September 28 (SeeNews) - Moldova's central bank, BNM, said on Monday that it has signed a banking supervision memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the European Central Bank (ECB).
The MoU entered into force on September 22 and is intended to ensure the cooperation and the efficient exchange of information in the field of banking supervision, BNM said in a statement.
Such cooperation is essential in order to promote the integrity, stability and efficiency of the entities supervised by both central banks.
According to BNM, the MoU represents a significant achievement aimed at strengthening its banking supervision capacity, as well as a conclusive confirmation of the implementation of common objectives set by Moldova and the EU within the Moldova-EU association agreement.
BNM stressed that it will continue the process of reforming Moldova's banking sector, consistently applying the best European and international practices.
The conclusion of the MoU became possible after in 2018 the European Banking Authority assessed positively the confidentiality regime applied in banking supervision by Moldova, which facilitates the exchange of information between the BNM and the banking supervisory authorities from the EU.
The ECB is an institution of the EU and its primary objective is to maintain price stability. Since November 2014, the ECB is also responsible for the direct supervision of significant credit institutions from the euro area. Thus, the ECB supervises the activity of euro area credit institutions that have subsidiaries or branches in other countries, including Moldova, or whose parent entities are domiciled in other countries.