This conference is part of the Romanian capital market – up the ladder Emerging Market series of events that BVB is organizing, on a quarterly basis, and it was hosted by the EBRD at its headquarters on February 6, 2015.
This is the second conference, after the on held in October last year, which BVB is organizing in London to promote the Romanian capital market among institutional investors in this financial centre. With these events, BVB aims to get institutional investors aware of the recent developments of the Romanian capital market and its strategic objective to be upgraded from Frontier to Emerging Market status.
The event was opened by Jean-Marc Peterschmitt (Managing Director CSEE, EBRD) and Ludwik
Sobolewski (BVB CEO).
“Romania is a rising tiger of Central and Eastern Europe. Our goal is to reach out to international investors willing to increase their presence on our market and discuss how Romania can become a fully-fledged member of the Emerging Markets family. We also want to hear from the investors about the challenges they might be facing. This is an important dialogue”, said Ludwik Sobolewski.
Subsequently, Mirela Ciuvat (Chief Officer, Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority) presented the reform progress in the Romanian capital market for the past three months, and Gian Piero Cigna (Senior Counsel - Corporate Governance EBRD) spoke about BVB and EBRD common project on corporate governance and the positive impact on the investment climate in Romania. Pawel Sliwinski (Inc. Executive Chairman, Poland, one of the Authorized Advisors for the AeRO market) discussed about the need for SMEs financing through the capital market and the importance of the AeRO market, as also about bringing to Romania the successful Polish models.
Participants were presented also the companies Electrica (EL) and Romgaz (SNG) and their success stories, by Alexandra Borislavschi (Managing Director of Corporate Finance and Governance, Electrica) and Manuela Ogrinja (Chief Officer - Investor Relations, Romgaz).
Mihaela Demetriuc (Head Of Unit Market Operations, Ministry of Public Finance of Romania) spoke about the municipal bonds issue that Bucharest Municipality prepares, and James Stewart Jr. (VP Treasury and Capital Markets, Raiffeisen Bank) presented the work of the Coalitia for the Development of Romania and its involvement in the reform of the capital market, but also the Raiffeisen Bank involvement in the local capital market, as part of the consortia that intermediated the listing of important state owned companies, and as an issuer itself of two corporate bonds issues.Lyle Schwartz (Managing Director, Goldman Sachs) stated that the joint effort of BVB, FSA, EBRD and the Romanian Government in the development of the local capital market and attracting international investors in Romania deserves to be praised.
Mihai Ionescu (Director, Deutsche Bank Romania) spoke about the increased interest that investors showed recently in Romania and in companies listed on BVB, as also about the need for new issuers to BVB.
During his presentation, Lucian Anghel (BVB President) showed the reasons why investors should invest on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the macroeconomic growth prospects.
In the audience were present more than 140 people, representing approx. 90 institutional investors (fund managers, investment banks and representatives of London financial industry).
To achieve this important goal of upgrading the Romanian capital market to Emerging Market Status, the Romanian authorities together with a working group lead by the Bucharest Stock Exchange embarked to an ambitious journey and for more than one year are implementing a comprehensive programme to improve the functioning of the local capital market, enhance liquidity and increase the availability of capital market products. It includes measures to streamline regulatory processes and increase efficiencies within the pre-trade, trade and post-trade environments, so that international investors would feel like home when investing on the Romanian capital market.
EBRD, the largest institutional investor in Romania, supports the programme through investments, technical assistance and support for reforms. As a shareholder of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, the EBRD is working to establish BVB as the preferred exchange for Romanian issuers, as well as for investors with an appetite for Romanian stocks and other financial instruments. The EBRD is also advancing reforms through its recently-elected representative on the board of Depozitarul Central, the institution which ensures clearing and settlement of the trades executed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and keeps the registries of issuers.
The series of events Romanian capital market – up the ladder to Emerging Market is an invitation for the global capital markets' participants to express their views on the developments of the Romanian market. Such events will continue to be organized on a quarterly basis and will give investors the opportunity to be updated on the latest developments at the Bucharest Stock Exchange and to interact with the Romanian capital market’s decision factors. Thus, BVB and market participants involved in Romania are setting a bridge between Romania as a local stage of numerous initiatives supporting the development of the market and the world-class financial center that London is. The next event in London will take place in May.
