The National Banks of Moldova and Romania signed a new cooperation agreement on June 11.
The document in Bucharest was signed by the President of the NBM Octavian Armasu and the President of the NBM Mugur Isarescu, noting that the need to conclude a new agreement is dictated by the fact that the previous agreement, signed on July 27, 2001, no longer corresponds to the new context marked by numerous reforms in the banking sector, consistent with best practices and meeting current requirements and challenges. In particular, they pointed out that the new agreement is being concluded in the year that marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the first agreement between the Central Banks of the two countries, and the new document will further expand and deepen effective cooperation between them in various areas on the basis of common values, European and international standards. The President of the National Bank of Moldova, Octavian Armasu, called the signing of a new cooperation agreement with the National Bank of Romania a remarkable, significant moment in the relations of bilateral cooperation between the Central Banks of the two countries. He noted the good and stable cooperation between the NBM and the NBR for many years, which reflects their special relationship and mutual openness for the exchange of information, consultations for the effective and reliable functioning of the financial and banking systems of Moldova and Romania. "We are moving to a new stage in our cooperation, which takes place in a different context than the one that was 20 years ago, when the previous document was signed, and now it will be replaced by a new agreement," stressed the NBM President. He recalled that from 2001 to the present, within the framework of regulation and in the activities of the Central Banks of the two countries, numerous reforms have taken place, close to the best practices, meeting new problems and challenges, and thus, it became necessary to conclude a document of a different level, with more an in-depth approach to cooperation, to confirm the efforts of both parties to develop the financial and banking systems of Moldova and Romania according to European standards. Octavian Armasu stressed that it is planned to develop and expand cooperation between the NBM and the NBR in areas of common interest to them through the exchange of information, advice, experience and knowledge, including through technical assistance. The new agreement focuses on priority areas of cooperation in the financial and banking area, adapted to broader goals. The head of the NBM stressed that the signing of a new cooperation agreement with the NBR is intended to support the actions of the Central Bank of Moldova regarding the implementation of the Association Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the EU, in particular, the provisions on cooperation between regulatory and supervisory authorities in the field of financial services. According to him, the new agreement between the NBM and the NBR is the most comprehensive of all cooperation agreements signed by the Central Bank of Moldova. It contains the largest number of areas of cooperation. Their significant expansion reflects the natural evolution of the development of close cooperation between the NBM and the NBR. Octavian Armasu stressed that the new cooperation agreement between the two covers a wider range of areas of cooperation, including: licensing and supervision of banks; licensing and supervision of payment service providers and e-money issuers; financial market infrastructure; preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing; cash transactions; statistics; supervision over the application of international sanctions in the financial and banking sector; management of anti-crisis situations, etc. NBM and NBR will also be able to cooperate in other areas of mutual interest, when such cooperation will be necessary and possible for the implementation of the powers of the authorities of the two countries. The NBM President noted that over the past years, cooperation with the National Bank of Romania has made a significant contribution to the development of the financial and banking sector in Moldova. “In particular, we are very grateful to the colleagues from the NBR, who, together with their colleagues from the Central Bank of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, provided valuable assistance in the framework of the EU-funded Twinning project to strengthen the NBM's capacity in banking regulation and supervision. This support helped bring the banking legislation of Moldova into line with the standards of the European Union, the effective implementation of the new legal framework and the development of supervisory capacity in the NBM," Octavian Armasu said. He recalled that, due to the high degree of compliance with European requirements of the new banking legislation of Moldova, the confidentiality regime applied by the National Bank of Moldova in the field of banking supervision was positively assessed in 2018 by the European Banking Authority. At the same time, this authority included the National Bank of Moldova in the list of supervisory authorities of non-EU countries, the confidentiality regimes of which can be considered equivalent to those applied in the countries of the European Union. Herewith, as Octavian Armasu stressed, Moldova became the first Eastern Partnership country to receive such international recognition and, accordingly, the recognition of the reforms carried out by the NBM facilitated the development of cooperation between the NBM and the EU countries' bodies responsible for regulation and supervision in the financial and banking sector. In particular, in 2019, the NBM signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Banking Authority and the banking supervisory authorities of South-Eastern Europe, and in 2020 the NBM signed memorandums of understanding in the field of banking supervision with the European Central Bank and the Central Bank of Hungary. The NBM President also appreciated the important contribution of Romanian investors, especially Banca Transilvania and BCR, which contributed to the development of the Moldovan banking sector and the promotion of good governance in accordance with the best EU standards and practices. "The arrival on the Moldovan market of Banca Transilvania, one of the largest banks in Romania, together with the EBRD, was an important moment for reforming the banking system of Moldova. It was an important positive signal for other EU investors who decided to invest in the largest banks in Moldova," he said Octavian Armasu. He stressed that the NBR remains one of the main development partners for the NBM. "And we want to use as efficiently as possible the existing potential of special cooperation relations for the further successful implementation of reforms in the financial and banking sector of the Republic of Moldova," said the head of the Central Bank of Moldova, thanking his Romanian colleagues for all-round assistance and openness and wishing new good cooperation projects in the future.// 11.06.2021 — InfoMarket
