THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY IS LEFT WITH JUST 11 MEMBERS Six members of the ASF, let go without severance packages

The Financial Oversight Authority will be left with just 11 members, after the Parliamentary Commission of Budget-Finances and Economics in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies yesterday fast forwarded through hearing and validating the new competition, following the decision of the Government to drop 6 of the 17 members.

The team of non-executive members thus remains unchanged, made up of Dan Radu Ruşanu - president, Daniel Dăianu - first-vice-president, Tudor Daniel George - vice-president, Mircea Ursache - vice-president, Ion Giurescu - vice-president.

Mircea Ursache was not present at the hearings in the Parliament yesterday, as he was attending a meeting of the International Organization of Securities Regulators (IOSCO), on behalf of the ASF.

The six non-executive members are Marian Sârbu, Albin Biro, Marian Mârzac, Corneliu Moldoveanu, Gheorghe Marcu and Dorina Teodora Mihăilescu.

The joint chambers of the Parliament are set to vote today on the structure of the ASF, even though some voices in the market claim that not all the members meet the requirement of ten years of experience on the financial market, imposed by the Government through the ordinance which amended the law for the creation of the ASF.

It would seem that the UDMR was the only party which changed the person it was backing, as Lorand Kralik, who was a member of the ASF, was replaced with Albin Biro, former member of the CSA.

The amendment of the legislation of the Financial Oversight Authority and the selection of its management based on professional criteria represents a requirement of the IMF, which has also requested a better definition of the conflict of interest, as both obligations are included in the letter of intention addressed to Washington.

It is unclear however, who will verify whether the MPs did their job well in selecting the members of the ASF and whether they have correctly assessed their financial-banking expertise.

Among the professionals working in the areas regulated by the IMF, it seems to be a well known fact that several of the members of the ASF do not meet the requirements and that the members of the Parliament brushed over those aspects by doing some tricks just to make some of the candidates look adequate.

Aside from Lorand-Istvan Kralik, Gavrilă Alexe, Gheorghe Albu, Tudor Baltă, Doru Frunzulică, Nina Puiu and Gheorghe Cornel Coca Constantinescu will also be removed from the ASF.

Thus, it becomes less likely for the executive team to run up against a coalition between non-executives, event though the non-executives still have the majority.

Six non-executive members will leave their positions without severance packages.

Dan Radu Ruşanu, the president of the ASF, said yesterday: "The six members of the commission who have been let go will not receive severance packages. The new Regulation for the organization and operation of the ASF no longer stipulates the payment of severance packages. Even if the Ordinance applies (ed. note: the ordinance which stipulates the 85% tax on severance packages), there are no more severance packages".

In spite of all this, Albin Biro, who will be joining the ASF, is among those nominated by PM Victor Ponta as being one of those who collected severance packages from the Insurance Oversight Commission.

Victor Ponta said that severance packages of 230,000 Euros net were paid to each of three former members of the Insurance Oversight Commission (CSA), namely Dan Constantinescu, Albin Biro and Daniela Popa.

The ASF no longer comprises members backed by the PDL and by PP-DD, which has created discontent among the political parties in the opposition.

Last week, the leader of the group of the PDL in the Senate, Cristian Rădulescu, told us that PDL will boycott both the hearings of the candidates, as well as the parliament's vote on their appointment.

The list of candidates who applied yesterday for the ASF also included Nina Puiu, Lorand Kralik, Gheoghe Cornel Coca Constantinescu, Alexe Gavrilă, Iulian Popescu Moscu and Silviu Cerna, but they were not approved.

Who are the members of the ASF?

• Dan Radu Ruşanu, President

- President of the Budget and Finance Commission of the Chamber of Deputies (2012-2013)

- Deputy (2000-2008), President of the Economic Policy Commission, Vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies

- Senator (2008-2012), Vice-president of the Senate

- Secretary of State in the Ministry of Finance (1996-1998)

- president of Eximbank (1999-2000)

• Daniel Dăianu, First Vice-president

- Advisor on economic issues of the Prime Minister Victor Ponta

- University professor - National School of Political and Administrative Studies, Bucharest

- Guest Researcher at the Russian Research Center (Harvard University), Woodrow Wilson Center (Washington, D.C.), NATO Defense College (Roma), International Monetary Fund (IMF)

- President of the Supervisory Board of BCR (2005-2007)

- Professor at the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) - Bucharest (1999-2004)

- Minister of Finance - 1997 - 1998

- Chief economist of the National Bank of Romania (1992-1997)

• Daniel Tudor, Vice-president Insurance

- President of the Board of the Insurance Oversight Council

- President and CEO of ARDAF Romania

- Shareholder, President - CEO of RAI Asigurări

- Manager of Operations for Romania - EUROP Assistance France

- Consultant on various activities in the segment of insurance

• Ion Giurescu, Vice-president - private pensions

- Vice-president, the Commission for the Oversight of the Private Pensions System;

- Deputy in the Romanian Parliament, member on the Commission for labor and welfare;

- President, the Romanian National House for Pensions and other rights;

- Secretary of state in the Ministry of Labor, Social Solidarity and Family;

- President of the Economic and Social Council;

- Deputy in the Romanian Parliament, member of the Commission For Labor and Welfare;

- Subsecretary of State in the Romanian Government;

- Chief Engineer in the Ministry of Agriculture

- Engineer in the Ministry of Transports and Communications

• Mircea Ursache, Vice-president on the stock market

- 2009 - president of the AVAS - the Authority for the Recovery of State Assets and President of the Supervisory Board of the Proprietatea Fund

- 2002-2012 - President and CEO of World Trade Center

- 1998-1999 - Member on the Boards of Directors of Astra and Omniasig

• Marian Mârzac

- General manager, Carpatica Asig

- Chief Financial Officer, Adrem Invest

- CEO, Nova Trade

- Head of the Antifiscal Fraud Department of the ANAF - The National Tax Administration Agency

- Advisor to the CEO and Chief Financial Officer -, Astra Asigurări

- Head of the Treasury Department, Credit Bank

• Marian Sârbu

- President, CSSPP - The Commission for the Oversight of the Private Pension System

-Deputy, President of the Commission for Validation, Vice-president of the Commission for the Labor and Welfare

- Deputy, Delegated Minister for the Relationship with the Social Partners

- Deputy, the Minister of Labor and Social Protection

- Deputy, Vice-president of the Commission for Labor and Welfare

- Secretary of State in the Ministry of Labor and Welfare

- Vice-president CNSLR Frăţia union

- President of the Federation of Free Unions in the Lumber Industry

• Corneliu Moldoveanu

- Member on the College of Mediators

-Member on the Board of the Insurance Oversight Commission

- Chief of the Financial Analysis Department of the National Department for the Prevention and Fighting of Money Laundering

- Financial analyst, Eurombank

- Financial analyst, the Gelsor Financial Group

• Dorina Mihăilescu

- 2007 Member of the CNVM, appointed by the Parliament

- 2005 Vice-president of the CNVM, appointed for a 5 year term from the PSD

- 2004-2008 Deputy for the Prahova county on the lists of the National Union PSD+PUR, member of the Budget, Finance and Banks Commission of the Chamber of Deputies

- 2001-2004 Secretary of state in the Department for Social and Institutional Analysis - DAIS - the Chancellery of the Prime Minister

- 1998 Cabinet advisor to the Chamber of Deputies

- 1993-1996 Expert of the Romanian Government, DIE, SGG

- 1990-1992 Deputy;

- 1990 The Presidency of Romania - Cabinet Chief of Staff

- 1984-1990 ICSM Huedin - county of Cluj, Economist