The threshold of the SIFs, a priority for members of the Chamber of Deputies

• Maria Barna, of the Budget Commission: It will probably be discussed in October

The draft bill for raising the holding threshold in the SIFs to 5%, is a priority for the members of the Chamber of Deputies and will most likely be reviewed in October, according to a statement by Maria Barna, the chairwoman of the Budget, Finance and Banking Commission, of the Chamber of Deputies.

"It (ed. note: the draft bill) is a priority at this moment and I do not know why the Commission hasn"t discussed it so far. It is up for inclusion on the agenda", said Maria Barna.

At the present time, a shareholder can own a maximum of 1% of an individual SIF.

About three years ago, PSD senator Ovidiu Marian drew up a draft bill to eliminate the holding cap. However, the version which the senators approved was different from the initial proposal, and stipulated the increase of the holding threshold at 5%. The draft bill got stuck in the Budget and Finance Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, after being approved by the Legal Commission in February 2010.

• How the 1% holding limit came to be

The holding threshold in the financial companies was set at 0.1%, in 1996, in the First Extraordinary Shareholder Meetings of the SIFs, when the five Private Property Funds (FPP) were turned into Financial Investment Companies.

At the time, the Law stipulated no holding threshold, as it was included only in the statutes of the SIFs.

The reason for setting the threshold of 0.1% was the fear of the PDSR (ed. note: the Party of Social Democracy in Romania) that 30% of the country"s wealth - which had been allotted to the portfolios of the five SIFs - would end up being owned by foreigners.

In the summer of 2005, the holding limit was set at 1%, through an emergency ordinance, issued during the parliament"s holiday. The legislative draft which the Ordinance was based on had been approved by the Senate, but not in time to be put up for discussion in the Chamber of Deputies.

The SIFs were required to update their articles of incorporation to include the change of the holding threshold from 0.1% to 1%, within 60 days from the passing of the Ordinance.