National Financial Stability Committee proposes government to start talks to facilitate sale of Moldovan commercial bank's single block of stocks

Chisinau, 23 January /MOLDPRES/ - The National Financial Stability Committee (CNSF), which held a meeting today, proposed the government to start negotiations with the potential buyer of the single block of stocks of 63.89 per cent of Moldindconbank, in order to facilitate the transaction, according to the law on the administration and denationalization of the public property. The same procedure, which fits good practices from European countries, was applied in 2018 also in the case of a block of stocks of Moldova-Agroindbank.    

The form of trading through the state represents also a good protection of the future investor, the National Bank of Moldova (BNM) said. BNM noted that the procedure was applied while taking into account the fact that Moldindconbank is a bank of systemic importance. At the same time, the potential investor showed interest on an opportune period for the bank, after on 18 January 2019 BNM had carried out the last extension, allowed by the law, of the term of selling these stocks. Thus, the sale of the concerned single block of stocks “will take place for the benefit of Moldindconbank’s work and its subsequent development,” a BNM press release reads.    

The BNM’s executive committee on 22 January approved a decision on the preliminary permission for the purchasing by DOVERIE UNITED-HOLDING AD of the block of stocks of 63.89 per cent of Moldinconbank’s shares. One of the most important companies from Bulgaria is set to come to Moldindconbank with a team of managers with a rich international experience in the banking sector. In September 2017, the company got another preliminary permission of BNM for buying a block of stocks at another licenced bank of Moldova; yet, “the transaction did not take place, for objective reasons.”   

Moldindconbank „will continue working as normal, providing all services, including those dealing with the operations with deposits, crediting and discounts.”  

In 2016, BNM obliged a group of Moldindconbank stockholders, who acted jointly and bought an important quota of the bank’s registered share capital of 63.89 per cent, without having a preliminary written permission of BNM, to sell the shares purchased in a three-month period. Given that the aforementioned stocks were not sold in the terms established, they were cancelled and other new shares were issued, in line with the provisions of the law on capital market, which were repeatedly put for sale at Moldova’s Stock Exchange.

In early last October, the international consortium of investors (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Invalda INVL, Horizon Capital) became owner of a block of stocks of 41.09 per cent of Moldova-Agroindbank, held earlier by two groups of stockholders, which purchased them without BNM’s permission. The consortium won the tender and signed the contract on sale and purchasing with the Public Property Agency, in the name of Moldova’s government.

The blocks of stocks of another two banks are to be sold, after on 11 January 2019 BNM informed that it had suspended the rights of shareholders at FinComBank (36 per cent of the stocks) and Energbank (53 per cent). In both cases, the National Bank found out joint activity of groups of stockholders who bought substantial quotas of registered share capital, without the preliminary permission of BNM. As a result of the central bank’s decision, the concerned shareholders must sell the stocks owned in the bank’s registered share capital, under the law.