The restrictions placed in Romania by "Bank of Cyprus" violate the elements of the right of ownership stipulated in the Civil Code of Law, namely possession, right to use and the right of the owners to dispose of their goods as they see fit, said lawyer Gheorghe Piperea.
He explained: "The measures adopted by BoC are completely in violation of the rights of companies, not just of physical persons. The bank is basically pushing the title holders into bankruptcy. Unfortunately there is not much that can be done about it. The only option that could be attempted is to begin the foreclosure through garnishment".
According to the legislation in effect, garnishment is one of the means of legal available for requesting and obtaining the fulfillment of the obligations by the debtor, if they fail to do so willingly. If the garnished third party (the bank) has stopped honoring its obligations, the creditors, debtors or the enforcement body can notify the court, to validate the garnishment, in which case the bank may be forced to pay the amounts owed by the debtor.
Starting April 1st, any individual or legal entity -which has an account opened with BoC Romania is confined to withdrawing of a maximum of 4,000 lei from the ATMs of the institution. Any other operations are completely restricted, including internet banking, said Liana Voinescu, Marketing&PR Coordinator of the domestic branch of BoC. Any request for amounts which exceed that limit, will be reviewed individually, and if it is considered exceptional, will be honored, she said.
"The exceptional situations which we have encountered have been reviewed individually", the official of Bank of Cyprus said, and offered as examples of hospitalization cases, where the bank requires medical certificates, or the funeral aids, in which death certificates are needed.
According to Liana Voinescu, the
