* The representatives of the ASF say that the severance packages have been paid by the entities which preceded it

* Carmen Negoiţă: "The CNVM did not pay severance packages to its former commissioners"

The huge severance packages owed to the former overseers of the stock market, of private pensions and the insurance market (CNVM, CSA and CSSPP) - up to 19 times their monthly wage - is the "hot" topic which the Financial Oversight Authority (ASF), the successor of the three institutions has begun its operations with.

The representatives of the ASF yesterday wrote, in a press release, that the Authority is in the process of implementing a new compensation policy, which includes, among others, no compensation packages if the mandate of the members of the Board of Directors is interrupted prior to the deadline, after the vice-president of the Authority, Mircea Ursache also stressed the "bizarreness" of these stipulations in the internal regulations of each institution, in an interview he gave on Tuesday, in the press.

"The severance packages of the former leaders of the regulators which were merged into the ASF (up to 9 in the case of the CNVM and up to 19 in the case of the CSA) have been paid to the former entities according to the contracts concluded at the beginning of their terms", the press release of the ASF issued yesterday states.

The representatives of the Authority also said that, from the date the ASF began its activity (April 29th, 2013) and until the present day, the ASF hasn't paid any severance package, as its policy does not allow the payment of any compensation in case the mandate of any executive or non-executive member of the management ends early.

The former president of the Romanian National Securities Commission, Mrs. Carmen Negoiţă, told us that during her term, which ended on April 29th, no compensation packag