THE NEW REGULATOR OF THE FINANCIAL MARKET Hustling for cushy positions

A so-called "open letter", which contains attacks against Daniela Mihailescu, the head of the CNVM, has caused a commotion in the domestic stock market, at the end of last week.

The letter is probably part of the struggle caused by the inappropriate initiative of the government to restructure the oversight of the stock market, the insurance and pension markets, and unite them under one regulator, the Unified Oversight Authority (ASF), which will replace the regulators of the three aforementioned markets, and where, if you want to keep your current job, you have to hustle.

A certain "Vlad Prunea" sent us an e-mail which claims to be "an open letter", by which he warns PM Victor Ponta and the Parliament that Dorina Mihăilescu, commissioner of the Romanian National Securities Commission, has asked the World Bank, the IMF and the European Commission to oppose the privatization of the state owned companies through the Bucharest Stock Exchange, claiming that the European regulations for the protection of shareholders have not been implemented.

Dorina Mihăilescu told us: "The person who sent this letter has no idea about my activity, is probably using information which came to them through an intermediary. If this action is the result of my colleagues' < good-intentions > then I think that any comments would be superfluous".

At the same time, "Vlad Prunea" claims that Dorina Mihăilescu is deliberately obstructing the activity of the Commission, by rejecting 95% of the items discussed during the meetings, and therefore asks for an investigation of the commissioner's activity.

When we informed her about this accusation, Dorina Mihăilescu told us that the decisions of the Commission are made with a majority of 50 plus one votes: "Assuming I was the one who always opposes everything, could I block the decisions of the other six commissioners?", she asked rhetorically.

We do not know whether the letter in question has reached the government or the Parliament nor do we know the real identity of its author.

Anybody could be behind the name of "Vlad Prunea": we received no response from the e-mail address that the message was sent from.

According to the information provided in the e-mail, "Vlad Prunea" would be a pseudonym of someone from within the CNVM.

The likelihood of Vladimir Prunea, an employee of the Romanian Banking Institute, being the author, was rejected by the man in question personally, as he said that he has nothing to do with that e-mail, and that he is not aware of any other person with the same name living in Bucharest.

Because of that, the so-called "open letter" does not have the characteristics of such a document (where the author is publicly identifiable and stands behind their statements), but rather, is a simple anonymous letter, at least so far, which is why we have no reason to publish its entire contents (especially since it is crude in some places).

Still, we were unable to disregard the commotion started by the rumors surrounding this letter, which mysteriously, part of the market community found out about.

The new market regulator, which will be led by 15 members, is expected to begin operation in March, but the market seriously doubts that this thing will be possible.

In spite of the potential delay, the fight for positions in the new regulator is in full swing, with the most powerful incentive being the huge salaries which exist in the current commissions.

This is however, a bit of a gamble, since no one said that those fabulous wages would remain in place, since there was some information that the new overseers would have a compensation similar to that of a Secretary of State.

Even though the press initially reported that Florin Georgescu, the former minister of Finance (who recently began his second term as Minister of Finance), deputy governor of the NBR, was getting ready to take over the helm of the Authority, it would appear he is completely opposed to the idea.

Another name was that of PNL member Dan Radu Ruşanu, the president of the Finance and Budget Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, but he apparently favors declining the position and offering it to someone close to him instead.

"In the cards", with good odds, is the former president of the AVAS Mircea Ursache, according to our sources.

This autumn, the management of the CNVM was replaced this autumn, as the PSD chose to keep Dorina Mihăilescu and to drop Gabriela Anghelache, the former chairwoman.

The presidency of the Commission was taken over by Carmen Negoiţă, backed by the PDL, who apparently has all the chances of keeping her job once the Unified Authority launches.

Just like this time, during the period of changes at the top of the CNVM, anonymous letters concerning the competences of the new commissioners were making the rounds.

A bizarre rumor which has been making the rounds in the market is that the president of SIF3 Transilvania, Mihai Fercală, is also preparing for a position within the new market oversight authority.

At any rate, nothing is certain, and it is expected that the struggle will continue until the Parliament announces its nominations.

And even afterwards.

It's tradition.