“The situation in the banking sector is much more stable at present following the measures taken by the National Bank of Moldova,” governor Sergiu Cioclea told a news conference on May 4. In the first quarter of this year, the value of assets in the banking sector rose by 1.5% to 74.05 billion lei. The sufficiency of capital, even if it’s lower than last yearend, is very comfortable, of about 30%, against the norm of 16%.
The volume of loans provided by banks fell by 1.6%. The toxic loans constitute about 16%, but the figure tends to decline, stated Sergiu Cioclea, noting that the banking sector remains profitable.
As to the two banks that are under special supervision, the governor said the exhaustive assets verification reports will be ready soon. The report for BC Victoriabank is being finalized, while that for BC MAIB will be discussed with the bank’s management in the near future. The central bank’s Executive Board will take decisions on these reports in May or June, this being also a condition stipulated in the memorandum concluded with the IMF.
“Both of the banks continue to apply remedying measures. In the case of MAIB, we are holding advanced talks with an investor that could purchase the shareholding that was exhibited for sale,” stated Sergiu Cioclea, adding that a transaction could be registered this summer already.
As to BC Moldinconbank, the governor said the early intervention period was extended because the shares that were to be sold at the request of the central bank had been sequestrated. There are now potential buyers for these.
There are sufficient reasons to impose penalties to the value of 1.7 billion lei on members of the previous Executive Board and Surveillance Board of Moldinconbank.
In the period, a shareholder of BC Victoriabank was penalized for not presenting all the materials required for validating and identifying the shareholders.
The National Bank of Moldova improved the legal framework concerning the monitoring of transactions with persons affiliated to banks. In accordance with the Law on Financial Institutions and the regulations on transactions between banks and affiliates, the central bank will carry out a more detailed analysis of the operations reported and non-reported by banks so as to identify the lending, depositing and other kinds of transactions with affiliates. The central bank will also improve the IT systems so as to monitor and analyze these transactions on time. The changes form part of the process of implementing risk-based surveillance.
