The European Banking Authority (EBA) added the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) to the list of non-EU country supervisory authorities, whose confidentiality regimes can be regarded as equivalent to those included in the EU Capital Requirements Directive (CRDIV), IPN reports, quoting the NBM.

The decision was taken after the EBA and the NBM in June 2018 agreed that the Republic of Moldova will take part in the exercise of equivalence assessment of confidentiality regime with the aim of facilitating cross-border cooperation.

The EBA positive assessment will be relevant to facilitate the exchange of information between the NBM and EU supervisory authorities and will enable the NBM to participate in the colleges of supervisors overseeing the EU bank groups. Five EU bank groups - Banca Transilvania of Romania, Société Générale of France, Intesa Sanpaolo of Italy, ProCredit of Germany and Erste Group of Austria - operate in the Republic of Moldova.

Additionally, the National Bank of Moldova will start the process of the joining the Memorandum of Cooperation signed in 2015 between EBA and supervisory authorities of Southeastern European countries (Vienna Initiative).

“The EBA positive assessment is a further stage for strengthening the cooperation of our country with the European Union and the countries of the region, as well recognition of the effort of strengthening the legislative and regulatory framework in the banking sector of the Republic of Moldova,” NBM Governor Sergiu Cioclea said in a meeting with the EBA management at the EBA headquarters in London.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) is an independent EU Authority founded in 2011 to ensure effective and consistent prudential regulation and supervision across the European banking sector. EBA is part of the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) and its overall objectives are to maintain financial stability in the EU and to safeguard the integrity, efficiency and orderly functioning of the banking sector.