Press release: Sanctioning decisions adopted by the A.S.F. Council in May 2023

Bucharest, 12 June 2023 - In May 2023, the Council of the Financial Supervisory Authority adopted several decisions sanctioning entities/persons operating in the non-banking financial market for violation of some provisions of the relevant legislation.

CAPITAL MARKET

BRD Asset Management S.A.I. S.A.

Following the results of a periodic inspection, the following sanctions were imposed:

• sanctioning with a warning of the members of the Board of Directors (Mr. Mihai Purcărea, Mr. Marius Stoica and Mr. Iancu Guda);
• a warning to BRD Asset Management S.A.I.

The deficiencies found concerned issues related to the assessment of the business continuity plan at Board level and the testing, through the independent audit function, of the effectiveness of the internal framework to prevent and combat money laundering.

SAI Patria Asset Management S.A.

Following the results of a periodic inspection, SAI Patria Asset Management S.A. was sanctioned with a warning. A plan of measures was also imposed on the company in order to remedy some identified situations and mitigate some risks. The deficiencies found concerned issues related to the compartmentalisation of the company's premises and the management of IT operational risks.

Private equity alternative investment company Sparking Capital S.A.

As a result of the results of the conduct supervision activity, based on the permanent control report, the company was sanctioned with a warning (Decision No 473/15.05.2023). The shortcomings found concerned the failure to comply with the conditions imposed on the submission to the A.S.F. for authorisation of the amendments to the articles of association following the increase in share capital.

As a result of the permanent control report drawn up from the perspective of the prudential supervision of SIACP Sparking Capital S.A., a plan of measures was ordered to be established against it, as well as a fine of 1,600 lei for the legal representatives of the company, Mr. Vlăduț-Vicențiu Panait and Mr. Cristian Teodor Negruțiu. The deficiencies found concerned operations of the nature of the issue/redemption of shares and obtaining VUAN certification by the Depositary.

SSIF Bursa Română de Mărfuri S.A.

Following the permanent control report on the prudential supervision of the SSIF Bursa Română de Mărfuri and the Investor Compensation Fund, a fine of 5,000 lei was imposed on Mr. Gabriel Purice in his capacity as General Manager of the SSIF for non-payment of the contribution for 2021 to the FCI, due as administrator of the trading venue.

Nemo Expres Logistic S.A.

In the permanent control activity carried out by the A.S.F., the compliance by the issuer with the obligation to publish, within the legal deadline of 24 hours from the filing of the application/taking cognizance, the privileged information related to the insolvency litigations was verified and a fine of 13,500 lei was imposed on Mr. Stănilă Florian, as sole Administrator of the issuer.

INSURANCE MARKET

The Romanian insurance company Asirom Vienna Insurance Group S.A. was sanctioned with a written warning for failure to comply with the provisions of Article 21 para. (1), para. (3), para. (4) and para. (5) of the Law no. 132/2017 on compulsory motor third party liability insurance for damage caused to third parties by vehicle and tram accidents, as amended.

Groupama Asigurări S.A. was sanctioned with a written warning for failure to comply with the provisions of Article 21 para. (1), para. (3), para. (4) and para. (5) of the Law no. 132/2017 on compulsory motor third party liability insurance for damage caused to third parties by vehicle and tram accidents, as amended.

Signal Iduna Asigurare Reasigurare S.A. was fined 5,000 lei for the following facts:

• infringement of the provisions of Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) No 2014/1286 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on key information documents for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs);
• Infringement of Article 3(2)(c) and (3), Article 5(1)(b) and (4) of Regulation (EU) 2017/653 of 8 March 2017 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on key information documents for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs) by laying down regulatory technical standards with regard to the presentation, content, review and revision of key information documents and the conditions for fulfilling the requirement to provide such documents.

Atlas Broker de Asigurare S.R.L. has been sanctioned with the withdrawal of the operating license and removal from Section I and transfer to Section II of the Register of Principal Intermediaries for non-compliance with Article 2 of Decision No 741/30.05.2019 approving the suspension of activity for a period of 3 years.

Pint.Ro Broker de Asigurare S.R.L. was fined 13,900 lei for the following facts:

• violation of the provisions of art. 14 para. (1) letter a) of Law no. 236/2018 on insurance distribution, as amended and supplemented, in conjunction with the provisions of Art. 40 para. (1) of the S.F. Rule no. 22/2021 on insurance distribution;
  violation of the provisions of Art. 16 para. (1) letter a) of the A.S.F. Rule no. 4/2018 on the management of operational risks generated by information systems used by entities authorised/approved/registered, regulated and/or supervised by the Financial Supervisory Authority, as amended;
• Infringement of the provisions of Art. 16 para. (2) letter e) of A.S.F. Rule no. 4/2018 on the management of operational risks generated by IT systems used by entities authorised/approved/registered, regulated and/or supervised by the Financial Supervision Authority, as amended and supplemented.

PRIVATE PENSIONS

BT Pensii - Societate de Administrare a Fondurilor de Pensii Facultative S.A.

Ms Alexandra Ștefania Moise, as Head of Operations Department within BT Pensii - Societate de Administrare a Fondurilor de Pensii Facultative S.A., was sanctioned with a written warning for identifying deficiencies in operational processes.

Ms Rodica Jugănaru, as coordinator of the Sales Support Service within BT Pensii - Societate de Administrare a Fondurilor de Pensii Facultative S.A., was warned for a specific deficiency identified in the operational process concerning the updating of the course topics for marketing agents individuals.

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About the Financial Supervisory Authority

The Financial Supervisory Authority is the national authority, established in 2013 by GEO 93/2012 approved by Law 113/2013, for the regulation and supervision of the insurance, private pension and capital markets. The FSA contributes to strengthening the integrated framework for the functioning of the three sectors, which together account for more than 10 million participants. More information can be found at www.asfromania.ro.