Romanian president defends financial authority ASF against Eurohold Bulgaria

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, in a press conference at the European Parliament on February 8, answered an inquiry by MEP Gunnar Beck and Clare Daly, saying that the Romanian court already decided that the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) was right when it withdrew the operating license of insurer Euroins.

"The rule of law implies both better institutions and effective regulators. I hear here that a regulator had a problem with a company. As it is everywhere, in any [country with] rule of law, if a company is dissatisfied with a decision, it refers the issue to the court. I understood that in this case, the court said that the decision of the regulatory authority was correct," president Iohannis said, according to Economica.net.

Previously, the two European deputies accused the ASF and the European authority - EIOPA - of illegally removing the Euroins company from the insurance market in Romania.

In a response to president Iohannis' statement, Eurohold – the parent company of bankrupt Romanian insurer Euroins, claimed that the Romanian court has not ruled yet in the case of ASF's decision.

Eurohold specifies that no court in Romania has yet ruled on the legality of the decision of the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority to withdraw the license of Euroins Romania.

The Bulgarian insurance group Eurohold announced that it filed a lawsuit against Romania at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of what it claims to be the illegal bankruptcy of local subsidiary Euroins. It also reconfirmed that it is preparing an arbitration request for the amount of over EUR 500 million at an international court in the US.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)