The National Bank of Moldova (NBM) will have to pronounce on the transaction to acquire Unibank by Banca de Economii (BEM) within 60 days of the presentation of the whole package of required documents. NBM governor Dorin Dragutanu confirmed that a relevant application was received and the central bank is now in correspondence with Banca de Economii, IPN reports.

Minister of Finance Anatol Arapu said the proposal to merge Banca de Economii and Unibank was submitted by a member of the Administration Board of the BEM. The Board asked this member to present an economic analysis of the impact of this transaction on Banca de Economii and its shareholders, including the state, which holds 33.3% of the shares of this bank. The state can block this transaction as it has a blocking shareholding. “But the authorities cannot block something without possessing comprehensive information. That’s why we asked for an economic analysis to see the possible consequence,” stated the minister.

In a communiqué issued earlier, the NBM says the transaction does not imply the merger of the two banks. If a bank buys 100% of the capital of another bank after obtaining the consent of the central bank, both of the banks continue to work as separate entities, have their own administration and have the individual obligation to obey the legislation of the Republic of Moldova and the normative documents of the NBM. If the transaction takes place as BEM required, the potential banking group consisting of Banca de Economii and Unibank would be obliged to present the consolidated financial situation on June 30 and December 31 of each year, in accordance with the normative documents of the NBM. The presentation of consolidated situation reports helps the central bank to easier assess the risks in the whole banking system.