Romanian MPs in the Lower House of the Parliament on Thursday ( December 15 ) approved an increase in the threshold for holding shares in SIF investment companies to 5 percent, from the previous 1 percent. This will allow an investor to hold up to 5 percent of the shares in a SIF. The decision was taken after 170 votes for and 63 against. The law needs to be endorsed by president Traian Basescu an then published in the country's Official Gazette.

There are five SIF investment funds in Romania – SIF Muntenia, SIF Moldova, SIF Oltenia, SIF Banat Crisana and SIF Transilvania, all listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE). The BET-FI index on the BSE is calculated based on the evolution of these companies' shares, plus Fondul Proprietatea's shares. BET-FI was up over 8 percent after this decision.

The SIFs were created in the 90s, when the national privatization process started. Initially called Fondurile Proprietatii Private (Funds of Private Property), they received 25 percent of the country's wealth under management- meaning share packages in various companies. A second mass privatization program followed, allowing individuals to submit coupons received from the state to one of these companies, later called SIFs. Around 9 million Romanians then became shareholders in SIFs. The 1 percent threshold was imposed on fears that some of the shareholders might try to gain the control over these companies.

Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com