KING IN CHECK Siminel Andrei Reelected Chairman Of ANSVM To The Loss Of Quite An Elegant Competitor

When everyone expected scandals over and fierce battles for the leadership of RASDAQ and that of the professional association of the stockbrokers, Chairman Siminel Andrei was, surprisingly enough, reelected in a civilized fashion under the sign of the remarkable gesture of his opponent, Septimiu Stoica, a gentleman who, despite his significant chances of success, withdrew his candidacy from the elections held within the General Assemblies held in Sinaia on Sunday.

Although the competition for the chairmanship of The National Association of Securities Companies (ANSVM) had ignited strong passions before (sometimes there was even need for successive General Assemblies), now it looked like the election was going to be even more tempestuous, given the recent tensions between the teams of specialists from The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) and RASDAQ, who have been battling over the manner in which the two institutions should unite.

An ardent advocate of the union through merger, the impatient Chairman Siminel Andrei was perceived by his adversaries on The Stock Exchange Committee as an aggressive man lacking any inclination to and practice of democratic, collegiate debate. He was even suspected of using the generally accepted objective of this union to insinuate himself as chairman of the united markets.

In his turn, BVB Chairman Sergiu Oprescu, who advocates the union through the acquisition of RASDAQ by BVB, left the other side of the argument with the impression that he was stalling the union for fear that early elections subsequent to the union would cut his term short.

This situation made this year's ANSVM elections look like a dramatic game of chess: the black pawn Siminel Andrei, whose term as chairman had expired, was inching towards the other end of the board and looked like he was going to become a queen, while the white king Sergiu Oprescu had sent his rook, Septimiu Stoica (a member of The Stock Exchange Committee) to block Andrei's path, fearing the accusation of having blocked the union of the markets (in which case he would have suffered a sudden checkmate, instead of the one sche-duled for October 2005 - the end of his final term as BVB chairman).

However, The Annual Stockbrokers Convention - 2nd Edition was held prior to the elections. Fortunately, the guests - National Securities Commission Chairperson Gabriela Anghelache, Commissioners Victor Eros and Paul Miclaus, BVB Director General Stere Farmache and Romanian Shareholders Association Director General Gratiela Iordache - (who were not directly involved in the aforementioned passions), helped generate an elegant and responsible debate, seasoned with the meaningful input of the participants (details of this debate will be published in future issues). This fact somewhat defused tensions. So did Siminel Andrei, who addressed Sergiu Oprescu directly, suggesting him publicly that the two teams should resume cooperation in view of uniting the markets (unfortunately, he did not receive an explicit reply).

When the elections came, the competition between the two candidates - Siminel Andrei and Septimiu Stoica - was extremely tight: 32 votes for the former, 26 for the latter. Since neither of them had half plus one of the votes cast by active ANSVM members, a new ballot was in order.

But... surprise! Before the second ballot, Septimiu Stoica announced that he had withdrawn his candidacy, elegantly explaining that, if he had not managed to persuade Siminel Andrei himself to vote for him, he felt there was no point in running again.

Remarking that this was a noble example that he wished he had the capacity to follow himself, Siminel Andrei was left alone in the race and was reelected chairman of ANSVM with 49 pros and seven abstentions. Under approval by the audience, he also became president of the company that manages the RASDAQ trading system.

An event marked by strong emotions and egos came to an end in such a simple manner. An event regarded as crucial for the relaunching of the capital market in Romania. "I want us to become the most important market in the region," Siminel Andrei said, reading the objective stated in the strategy adopted jointly with BSE. Although it may seem too ambitious an objective given the market's current weaknesses, it would not hurt to see this objective being pursued. Perhaps, in the end, something good will happen with our market...