The management of Broker Cluj, the biggest independent brokerage firm on the market says brokers at HTI Valori Mobiliare have shown interest in a merger with Broker.

However, things have not gone any further than talks for the time being, and no merger process with a financial intermediation company has been started thus far.

Both Broker and HTI that have recently announced their withdrawal from the Brokers' Association, disclosing that they were mainly dissatisfied with the manner in which the membership fee is calculated.

Broker officials have repeatedly announced they were considering a series of mergers to consolidate their position on the market.

"Several brokerage firms have contacted us looking for a merger with Broker, including HTI Valori Mobiliare. We only had talks, we did not start any merger process," Petru Prunea, Broker Cluj chairman told ZIARUL FINANCIAR.

Asked whether he was interested in a merger with HTI, Prunea answered he was "interested in mergers with companies from Bucharest, which are experienced in (working with) institutional investors."

HTI Valori Mobiliare was not available for comment.

HTI is one of the medium-sized brokerages on the market, ranking 22nd in terms of transactions with shares on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in the first nine months of the year, with a traded volume of 54.2 million euros.

On the other hand, Broker is one of the biggest companies on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, ranking 5th among brokers over the first nine months, with a traded volume of 193.9 million euros.

According to information in the Official Gazette, HTI is undergoing a break-up process, which could result in a separation of the shares held in the Bucharest Stock Exchange and their brokerage operations. HTI officials did not care to comment on this information by the time the story was ready for p