Romanian financial regulator’s president could be dismissed today

Misu Negritoiu, the president of the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF), said yesterday that he expects to be dismissed and that he will not be in office anymore next week. The Parliament will discuss Negritoiu’s dismissal today. “I'm happy I've gotten here. I really do not need to stay anymore,” he said, reports local Ziarul Financiar. Negritoiu said that he could turn to the investment fund market if he leaves the ASF chair. “I prefer to go out removed by politicians than by DNA (National Anticorruption Directorate),” he added. He also said that he doesn’t know and hasn’t been told what are the reasons behind his dismissal. ASF is the institution in charge of regulating and supervising the insurance sector, capital market, and private pension funds in Romania. The ASF president also said yesterday that the mandatory car insurance tariffs (RCA) shouldn’t increase after liberalization six-month cap on prices expires on May 18. “I don’t exclude a gradual and differentiated growth, but I exclude an explosive growth of 20%. I believe that the average of these tariffs will remain where they are now, with a slight evolution in high risk categories.” He added that the average RCA tariff currently amounts to RON 727 (EUR 160), up 3% year-on-year. For individuals, the average RCA tariff is RON 533 (EUR 118), whereas this reaches RON 1,340 (EUR 294) for companies. The discussions on the dismissal of Misu Negritoiu are not new. Last year, at the end of October, four committees within the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies unanimously voted for his dismissal. The MPs considered him responsible for the problems in the insurance sector, where the Government had to step in and freeze the mandatory car insurance tariffs for six months, after high increases in recent years. Moreover, the MPs believed that Negritoiu was responsible for the bankruptcy of two big local insurance companies, Astra Asigurari and Carpatica Asig. However, Negritoiu managed to remain in office for some more months. editor@romania-insider.com