Claudia Cătălina Sava, ASF: "Establishing a sovereign fund would demonstrate that Romania has reached a certain level of strategic maturity"

The establishment of a sovereign fund in Romania would demonstrate that our country has reached a certain level of strategic maturity, said Claudia Cătălina Sava, Director General Directorate, Financial Instruments and Investments Sector, within the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF).

Cătălina Sava stated: "Discussions about a sovereign fund in Romania are gratifying even if it will take a long time until its establishment. Regarding the model of such a fund, there are no patents. First, even though a sovereign wealth fund is a pool of assets, which leads it to the idea of an investment fund, it is not regulated. This was desired at the European level, but everything remained at the level of principles. That is, there are discussions regarding the idea of transparency and governance for sovereign wealth funds, but there is no legislation as has been adopted, for example, regarding investment funds. Under these conditions and until a community policy is drawn up, the fund can take any form. After all, although it is a pool of assets, the sovereign fund is still a company subordinate to the Government, managed by it".

The director of the ASF added: "The tangents I see at the moment (not with the activity of the Financial Supervisory Authority) are related to the moment when such a fund would like to invest in companies listed on the capital market. I mention that the purpose of sovereign wealth funds and the way they accumulate money is through direct investment and less through capital market investment. The leverage is much higher and the policy of an investment fund is to place money in companies to grow and from which to make an exit".

The ASF official emphasized that, if the fund will invest in listed companies, then the authority will ensure compliance with the rules of transparency, specific to the capital market.

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"The market is ready and eager for important companies to be listed on the BVB. This means liquidity, increasing the depth of the market, visibility, and the state (n.e. by managing the fund) becomes more aware of its role in managing the assets it owns. Under these conditions, the Sovereign Fund can be seen as an important and reliable partner for companies that would like to enter into such a relationship", said Cătălina Sava.

On the other hand, the ASF official pointed out that there is a certain reticence of a historical nature, which may bring reservations regarding the appropriateness of the state's entry into the companies. "Even so, I think that, if such a fund were to be established, it would demonstrate the fact that Romania has reached a certain level of strategic maturity", said Cătălina Sava.

The ASF official also emphasized that, at the level of the European Commission, the issue of establishing a European Sovereign Fund as early as 2022 was raised.

"Also, there are sovereign funds that according to some voices amount to ten trillion dollars, which is enormous, the money coming from mono-directional industries, such as those of the Persian Gulf countries. And these funds were directed all over the world. At the moment there is quite a lot of reluctance, including at the European level, in relation to the way in which these funds and implicitly the states that established them own strategic industries in other countries.