Draft Law for Clarification of Status of Securities Traded on RASDAQ

UniCredit Bank S.A.
Summary: 
Romania’s Parliament (Chamber of Deputies) has adopted a draft law with the aim to clarify the status of securities traded on “RASDAQ Market” or on the "Unlisted Market".
Tue, 14/10/2014

The Secretary General of the Romania’s Chamber of Deputies submitted a draft law regarding the clarification of the legal status of securities traded on the „Rasdaq Market“ to the President of Romania for promulgation. According to article 9 of the proposed law, which was passed by the Romania’s Parliament at the end of September 2014, „the activity on the Rasdaq market and the Unlisted securities market will cease after 12 months since the law comes into effect“.

According to the draft law, the companies listed on the „Rasdaq Market“ must call an Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meeting within 120 days of the law coming into effect, and take a decision about switching to a regulated market or to an alternative trading system (MTF). If such a decision is made, then the Financial Supervisory Authority must be approached for allowing the company to trade on a regulated market or an alternative system. If no such decision is made by the company’s Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meeting, then shareholders will have the right to retreat from the shareholder structure within 90 days from the date when the EGSM took place.

Impact on investors: More than 900 companies currently traded  on "RASDAQ Market" will have to decide within 12 months whether to transfer to the Regulated Market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, to transfer to an alternative trading system or to become closed companies. Investors that are currently shareholders of a company traded on the "RASDAQ market"  could then participate in the EGSM that willl take place in the next months in order to decide on the future status of the company. The impact for the BVB Regulated Market will probably be very limited due to the low liquidity of the "RASDAQ Market".