FNI managers hit the road after hitting on the fund

National Investments Fund (FNI) investors that were to redeem their fund units after the ten legal days following applications filling in, found only empty and closed offices. Meanwhile, Ioana Maria Vlas, chairman of SOV Invest, the company managing the fund, or any other representative of the company for that matter, could not be contacted.

Moreover, in line with a statement issued by the National Securities Commission (CNVM), FNI Investors’ Confidence Council, convened yesterday by CNVM and by shareholders of the managing company, decided to summon the General Assembly of Shareholders of SOV Invest to the end of designating the interim chairman, which brings to mind the resignation of Ioana Maria Vlas.

“According to our institution’s data, Vlas left Romania on April 16 and re-entered the country on May 3, but one cannot rule out the possibility of her having left the country by train, a situation where there is no nominal record, but just a numerical one,” said major Tudor Neamtu from the Frontier Police.

On the other hand, Police sources say that on Tuesday a retaining order on the name of Maria Vlas was issued to all frontier points.

CNVM will designate a team of experts from the Capital Market Control, Investigations and Analyses Department that is to survey the fund’s management activity over the next period.

“Panic does not lead to anything positive and investors are the only ones that stand to lose,” atefan Boboc, CNVM chairman, told Ziarul Financiar. He added that “no financial institution resisted under pressure, because of liquidity exhaustion.”

Dozens of persons rushed yesterday to CNVM headquarters to request additional information from the management of the institution.

Initially, CNVM employees refused to discuss with depositors, who forced the entrance. Consequently, a representative of CNVM, commissioner Dan Ionescu, initiated a dialogue with them, but discussions unfolded with difficulty, even degenerating into offences.

“There is no reason to panic and on Wednesday afternoon CNVM management is to meet FNI Trust Board,” Ionescu told the depositors. However, he could not provide convincing and adequate answers to questions asked by depositors, regarding the steps taken by CNVM in order to keep this situation under control.

The Savings Bank (CEC) did not conclude any operating convention with SOV Invest to operate payments to FNI investors that submitted redeeming requests, reads a CEC press release. “Following SOV Invest request to conclude an operating convention in order to pay the fund units through CEC pay desks, on May 12 this year CEC announced that it could not support this step as the bank network is very busy with current operations,” reads the statement. “No special situations occurred for the other investment funds in Romania, which have a high degree of liquidity. We do not expect FNI ceasing its activity to have a very large impact on investment funds industry,” said Dan Nicu, chairman of the Collective Placements Bodies Union.