* Market sources claim that the Depository pays a rent of 25,000 Euros at their current headquarters

In yesterday"s general shareholder meeting, the shareholders of the Central Depository have decided to relocate the offices of the company, two months from now, in the same building where the other companies of the BSE group operate now, including the Bucharest Stock Exchange, the Investor Compensation Fund and the Bucharest Clearing House.

The relocation of the Central Depository and the strengthening of the control over the companies of the BSE group are part of a plan that the management of the exchange drew some time ago, after some brokerage firms warned several times that the Depository seemed to be becoming rebellious and looking to follow a different road than the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Since it owns 66% of the stock, it wasn"t even that hard yesterday for the Bucharest Stock Exchange to impose its will on the Board of Directors of the Depository.

"We are looking for a tighter cooperation across the whole BSE group, a better coordination of the operations of the companies within the group, as well as a joint purchasing policy and a better management of the available resources", said for BURSA, Valentin Ionescu, the managing director of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, who also serves as the president of the Central Depository.

Aside from a tighter control of the Depository, the management of the BSE is hoping that the move of the headquarters of the institution will help reduce the rent paid by the companies of the Group. The depository would occupy two floors of the building that the Bucharest Stock Exchange is located in now, across the street from the Armenian Church.

"Until now, the Depository paid a monthly rent of 25,000 Euros, whereas, after the relocation, it would pay 8.8 Euros/square meter, and would occupy 1,100 squar