* The funds may look at the SIFs differently if the law raising the holding limit goes through

Investors were pleased with the news that the Budget and Finances Commission of the Chamber of Deputies voted in favor of raising the holding limit in the SIFs, on Monday night, and pushed the price of the SIFs to rise about 10% in the first part of yesterday"s trading session.

At the end of the day, the BET-FI index (ed. note: of the five financial companies and of the Proprietatea Fund) was quoted at 18.381.35 points, up 4.05% over the previous day, with the SIFs posting gains going from 3.65% and 7.59%.

Even though the deputies seemed to have forgotten about the proposal of senator Ovidiu Marian concerning the increase of the limit in the SIFs, on Monday evening they surprised the market, which had been expecting this vote for a year and a half.

Capital market experts praise the decision of the Commission of the Chamber of Deputies and await the vote of the two chambers and the passing of the law, which, they say, will cause a lot more investors, including foreigners and investment funds to become interested in the SIFs.

* Valentin Ionescu: The vote of the Commission of the Chamber of Deputies is a good thing for the market

Valentin Ionescu, the managing director of the Bucharest Stock Exchange said: "The issue of the holding limit at the SIFs has been debated for years. Every time it was brought up, the stocks of the SIFs experienced gains. When the limit was raised from 0.1% to 1%, the impact on the market was positive.

Given this fact, I think that the license of the Budget and Finances Commission to raise the limit to 5% is a good thing for the market".

* Radu Hanga, BT Asset Management: A long-awaited event

The raise of the holding limit in the SIFs is an event which has been awaited for a long time, and