The fate of Over- the-Counter trading (OTC) on the Romanian capital market may be settled at the next General Shareholder Meeting of the Central Depository, scheduled for the end of this month, said Valentin Ionescu, the General Manager of the Bucharest Stock Exchange and president of the Depository. At that General Shareholder Meeting, a Study concerning the impact of OTC trading on the capital market is set to be presented, which claims that the Central Depository, the institution which handles the settlement of trades, would earn major commissions from such trades, according to sources who did not wish to be named.

Some of the major players of the capital market, brokers and investments funds are already worked up about this topic, as they are worried over the impact that unlocking OTC trading would have on the liquidity of the BSE.

Costel Ceocea, the president of SIF "Moldova", one of the important shareholders of the BSE and of its Depository, asked for the clarification of several aspects related to OTC trading. He warned that "in the long run, the trading of stocks through the OTC market would bring a great disservice to the development of the capital market of Romania and would affect all the market players".

Mr. Ceocea said: "SIF Moldova is not against OTC trading, but we need to set some clear rules, otherwise some brokerage firms may only trade on the OTC. Also, transferring a large number of trades to the OTC, could cause the prices of the regulated market, which are used for evaluating the Assets of the Collective Investment Organisms, to no longer reflect their true value".

The president of SIF2 considers that OTC trading may reduce the liquidity of the regulated market and would place minority shareholders at a disadvantage due to the lack of clear regulations concerning the reporting requirements that the parties involved in su