Romanian insurance brokers will have to increase their capital to a minimum of RON 150,000 (EUR 34,000) by the end of this year to keep on operating in the local market, the financial regulator ASF has decided.

ASF initially wanted to increase the minimum capital requirement to RON 250,000 (EUR 56,000), which is 10 times more than the current minimum capital of RON 25,000 (EUR 5,600).

The regulator’s decision forces smaller insurance brokers to come up with EUR 28,000 to increase their social capital six-fold.

“This will not be a problem for large insurance brokers. However, it is possible to see smaller firms disappear,” said Bogdan Andriescu, the president of the insurance brokers’ association UNSICAR, cited by local Hotnews.ro.

Almost 600 insurance brokers were registered in Romania at the end of last year.

editor@romania-insider.com