity.
"We (the other shareholders) are likely to summon a General Assembly of Shareholders to discuss the reasons why the bank is in this situation. We believe that, if the main shareholder fails to come up with a solution for the problem, the other shareholders should be allowed to deal with this issue. Right now, I cannot predict the way things will evolve," Mihai Fercala, president of SIF (Financial Investment Company) Transilvania, which owns a 7% stake in BRS, told Ziarul Financiar.
BRS is now in an extremely tangled situation concerning the main shareholder, since the National Bank did not agree with Dramiral Group becoming the bank's main shareholder.
Dramiral Group is managed by businessman Mihai Iacob and bought 63% in BRS stock from Gelsor Group, which used to belong to businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu.
"The special discount regime was instated as a protection measure for the banking system. The bank is in trouble, so such a measure was necessary for the protection of the entire banking system," said Adrian Vasilescu, advisor to NBR governor Mugur Isarescu.
"Just as we put up with all the previous measures taken by the National Bank of Romania, we will put up with this one as well. I have no comment on such a decision. This is a technical issue and NBR took this step in order to protect itself. However, I think this is rather harsh on us," BRS president Teodor Nicolaescu told Ziarul Financiar.
Nicolaescu hopes that the bank will soon manage to "get out of this special discount regime."
The National Bank of Romania says that the special discount measure will be applied in accordance with NBR Norm no 1 from January 24, 2001.
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