Central bank prevents British company from owing substantial shareholding in Banca de Economii

The legal entity Lectom Ltd., which on August 9, 2011 was included in the register of shareholders of Banca de Economii S.A. (BE) as the owner of 16.36% of the bank’s share capital, has not yet got permission from the National Bank of Moldova to own a substantial holding, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communiqué from the bank. According to the communiqué, despite a warning issued by the central bank on August 1, 2011, as regards the suspension of the voting right of Lectom Ltd. and the obligation to comply with Article 15 of the Law on Financial Institutions (restrictions on the property and shares), the shareholder took no measure to obey the law. Lectom Ltd. did not ask for the central bank’s permission to own the given shareholding in the BE’s capital and did not submit to the National Bank information that would enable to assess it so as to ensure efficient supervision of the bank. On February 17, 2012, the National Bank informed the National Financial Market Commission, Registru-F S.A., Lectom Ltd. and Banca de Economii S.A. that Lectom Ltd. did not comply with Article 15 of the Law on Financial Institutions and that this shareholder’s voting right is suspended as its holding in Banca de Economii S.A. exceeds the allowed limit. This week, a group of shareholders of Banca de Economii accused the state representatives of paralyzing the institution’s work. Denis Korotkevici, the representative of the British company Lectom Ltd., told a news conference that the state representative that owned a majority holding of 56% did not attend the February 16 general assembly of the BE shareholders and thus a quorum was not present. “In order to avoid the danger of alleged shareholders penetrating BE and to keep the balance, we decided not to take part in the assembly. We agreed that a general assembly will be held in 20-60 days, where there will be discussed all the problems identified by the shareholders. Meanwhile, the central bank is to clarify things,” said Minister of Finance Veaceslav Negruta. Under the legislation, the National Bank of Moldova is the public authority empowered to regulate and supervise the banking system of Moldova.