RO banks reportedly “tested” for weaknesses by foreign financial crime groups

Romanian banks currently subject to investigations by Romania’s National Bank (BNR), some 16-17 financial institutions of the country’s 34, have been “tested” by foreign financial groups seeking their vulnerabilities, without actually being involved in massive money laundering operations according to sourced quoted by Economica.net.

The investigations carried by BNR are underway at the commercial banks, with a focus on the application of the MIFID II legislation by the credit institutions and the investigation of suspicious actions of money laundering, Economica.net informed.

Last week, BNR’s head of supervision, Nicolae Cinteza, announced that several local banks were being investigated on money laundering suspicions.

However, the representatives of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) did not confirm the investigation mentioned by Cinteza and no other public comment was made meanwhile by either BNR or DIICOT.

Economica.net, quoting unofficial sources, reported that relatively small amounts, in the range of hundreds of thousands of euros, have been transferred through Romanian banks and are now subject to investigations.

The size of the funds and the number of banks support the idea of foreign groups “testing” the local banking system, the (unofficial) source concluded.

However, other sources suspect that the magnitude of the “awkward” transfers mentioned by BNR’s Cinteza is in the range of hundreds of millions of euros.

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