Press Review - May 25, 2016

05.25.2016 By Gabriela Stan

A Country With Romania’s Population Should Have Minimum 100,000 Stock Exchange Investors - Sobolewski

A country with Romania’s population and with an annual economy growth of 3-4% should have minimum 100,000 investors on the stock exchange, Ludwik Sobolewski, the Chief Executive Officer of Bucharest Stock Exchange, said in an interview for “Adevarul“ newspaper.

Sobolewski added that the Romanian governments did not use the capital market on a regular basis and did nothing related to the population’s financial education, given that financial education translates into prosperity and democracy.

Retail Mortgage Borrowers Take Action On Debt Discharge Law

The law on debt discharge, which came into force on May 13, already has several hundreds of individuals who want to benefit from its provisions.

Banks have been notified and have a 10-day term to challenge the decision of retail mortgage borrowers to return real estate collateral to banks in exchange for writing off their loans.

Lawyer Vicentiu Coltuc said he has notified the banks for 50 clients, while creditors have already started to challenge the decisions.

Lawyer Gheorghe Piperea stated he has 32 pro bono cases for which he sent notifications to the banks but there is no reply for an approval or negotiation yet. (Evenimentul Zilei)

Directive On Insurance Distribution To Be Transposed Into EU States Legislation In 24 Months

A very strict and bureaucratic EU directive on insurance distribution, with high implementation costs, should be transposed into Romanian legislation in 24 months from its implementation.

The implementation of the directive can lead to lower sales and implicitly to a lower coverage level, said Bogdan Andriescu, chairman of the local brokers’ association UNSICAR.

EU Directive 2016/97 of the European Parliament and of the European Council of January 20, 2016 on insurance distribution, published in the Official Journal of the European Union in February 2016, abrogates and reforms Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the European Council regarding insurance distribution.

The directive should apply to persons whose activity consists of providing insurance or reinsurance distribution services to third parties. (Romania Libera)

Blaga: Senate Chairman Calin Popescu-Tariceanu Should Resign

The best thing that Senate chairman Calin Popescu-Tariceanu could do is to resign as he is hurting the country's interests, according to PNL co-chair Vasile Blaga.

"I have never pronounced on a case investigated by magistrates so far. I am not doing it now, but, as regards the chairman of the Senate, I think the best thing he could do is to resign as, in fact, he is hurting the interests of the country. There has never been such a situation before," Blaga stated on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, anti-corruption prosecutors announced they started the criminal prosecution against Calin Popescu Tariceanu, for perjury and abetment in crime. (Romania Libera)

Eurostat: Romania Posts Largest Share Of Avoidable Deaths In EU

Romania registered the largest share of avoidable deaths in Europe while the lowest share was registered in France, according to a report by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The proportions of potentially avoidable deaths through optimal health care among all deaths of persons aged less than 75 in 2013 vary considerably between EU Member States.  

The highest shares of avoidable deaths were registered in Romania (49.4%) and Latvia (48.5 %), while the share was below 30% in France (23.8%), ahead of Denmark (27.1%), Belgium (27.5%) and the Netherlands (29.1%)  

A death is amenable if, in the light of medical knowledge and technology at the time of death, all or most deaths from that cause could be avoided through good quality healthcare. (Romania Libera)