The National Bank of Moldova (NBM) expresses its profound concern about the procedural search actions and the method of handling a criminal case that was recently started against employees holding key posts, IPN reports.

In a press release, the NBM says the case refers to a decision taken by the central bank in accordance with the commitments undertaken by the Republic of Moldova by the memorandum of understanding with the IMF, in the context of the banking system reform done by the Bank during almost four years. The goal is to ensure shareholder transparency, healthy corporate governance in banks and a regulatory framework that is needed to ensure a stable banking system.

Under the law, the NBM is the only authority that can pronounce on reasons related to the opportunity, assessments and quality analyses based on which the Bank takes decisions concerning the imposition of penalties, punishing and other kinds of measures.

Any kind of judiciary and pre-judiciary procedures, regardless of the final solution, which are aimed against the NBM and its employees, have a powerful discouraging effect on the NBM and intimidate its employees who consciously exercise their functional risk assessment duties.

As the Bank and its employees fully cooperated with the investigation bodies, the actions of these bodies can be perceived as interference in the NBM’s exclusive power to assess and supervise bank shareholders, which is inadmissible also from the angle of the separation of powers in the state. 

The NBM notes that such actions prevent the personnel of a central bank from fulfilling their duties in an appropriate way and reduce the institution’s capacity to ensure the supervision, transparency and stability of the banking sector.