Sanctioning decisions adopted by the ASF Council in December 2023

Bucharest, 15 January 2024 - In December 2023, the Council of the Financial Supervisory Authority adopted several sanctioning decisions as well as a series of measures applicable to entities/persons operating in the non-banking financial market for breaching certain provisions of the relevant legislation.

CAPITAL MARKET

S.S.I.F. Intedealer Capital Invest S.A.

Sanctioning Ms. Naș Luminița Bianca with a fine of RON 6,900 in her capacity as head-general manager, based on the provisions of Art. 72 para. (1) letter b) and para. (2) letter c) of Law No. 236/2022, Art. 257 para. (1), letter a), item i) and para. (2) letter b) item i) of Law No. 126/2018 for submitting erroneous reports on the level of own funds; she did not ensure the development and application of professional ethical standards to ensure professional and responsible conduct at the level of the regulated entity in order to prevent the occurrence of conflicts of interest, lack of procedures for identifying conflicts of interest.

Sanctioning Mr. Naș Sorin Valeriu with a fine of RON 9,600 as a member of the Board of Directors based on the provisions of Art. 72 para. (1) letter i) and para. (2) letter c) of Law No. 236/2022, Art. 257 para. (1), letter a), item i) and para. (2) letter b) item i) of Law No. 126/2018 for incorrect presentation of the financial position and exposure of the FISC as a result of carrying out fictitious operations without real coverage; he did not ensure the development and application of professional ethical standards to ensure professional and responsible conduct in order to prevent the occurrence of conflicts of interest, lack of procedures for identifying conflicts of interest.

Sanctioning Mr. Benche Narcis Horațiu with a fine of RON 11,200 as a member of the Board of Directors based on the provisions of Art. 72 para. (1) letter i) and para. (2) letter c) of Law No. 236/2022, Art. 257 para. (1), letter a), item i) and para. (2) letter b) item i) of Law No. 126/2018 for incorrect presentation of the financial position and exposure of the FISC as a result of carrying out fictitious operations without real coverage; he did not ensure the development and application of professional ethical standards to ensure professional and responsible conduct in order to prevent the occurrence of conflicts of interest, lack of procedures for identifying conflicts of interest.

Sanctioning Mr. Pop Daniel with a fine of RON 16,800 in his capacity as manager and member of the Board of Directors based on the provisions of Art. 72 para. (1) letter b) and letter i) and para. (2) letter c) of Law No. 236/2022, Art. 257 para. (1), letter a), item i) and para. (2) letter b) item i) of Law No. 126/2018 for submitting erroneous reports on the level of own funds, incorrect presentation of the financial position and exposure of the FISC as a result of carrying out fictitious operations without real coverage, failure to ensure the development and application of professional ethical standards to ensure professional and responsible conduct in order to prevent the occurrence of conflicts of interest, lack of procedures for identifying conflicts of interest.

INSURANCE MARKET

Groupama Asigurări S.A. was fined RON 115,500 for the following:

• failure to comply with the provisions of Art. 23 para. (5) of Law No. 129/2019 for the prevention and combating of money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as for the amendment and completion of some normative acts, with subsequent amendments and additions in conjunction with the provisions of art. 12 para. (4) of ASF Regulation No. 13/2019;
• failure to comply with the provisions of Art. 24 para. (1) of Law No. 129/2019 in conjunction with the provisions of Art. 4 para. (1), Art. 21 para. (1) and para. (6) and Art. 47 para. (3) and para. (7) of ASF Regulation No. 13/2019;
• failure to comply with the provisions of Art. 25 para. (1) of Law No. 129/2019 in conjunction with the provisions of Art. 13 para. (1) and Art. 47 para. (3) and para. (7) of ASF Regulation No. 13/2019;
• failure to comply with the provisions of Art. 7 para. (3) of Law No. 129/2019 in conjunction with the provisions of Art. 35 para. (1) of ASF Regulation No. 13/2019, regarding the obligation to report external transfers to and from accounts, in RON or in foreign currency, to O.N.C.P.S.B. (the Office for Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering);
• failure to comply with the provisions of Art. 24 of Law No. 129/2019 in conjunction with the provisions of Art. 11 para. (5) of ASF Regulation No. 13/2019.

Groupama Asigurări S.A. was fined RON 100,700 for the following:

• failure to comply with the provisions of Art. 21 para. (4) of Law No. 132/2017 on compulsory motor third party liability insurance for damage caused to third parties by accidents involving vehicles and trams, as amended;
• failure to comply with Art. 21 para. (5) of Law No. 132/2017 on compulsory motor third party liability insurance for damage caused to third parties by vehicle and tram accidents, as amended and supplemented;

Groupama Asigurări S.A. was fined RON 124,400 for failure to comply with Art. 4 para. (2) letter d) last sentence of the ASF Regulation No. 2/2016 on the application of corporate governance principles by entities authorized, regulated and supervised by the Financial Supervisory Authority, as amended, in the sense that, in relation to the requirements set out in Art. 2 para. (2), Art. 21 para. (3), Art. 25 para. (1), Art. 30 para. (1) and Art. (4) and Art. 31 para. (1) and para. (4) and Art. 31 para. (3) of the ASF Rule No. 32/2015 on the organization and performance of the inventory of assets, liabilities, equity and transactions related to the insurance and reinsurance activity of insurers/reinsurers and insurance/reinsurance brokers, the internal control mechanisms within the company with regard to the process of inventorying the endorsed claims reserve were not adequate.

Transilvania Maxima - Broker de Asigurare S.R.L. was sanctioned with a written warning for failure to comply with the provisions of Art. 22 para. (15) of ASF Rule No. 22/2021 on insurance distribution.

Ms. Dan Dorina (former executive manager of the brokerage company Transilvania Maxima - Broker de Asigurare S.R.L.) was sanctioned with a written warning for failure to comply with the provisions of Art. 22 para. (14) of the ASF Rule No. 22/2021 on insurance distribution.

PRIVATE PENSIONS

NN Pensii Societate de Administrare a unui Fond de Pensii Administrat Privat S.A.

Ms. Mihaela Botezatu, in her capacity as Coordinator of the Payments, Claims and Reporting Department of NN Pensii Societate de Administrare a unui Fond de Pensii Administrat Privat S.A., was fined RON 2,000 for identifying deficiencies in operational processes.

Mr. Cornel Ianache, in his capacity as Coordinator of the Pension Administration and Document Management Department of NN Pensii Societate de Administrare a unui Fond de Pensii Administrat Privat S.A., was sanctioned with a written warning for identifying deficiencies in operational processes.

Ms. Ștefania Alexandra Bărbuș, in her capacity as Coordinator of the Pension Administration and Document Management Department of NN Pensii Societate de Administrare a unui Fond de Pensii Administrat Privat S.A., was subject to the administrative measure of warning for identifying deficiencies in operational processes.

Mr. Sorin Sabău, as Department Manager in the Transaction Management Department of Raiffeisen Bank S.A., was given a warning for identifying deficiencies in operational processes.