Foreign banks wishing to open representations in Moldova must submit to the National Bank of Moldova an official letter containing such application, the decision of founders or bank's other competent organ, a document from the country's bank supervising agency certifying the bank's right to run financial operations, the latest Financial Statement. This is stipulated by a NBM Resolution called to streamline acceptance of applications from foreign banks.
Local experts are saying the NBM Resolution creates for foreign banks a closed circle of red tape which only the National Bank is able to break. For instance, yet on the state of preliminary coordination, the NBM demands to submit information about the applicant bank's president, the address and even telephone number of the foreign bank's future office in Chisinau. According to the NBM's logic, it is first necessary to open the representation and only after that to inform the National Bank. There seems to be no logic in that.

The NBM has set itself a timing for considering the documents submitted by foreign banks - 30 days. If the National Bank has no claims or reprimands to the documents, it is free to show no reaction to the application. But if the NBM decides that it is necessary to conduct an extra research about the applicant, the Resolution sets no time limit for such additional examinations.

Experts believe such conditions will hardly be attractive to foreign banks, which will be scared off with the fact that the National Bank of Moldova thus narrows to a minimum the representations' field of activity - to merely providing information about itself and to establishing business contacts. Such foreign banks' representations are not permitted to run whatever banking activities, including an indirect attraction of deposits or their equivalents.

An expert told correspondent that with an account of previous court trials (including against the Moldovan representation of the Rietumu Banka of Latvia), the National Bank's wish to give no pretexts for possible counter-claims is understandable. However, this should not be done by using such definitely bureaucratic, anti-market mechanisms.