The drafting of a new banking law that enables the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) to issue secondary normative documents to regulate the prudential requirements applying to commercial banks is one of the most important results of a twinning project implemented with financial support from the EU during two years. The results were presented in a project round-up event on May 30, IPN reports.

Among the results are also the working out of the internal regulations of the NBM, which allow efficiently fulfilling the duty to survey and modify the organizational structure of the central bank, and increasing surveyors’ and bank representatives’ knowledge of the Basel III framework.

National Bank governor Sergiu Cioclea said an absolutely critical support was needed from the central banks of Romania and of the Netherlands to implement such a hard and complex project. “This is a large-scale project that wouldn’t have been materialized without the support of the European Union,” he stated.

Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu noted that two years ago, when the project was launched, there was skepticism as the banking sector went through a crisis. Now this project ends successfully and this is due to those from the NBM and the foreign partners that provided assistance. “Two years after the launch, we managed to overcome the crisis in this sector and now the authorities have the duty to create ‘a new banking constitution’ and there is the necessary political will in this regard,” he stated.

Liviu Voinea, vice governor of the National Bank of Romania, said the project aims to support the NBM in the process of consolidating the prudential surveillance framework by ensuring harmonization with the standards of the central banks of the EU. Another goal was to improve the banking legislation so as to build a solid and competitive banking sector. Increased attention within the project was paid to the development of surveillance instruments and strengthening of the surveillance duty of the NBM.

Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Pirkka Tapiola said this project demonstrated the power of the common commitments. Those from the central bank, together with their colleagues from the Netherlands and Romania, worked out new laws that will soon reach Parliament. The adoption of legislation is an important stage in the reform of the financial system.

The project “Strengthening the NBM’s capacity in the field of banking regulation and supervision in the context of EU requirements” was implemented with support from the National Bank of Romania and the Central Bank of the Netherlands and with financial support from the EU.