Legea nr. 548-XIII din 21.07.1995 cu privire la Banca Națională a Moldovei (Law No. 548-XIII on the National Bank of Moldova)

English translation of the Romanian text from bnm.md (the Romanian text is the official one). Retrieved 2026-10-26.

PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

L A W on the National Bank of Moldova

no. 548-XIII of 21.07.1995 (in force 12.10.1995)

Republished: Official Monitor of the Republic of Moldova no.297-300 art.544 of 30.10.2015 Official Monitor of the Republic of Moldova no.56-57 art.624 of 12.10.1995

• • • C O N T E N T S Chapter I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Legal status of the National Bank of Moldova

Article 2. Concepts used

Article 3. Competence of the National Bank

Article 4. Fundamental objective

Article 5. Basic tasks

Article 51. Macroprudential policy strategy

Article 52. Macroprudential policy instruments

Article 6. Cooperation with state bodies

Article 7. International cooperation

Article 8. Relations with the public, the Government and the Parliament

Article 9. Headquarters

Article 10. Accounts

Article 11. Acts of the National Bank

Article 111. Suspension of the execution of the National Bank's acts in the administrative contentious court

Article 112. Notification of individual acts and documents of the National Bank

Article 113. Notification of acts and documents to the National Bank within administrative procedures

Chapter II MONETARY AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE POLICY

Article 12. Repealed

Article 13. Repealed

Article 14. Monetary policy instruments

Article 15. Open market operations

Article 16. Foreign exchange operations and other operations

Article 17. Mandatory reserves established for banks

Article 18. Granting of credits to banks

Article 181. Liquidity assistance in emergency situations

Article 182. Granting of loans to the Deposit Guarantee Fund in the banking system

Chapter III FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

Article 19. Capital

Article 20. Distribution of profit and coverage of losses

Article 21. Expenditure budget

Article 211. Remuneration of services and operations of the National Bank

Chapter IV ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION

Article 22. Governing bodies of the National Bank

Article 23. Composition of governing bodies, manner of appointment and dismissal of their members

Article 24. Powers of the Governor

Article 241. Cabinet of the Governor and Control Corps of the Governor

Article 25. Incompatibilities and restrictions

Article 26. Powers of the Supervisory Board

Article 27. Powers of the Executive Committee

Article 28. Audit Committee

Article 29. Repealed

Article 30. Repealed

Article 31. Meetings of the Supervisory Board

Article 32. Personal interests of members of governing bodies

Article 33. Internal audit

Article 34. Staff of the National Bank

Article 35. Guarantees in the exercise of duties

Article 36. Preservation of professional secrecy

Chapter V FINANCIAL RELATIONS WITH STATE BODIES

Article 37. Banker and agent of the state

Article 38. Consultations and information on public sector borrowing

Article 39. Deposits and cash operations

Article 40. Powers as agent of the state

Article 41. Prohibition of lending to the state

Article 42. Purchase of securities issued by the state

Article 43. Provision of information

Chapter VI RELATIONS WITH BANKS THAT ARE LEGAL ENTITIES FROM THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA AND WITH BRANCHES OF BANKS FROM OTHER STATES

Article 44. Supervision and regulation of the activity of banks that are legal entities from the Republic of Moldova and of branches of banks from other states

Article 45. Deposit services

Article 46. Prudential regulations

Article 47. Prudential regulations

Article 48. Repealed

Article 49. Information network

Chapter VI1 FINANCIAL MARKET INFRASTRUCTURES, PAYMENT SCHEMES, ARRANGEMENTS AND INSTRUMENTS

Article 491. Regulation, licensing, authorization and monitoring of financial market infrastructures, payment schemes, arrangements and instruments operating in the Republic of Moldova

Article 492. The single central securities depository

Article 493. Provision of clearing and payment services

Article 494. Licensing of financial market infrastructure administrators

Article 495. Authorization of governing authorities of payment schemes or arrangements

Article 496. Withdrawal of the authorization of governing authorities of payment schemes or arrangements

Chapter VII REGULATION OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE OPERATIONS

Article 50. Foreign exchange control

Article 51. Foreign exchange regulation

Article 52. Reporting of foreign exchange operations

Article 53. International reserves

Article 54. Repealed

Article 55. International payment and clearing agreements

Chapter VIII NATIONAL CURRENCY

Article 56. Monetary unit

Article 57. Right to issue banknotes and metal coins

Article 58. Means of payment

Article 59. Characteristics of the national currency

Article 60. Printing of banknotes and minting of metal coins

Article 61. Exchange of the national currency

Article 62. Ensuring monetary circulation

Article 63. Recording of issued currency

Article 64. Withdrawal of the national currency

Chapter IX FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. EXTERNAL AUDIT. REPORTS

Article 65. Financial year

Article 66. Accounting records

Article 67. Financial statements

Article 68. Audit of financial statements

Article 69. Presentation and publication of financial statements and reports

Chapter X MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Article 70. Preferential right

Article 701. Assets of the National Bank

Article 71. Prohibited activities

Article 72. Collection of statistical information

Article 73. Repealed

Article 74. Standards on sound management

Article 741. Continuous monitoring

Article 75. Sanctions, punitive measures, supervisory measures and other remedial measures

Article 751. Establishment of infringements

Article 752. Application of sanctions, punitive measures, supervisory measures and remedial measures

Article 753. Publication of sanctions

Article 76. Settlement of disputes

Chapter XI FINAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Article 761. Final and transitional provisions

Article 77. Entry into force. Repeals

Note: In the content of the law, with the exception of Article 10 paragraph (1), Article 16 letter c), Article 53 paragraph (1) letter e) and Article 68, the words "financial institution", in any grammatical form, shall be replaced by the word "bank" in the corresponding grammatical form in accordance with Law no. 32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020

Parliament adopts this law.

Chapter I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Legal status of the National Bank of Moldova

(1) The National Bank of Moldova (equivalent name – the National Bank) is the central bank of the Republic of Moldova.

(2) The National Bank is an autonomous public legal entity and is accountable to Parliament.

(3) The National Bank is not subject to registration in the State Register of Enterprises and in the State Register of Organizations.

(4) The National Bank may open branches and representative offices in the country and abroad where it deems necessary.

[Art.1 para.(4) amended by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

Article 2. Concepts used For the purposes of this law, the following concepts are used:

Serious misconduct – an illegal action or inaction committed in the exercise of professional duties, which is serious enough to justify the dismissal of the responsible person, as well as, in the case of the member of the Supervisory Board indicated in art.23 para.(1) letter d), the absence without justified reasons from three consecutive meetings of the Supervisory Board..

Operator of a financial market infrastructure – a legal entity that establishes the operating rules of a financial market infrastructure and is responsible for operating the infrastructure.

Emergency liquidity assistance – the provision of liquidity by the National Bank, from its own money, or any other form of emergency assistance that may lead to an increase in the volume of the National Bank's money, to a solvent and viable bank facing temporary liquidity problems, without such an operation being a component part of monetary policy.

Payment arrangement – a set of operational functionalities that support consumers of payment services in the use of electronic payment instruments and include: the initiation of fund transfers and the storage or recording of credentials or information

related to the holder of the electronic payment instrument. For the purposes of this law, the category of payment arrangements includes electronic wallets.

Governing authority – a legal entity that establishes the operating rules of a payment scheme or arrangement.

Bank – a bank as defined in art.3 of Law no.202/2017 on the activity of banks.

Claim – a claim on assets or any other values, submitted by one person to another person, a claim to make payment for the repayment of a debt or other forms of extinguishment of obligations.

Receivable – any negotiable debt instrument or any other equivalent instrument, as well as any negotiable instrument that grants the right to acquire another negotiable receivable by subscription or exchange. Negotiable receivables may be in the form of a certificate or of an entry in the accounting register.

Issuer of payment instruments – a payment service provider that issues and makes available to the holder an electronic payment instrument, based on a contract concluded with the holder.

Financial market infrastructure – a multilateral system between participants and the administrator of this system, which operates on the basis of common, formal and standardized rules and which is used for the purposes of settlement, clearing (compensation) or recording of payments, securities, derivative instruments or other financial transactions.

Monitoring – for the purposes of chapter VI1, a function of the National Bank through which the promotion of the safe and efficient functioning of financial market infrastructures, payment schemes, arrangements and instruments is pursued, as well as the avoidance of systemic risk.

Monetary obligations – the totality of obligations reflected in the balance sheet of the National Bank, except for obligations to the Government and those to the International Monetary Fund.

Ordinance – a binding norm, issued by the National Bank for the purpose of executing this law, with regard to one or more banks that constitute less than a category of banks.

Payment scheme – a set of formal, standardized and common rules that allow the transfer of funds by means of an electronic payment instrument. For the purposes of this law, the category of payment schemes includes card payment schemes, money remittance schemes and payment schemes with payment instruments.

Base rate – the monetary policy interest rate established by the Executive Committee and published periodically by the National Bank.

Recommendation – guidance of the National Bank without binding force.

Regulation – a binding norm, issued by the National Bank for the purpose of executing this law, for one or more categories of banks and other legal and natural persons.

[Art.2 amended by Law no.45 of 02.04.2026, in force 23.04.2026]

[Art.2 amended by Law no.292 of 19.10.2023, in force 21.10.2023]

[Art.2 supplemented by Law no.364 of 29.12.2022, in force 13.01.2023]

[Art.2 amended by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

[Art.2 supplemented by Law no.114 of 15.08.2019, in force 02.09.2019]

[Art.2 supplemented by Law no.58 of 06.04.2017, in force 14.04.2017]

Article 3. Competence of the National Bank The competence of the National Bank includes:

a) the conclusion of contracts and the issuance of obligations;

b) the acquisition and disposal of movable and immovable property for the purpose of exercising its duties and for its operational needs;

c) the initiation of actions in court and participation in proceedings as a subject.

Article 4. Fundamental objective

(1) The fundamental objective of the National Bank is to ensure and maintain price stability.

(2) Without prejudice to its fundamental objective, the National Bank, within the limits of its duties, contributes to the stability of the financial system and supports the general economic policy of the state.

[Art.4 para.(2) as drafted by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.4 para.(2) amended by Law no.178 of 11.11.2021, in force 29.11.2021]

Article 5. Basic duties

(1) The National Bank has the following basic duties:

a) sets and implements the monetary and foreign exchange policy in the state;

b) acts as banker and agent of the state;

c) prepares economic and monetary analyses and, on their basis, addresses proposals to the Government and brings the results of the analyses to the public's attention;

d) licenses, regulates and supervises, on an individual basis and, where applicable, on a consolidated basis, the activity of banks that are legal persons of the Republic of Moldova and of branches of banks from other states;

e) grants credits to banks, including liquidity assistance in emergency situations;

f) establishes, regulates, licenses, authorizes, administers, monitors financial market infrastructures, payment schemes, arrangements and instruments in order to promote their safe and efficient operation and to avoid systemic risk;

g) acts as the sole issuing authority of the national currency;

h) establishes the exchange rate regime of the national currency;

i) keeps and manages the international reserves of the state;

j) on behalf of the Republic of Moldova assumes obligations and executes transactions resulting from the participation of the Republic of Moldova in the activity of international public institutions in the banking, credit and monetary field in accordance with the conditions of international agreements;

k) prepares the balance of payments, the international investment position and compiles the external debt statistics of the Republic of Moldova;

l) carries out foreign exchange regulation on the territory of the Republic of Moldova;

m) licenses, regulates and supervises the activity of providing payment services and the activity of issuing electronic money;

[Letter n) repealed by Law no.58 of 06.04.2017, in force 14.04.2017]

o) acts as the resolution authority for banks in accordance with the Law on the recovery and resolution of banks;

p) licenses/authorizes/issues the opinion for state registration, regulates and supervises the activity of insurers, reinsurers and insurance and/or reinsurance intermediaries, of the National Bureau of Motor Vehicle Insurers of the Republic of Moldova, of savings and loan associations, of credit history bureaus and of non-bank lending organizations;

q) acts as the body with supervisory functions over reporting entities, in accordance with Law no.308/2017 on preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing;

r) develops and implements the macroprudential policy in relation to entities supervised by the National Bank;

s) develops and implements policy documents on financial education and inclusion in the areas in which the National Bank holds duties.

(2) The National Bank has the right to process personal data obtained in the exercise of the duties provided for by this law without the consent of the personal data subjects.

(3) Personal data subjects do not have the right to object to the processing of personal data related to the exercise of the National Bank's duties provided for by this law.

(4) The processing of personal data obtained by the National Bank in accordance with this article is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the legislation on the protection of personal data.

(5) In order to ensure the stability of the financial system, in situations of systemic financial crisis or of danger of its occurrence, defined as such by the national body established for managing systemic financial crises, the National Bank may decide to adopt financial stabilization measures, by which it may impose the suspension and/or limitation of any payment or delivery obligation arising from any contract to which an entity supervised by the National Bank is a party, or of any activity/operation thereof, starting from the date of entry into force of the decision on the application of the respective measures, which represents the date of its publication on the official website of the National Bank, for a term of up to 6 months. The decision on the application of financial stabilization measures is taken by the National Bank in consultation with the Government. The financial stabilization measures may be applied to all or certain categories of persons, as well as to all or certain types of financial activities/operations, in foreign currency and/or in national currency. The conditions and manner of applying the financial stabilization measures are established by the National Bank of Moldova.

(6) In the exercise by the National Bank of the duties provided for by this law, the provisions of Law no.235/2006 on the basic principles of regulating entrepreneurial activity, of Law no.160/2011 on regulation through authorization of entrepreneurial activity, of Law no.161/2011 on the implementation of the one-stop shop in carrying out entrepreneurial activity and of Law no.131/2012 on state control over entrepreneurial activity do not apply.

[Art.5 para.(1),(5) amended by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.5 para.(1) amended by Law no.292 of 19.10.2023, in force 21.10.2023]

[Art.5 para.(1) supplemented by Law no.178 of 11.09.2020, in force 01.07.2023]

[Art.5 para.(1) supplemented by Law no.209 of 15.07.2022, in force 05.08.2022]

[Art.5 para.(1) amended, para.(6) introduced by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

[Art.5 supplemented by Law no.114 of 15.08.2019, in force 02.09.2019]

[Art.5 amended by Law no.58 of 06.04.2017, in force 14.04.2017]

[Art.5 supplemented by Law no.233 of 03.10.2016, in force 04.10.2016]

[Art.5 supplemented by Law no.62 of 08.04.2016, in force 06.05.2016]

[Art.5 amended by Law no.242 of 29.12.2015, in force 29.01.2016]

Article 51. Macroprudential policy strategy The National Bank shall draw up the macroprudential policy strategy and implement it in relation to the entities supervised by the National Bank. The macroprudential policy strategy shall be approved by decision of the National Committee for Financial Stability, in accordance with Law No. 209/2018 on the National Committee for Financial Stability.

[Art.51 introduced by Law No. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 52. Macroprudential policy instruments

(1) For the exercise of its duties regarding the implementation of macroprudential policy, in order to reduce systemic risk, the National Bank may apply, by normative act or, as the case may be, by individual administrative act, the following measures:

1) setting for banks requirements more stringent than those determined in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 202/2017 on the activity of banks regarding:

a) the level of own funds provided for in Art. 60–62 of Law No. 202/2017 on the activity of banks;

b) the requirements on large exposures, provided for in Art. 74 of Law No. 202/2017 on the activity of banks;

c) the liquidity requirements, provided for in Art. 76 of Law No. 202/2017 on the activity of banks;

d) the requirements for disclosure of information, provided for in Art. 91–94 of Law No. 202/2017 on the activity of banks;

2) setting for banks requirements regarding the level of capital buffers, in accordance with Art. 63 of Law No. 202/2017 on the activity of banks;

3) setting for the entities supervised by the National Bank of certain requirements regarding:

a) the macroprudential adjustment of the leverage ratio;

b) sectoral capital requirements;

c) requirements on limiting indebtedness (loan-to-collateral ratio, debt-to-income ratio, debt service-to-income ratio);

d) the unweighted macroprudential limit applied to funding sources;

e) margins related to derivative instruments in derivative transactions and adjustment factors applied to securities received as collateral in secured financing;

f) clearing through central counterparties;

g) intra-sectoral exposures in the financial sector.

(2) The normative acts of the National Bank by which the measures provided for in para. (1) are applied shall be published in the Official Monitor of the Republic of Moldova and shall enter into force on the date of their publication or on the date indicated in the text of the respective act, which may not be earlier than the date of publication.

[Art.52 introduced by Law No. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 6. Cooperation with state bodies

(1) The National Bank shall cooperate with the Government in achieving its objectives and, in accordance with this law, shall undertake the necessary actions to achieve such cooperation.

(2) The National Bank shall provide the economic and financial bodies of the Government, at their request, with information regarding monetary and financial issues. The said bodies, in turn, shall provide the National Bank, at its request, with information regarding macroeconomic, monetary or financial issues.

(3) Any draft normative act of public authorities concerning the areas in which the National Bank has duties shall be adopted after receiving the opinion of the National Bank. The opinion shall be transmitted within at most 30 days from the request.

(4) The National Bank and the members of its governing bodies shall be independent in the exercise of the duties established by this law and may not seek or accept instructions from public authorities or from any other third party. Public authorities, as well as any other third parties, shall not attempt to influence the members of the governing bodies of the National Bank in the exercise of their duties.

(5) Without prejudice to the provisions of Art. 11 para. (4) and Art. 111, no public authority or any other third party may approve, suspend, annul, censor, postpone or condition the entry into force of the acts of the National Bank, nor may it issue ex-ante opinions on the acts of the National Bank, nor may it influence in any other way the issuance of the final act of the National Bank.

[Art.6 para. (4) amended by Law No. 364 of 29.12.2022, in force 13.01.2023]

[Art.6 supplemented by Law No. 62 of 08.04.2016, in force 06.05.2016]

Article 7. International cooperation

(1) The National Bank shall represent the Republic of Moldova at intergovernmental meetings, councils and organizations on monetary policy issues, licensing of banking activity, banking supervision issues and other issues within its competence.

(11) The National Bank may conclude cooperation and information exchange agreements with authorities having competences in the regulation and supervision of the financial and banking sector of other states. The exchange of information must be circumscribed exclusively to the purpose of carrying out the tasks incumbent on the respective authorities, and the information provided by the National Bank must be subject to requirements regarding the preservation of professional secrecy similar to those provided for in Art. 36 and in Chapter 3 of Title V of Law No. 202/2017 on the activity of banks.

(2) The National Bank may provide banking services to foreign governmental, financial and banking institutions, as well as to public international organizations in which the National Bank or the Republic of Moldova participates.

(3) The National Bank may participate in international organizations pursuing the goal of ensuring financial and economic stability and/or other purposes related to the duties of the National Bank and may cooperate or conclude cooperation agreements with the respective organizations.

(31) The National Bank exercises the rights and fulfills the obligations incumbent on the Republic of Moldova as a member of the International Monetary Fund, including those related to the use of the facilities of the respective financing institution, on a medium and long term, for the needs of the balance of payments and the consolidation of the state's international reserves.

(4) Within the limits of its powers, the National Bank as an agent of the Republic of Moldova may assume obligations and execute transactions related to the participation of the Republic of Moldova in international organizations.

[Art.7 para.(3) in new wording, para.(31) introduced by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.7 para.(11) completed by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

Article 8. Relations with the public, the Government and the Parliament

(1) The National Bank periodically informs the public of the results of macroeconomic analysis, financial market developments and statistical information, including on money supply, lending, balance of payments and the foreign exchange market situation.

(2) The National Bank cooperates with the Government on financial and budgetary issues:

a) The Governor of the National Bank:

• may attend and speak at Government meetings, the speech being recorded in the minutes;

• may submit written opinions on the issues addressed following participation in meetings;

[Item b) repealed by Law no.364 of 29.12.2022, in force 13.01.2023]

(3) The Governor of the National Bank or the members of the Supervisory Board, or the members of the Executive Committee must explain to the Parliament or its standing committees the policy of the National Bank, and endorse draft laws, at the request of the Parliament.

Article 9. Headquarters The headquarters of the National Bank is in the municipality of Chișinău.

Article 10. Accounts

(1) The National Bank may open accounts for the Ministry of Finance, licensed banks and branches of banks from other states licensed by the National Bank, banks in liquidation process, bridge banks, the legal entity that administers deposit guarantee funds or resolution funds, the legal entity carrying out the activity of central securities depository as its main activity, payment companies, electronic money issuing companies, postal service providers for the purpose of providing payment services, central banks of foreign states and international public financial institutions. The National Bank does not open accounts for local public administration authorities and enterprises, including state-owned ones, except those provided by law for the purpose of providing payment services.

(2) The application of seizure, suspension of operations or application of other security measures on the monetary funds in the accounts of the entities indicated in para.(1)

opened with the National Bank are not accepted.

(3) The National Bank may open accounts in its own name in licensed banks, in the branches of banks from other states licensed by the National Bank, and in banks from other states, for carrying out operations related to its administrative expenses.

[Art.10 para.(1) in a new wording, para.(3) introduced by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.10 para.(2) amended by Law no.209 of 15.07.2022, in force 05.08.2022]

[Art.10 para.(1) amended by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

[Art.10 amended by Law no.208 of 12.10.2018, in force 23.12.2018]

[Art.10 supplemented by Law no.233 of 03.10.2016, in force 04.10.2016]

Article 11. Acts of the National Bank

(1) For the purpose of fulfilling its attributions, the National Bank has the right to issue resolutions, regulations, instructions and ordinances.

(2) The normative acts of the National Bank, which are binding on banks and on other legal and natural persons, are published in accordance with Law no.100/2017 on normative acts.

(21) The normative acts of the National Bank may be contested only by the person with regard to whom, on the basis of the contested normative act, an individual act has been adopted or the adoption of an individual act has been refused. The normative act on the basis of which an individual act has been adopted or the adoption of an individual act has been refused may be contested only concurrently with the contestation of the individual act.

(3) Resolutions regarding interest rates on monetary policy instruments, ordinances and other acts of the National Bank that do not have a normative character enter into force on the date of adoption if a different date is not provided for in the respective acts.

(31) Individual acts issued by the National Bank are notified in accordance with

art.112.

[Art.11 para.(32) repealed by Law no.49 of 21.03.2024, in force 05.07.2024]

(33) In the course of the review and public consultation of its draft normative acts, the National Bank requests an advisory opinion from the Ministry of Justice.

The provisions of Law no.100/2017 on normative acts relating to the review, public consultation and performance of the expertise of the draft normative act and those relating to the entry into force of the normative act, as well as the provisions of Law no.239/2008 on transparency in the decision-making process, do not apply:

a) to acts of the National Bank by which the following are approved:

– financial stabilization measures;

– measures for the exercise of attributions regarding macroprudential policy and measures for reducing systemic risk;

– the mandatory reserve ratio, the interest rates for remunerating mandatory reserves;

– the calculation of reference premiums, base premiums and rectification coefficients;

b) to acts of the National Bank which, in situations of systemic financial crisis or of the danger of its occurrence, are adopted for the execution of Law no.232/2016 on the recovery and resolution of banks.

(34) Before the issuance by the National Bank of an individual administrative act unfavorable to the participant in the administrative procedure, including within the control procedures carried out pursuant to art.751 and 752, the respective participant is notified of the facts and circumstances relevant to the act to be issued and is proposed, for the purpose of hearing him, to submit to the National Bank, within 10 working days from the date of notification, his opinion in written form. The administrative procedure is suspended from the date of sending the notification to the participant until the date of submission of his opinion or, in case the opinion was not submitted within the deadline, until the expiry of the deadline for submitting the opinion.

(35) On the date of submission of the opinion of the participant in the administrative procedure or, in case the opinion was not submitted within the deadline, upon the expiry of the deadline for its submission provided for in para.(34) of this article, the running of the administrative procedure deadline is resumed. The National Bank is entitled not to take into account the opinion submitted after the expiry of the deadline set in para.(34) and (36) of this article. The date of submission of the opinion is considered the date of notification to the National Bank pursuant to art.113.

(36) By derogation from para.(34), the hearing of the participant in the administrative procedure is not necessary in case of the urgent issuance of a decision with the purpose of preventing the occurrence of significant damage in the financial system, including in the financial market infrastructures. In this case, the participant has the possibility to submit his opinion in written form within 5 days from the date of notification of the act issued by the National Bank or concurrently with the submission of a prior request by which he contests the act of the National Bank. The National Bank verifies the issued act starting from the opinion of the participant and may maintain the respective act, may amend it, may revoke it or may issue a new act. In case the opinion was submitted within the deadline and separately from the prior request, the running of the deadline set for submitting the prior request is suspended from the date of submission of the opinion until the date of notification of the participant about the results of the examination of the opinion.

(37) By applying the provisions of para.(34)–(36) of this article, the hearing of the participant within the meaning of art.94 and art.95 para.(2) of the Administrative Code no.116/2018 is considered to have been carried out.

(38) The deadline within which an administrative procedure must be completed is suspended for the period of the request by the National Bank for documents, information, explanations or an opinion from the participant in the respective procedure, from national authorities or from other states and/or from the National Financial Stability Committee, with notification of the participant in the respective procedure about the suspension of the deadline.

(4) The acts of the National Bank are subject to legality review in administrative contentious courts in accordance with the procedure established by the Administrative Code, to the extent that this does not contradict this law. The provisions of other laws may be applied in cases concerning the contestation of the acts of the National Bank only to the extent that they do not contradict the norms established by this law.

(41) By way of derogation from the provisions of art.44 of the Administrative Code no.116/2018, in the case of administrative procedures related to the withdrawal of the licence for banking activity, the licence for insurance or reinsurance activity, the licence for the activity of providing payment services and issuing electronic money, the licence for the activity of a savings and loan association, and in the case of procedures related to the application of the measures and instruments provided by Law no.232/2016 on the recovery and resolution of banks, the National Bank is obliged to involve in the administrative procedure

only the natural or legal person who requested the initiation of the procedure, or in respect of whom the respective procedure was initiated, or who would be the recipient of the individual administrative act issued within the respective procedure.

(5) The acts of the National Bank are not subject to expediency review.

(51) The acts of the National Bank may be contested with the Executive Committee of the National Bank by submitting a prior application within 30 days from the date of communication of the act. The 30-day period does not extend to acts of a normative nature.

(52) The prior applications by which the acts of the National Bank are contested shall be addressed exclusively to the Executive Committee of the National Bank and shall be examined exclusively by it.

(53) The Executive Committee of the National Bank shall examine the prior applications concerning the acts of the National Bank within 30 days from the date of submission.

(54) The reinstatement of the deadline for submitting a prior application to the National Bank and the deadline for filing an action in administrative contentious court concerning the acts of the National Bank or concerning the failure to resolve a request within the legal deadline by it may be requested within 3 months from the date of expiry of the missed deadline. The 3-month period provided for in this paragraph represents a peremptory deadline.

(6) Actions in administrative contentious court concerning the acts of the National Bank or concerning its failure to resolve a request within the legal deadline shall be filed with the Chişinău Court of Appeal, subject to the mandatory observance of the prior procedure provided for in paragraphs (51)–(53). The contestation or the action in court does not suspend the execution of the acts issued by the National Bank.

(61) In cases where they concern the administrative activity of the National Bank, the provisional order may be requested only together with or after the filing of an action in administrative contentious court against the National Bank, the provisions of art.111 being applicable accordingly.

(7) The acts of the National Bank in the field of monetary and foreign exchange policy, including safeguard measures, may be challenged only as regards the adoption procedure.

[Para. (8) of Art. 11 repealed by Law no. 108 of 19.06.2014, in force 15.08.2014]

(9) Applications challenging the acts of the National Bank in the field of monetary and foreign exchange policy, including safeguard measures, the acts of the National Bank regarding special administration over the bank and regarding the withdrawal of the bank's licence, the acts of the National Bank adopted in the process of assessment and supervision of the quality of shareholders/associates of entities supervised by the National Bank, the measures implemented by the National Bank or by the special administrator in the course of the special administration of the bank, as well as the measures imposed by the National Bank in the process of liquidation of the bank, shall be tried within 3 months from the date of filing.

(10) In administrative contentious proceedings regarding the administrative acts of the National Bank, the court, as the basis of its own assessment, shall use the qualitative and quantitative assessments of the factual situations made by the National Bank, except in cases where the court finds a manifest error of such a nature as to lead to a solution diametrically opposed to the solution provided in the challenged act.

(11) When finding a manifest error in accordance with para. (10), the court shall examine whether the items of evidence relied on by the National Bank are materially accurate, reliable and consistent as regards matters of substantial importance, whether the items of evidence contain all the information of substantial importance which should be taken into account in order to assess a complex situation, and whether they are of such a nature as to support the conclusions drawn on their basis.

(12) The provisions of Art. 171 para. (4) of the Administrative Code no. 116/2018, in the part providing that the individual administrative act is enforced only after the resolution of the application for suspension of enforcement of the act, shall not apply in the case of the filing of an application for suspension of enforcement of an act of the National Bank.

(13) Where an individual administrative act of the National Bank is challenged by way of prior request, the National Bank, on its own initiative or upon request, may suspend the enforcement of that act until the completion of the prior procedure if all the conditions provided in Art. 111 para. (3) are met. The decision on the suspension of enforcement shall be taken within 15 working days from the date of registration of the prior request or of the application for suspension of enforcement of the act, without exceeding the time limit for examining the prior request.

(14) The appeal lodged against the final court judgment regarding the recovery of monetary funds from the account of the National Bank shall suspend the enforcement of that court judgment.

[Art. 11 paras. (2), (6), (9) amended, para. (33) in a new wording, paras. (34)-(38), (41), (61), (12)-(14)

introduced by Law no. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art. 11 para. (31) as worded by Law no. 363 of 29.12.2022, in force 20.07.2023]

[Art. 11 paras. (4), (6) amended, paras. (54), (10), (11) introduced by Law no. 178 of 11.11.2021, in force 29.11.2021]

[Art. 11 amended by Law no. 233 of 03.10.2016, in force 04.10.2016]

[Art. 11 supplemented by Law no. 62 of 08.04.2016, in force 06.05.2016]

Article 111. Suspension of enforcement of the acts of the National Bank in the administrative contentious court

(1) Until the final resolution of the case in the administrative contentious court, the enforcement of the acts of the National Bank relating to the field of monetary and foreign exchange policy, including safeguard measures or financial stabilisation measures, of the acts of the National Bank regarding the application of resolution instruments, regarding the establishment of the recovery, remediation, special and/or provisional administration procedure of entities supervised by the National Bank, regarding the suspension or withdrawal of the licence, authorisation, opinion, approval or confirmation issued to entities supervised by the National Bank, regarding the suspension of activity or removal from the register of entities supervised by the National Bank, regarding the initiation of the forced liquidation procedure of banks or insurance or reinsurance companies, of the acts of the National Bank adopted in the process of assessment and supervision of the quality of shareholders/associates and persons with management functions of entities supervised by the National Bank, as well as of the acts and measures implemented by the National Bank, by the special administrator or by the liquidator in the course of the resolution of the bank, insurance or reinsurance company or in the course of the forced liquidation of the bank, insurance or reinsurance company, may not be suspended.

(2) The suspension of enforcement of the acts of the National Bank may be requested in the administrative contentious court only after challenging those acts before the Executive Committee of the National Bank, within 30 days from the date of adoption of the decision of the Executive Committee on the prior request regarding those acts or from the date of expiry of the time limit for resolving the prior request. The 30-day time limit shall not extend to normative acts.

(3) The suspension of enforcement of the acts of the National Bank may be ordered by the court only upon the application of the claimant, filed concurrently with the submission of the action, and only if the following conditions are cumulatively met:

a) the grounds invoked by the claimant in support of the action are pertinent and well founded and there is a prima facie case against the legality of the challenged act;

b) the claimant presents arguments having a factual basis that the circumstances of the dispute require the urgent ordering of the suspension of enforcement of the challenged administrative act

in order to avoid serious and irreparable harm to the claimant's interests;

c) the damage that could be caused to the claimant exceeds the public interest pursued by issuing the contested administrative act.

(4) The burden of proof for meeting the conditions referred to in paragraph (3) lies with the claimant.

Until proven otherwise, a public interest is presumed to exist in the immediate and uninterrupted execution of the National Bank's acts.

(41) When examining requests for suspension of the execution of the National Bank's acts, the court summons the parties to the proceedings, indicating the date and time of the court hearing and attaching a copy of the request for suspension of the execution of the National Bank's acts, and also requests the National Bank to submit its response to the suspension request.

(42) Within 3 working days of receiving the copy of the request for suspension of the execution of the National Bank's acts, the National Bank shall submit its response to this request.

(43) The court is obliged to resolve the request for suspension of the execution of the National Bank's acts within at most 5 days of the submission of the response by the National Bank or of the date on which the response was due.

(5) The court may order the suspension of the execution of the National Bank's acts only if the conditions referred to in paragraph (3) are cumulatively met. The court shall issue a reasoned ruling on the suspension or refusal to suspend the execution of the National Bank's acts.

(6) The decision of the administrative court regarding the declaration of illegality, in whole or in part, of the National Bank's normative act shall be transmitted immediately to the National Bank and published without delay on the National Bank's official website.

(7) The court ruling regarding the suspension or refusal to suspend the execution of the National Bank's acts may be appealed in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Code. The appeal against that ruling shall be examined within a shortened time limit, which must not exceed 10 days from the date of filing the appeal.

(8) The provisions of Art. 214 paragraphs (1)–(4) and (6) of Administrative Code No. 116/2018 shall not apply to the National Bank's acts. The provisions of Art. 214 paragraph (7) of Administrative Code No. 116/2018 shall apply with respect to the court ruling issued in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (5) of this Article, by which the court rules on the request for suspension of the execution of the National Bank's act.

[Art. 111 paragraph (7) in a new wording, paragraph (8) introduced by Law No. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art. 111 paragraph (1) in the wording of Law No. 214 of 20.07.2023, in force 03.08.2023]

[Art. 111 paragraph (1) amended by Law No. 32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

Article 112. Notification of individual acts and documents of the National Bank

(1) The National Bank may notify an act or a document:

a) by transmitting (handing over) the act or document, with the signing of the acknowledgment of receipt;

b) by registered mail, with acknowledgment of receipt;

c) by courier service, with acknowledgment of receipt;

d) by fax;

e) by electronic means of communication (electronic mail or dedicated electronic means of communication);

f) by publishing an official communication in accordance with paragraph (5);

g) by publishing the act or document, in the cases provided by law;

h) by publishing an official communication regarding the availability of the act or document at the National Bank's headquarters, in accordance with paragraph (10).

(2) The National Bank may establish, by normative acts, mandatory communication by electronic means of communication within the administrative procedure.

(3) If there is an authorized representative, the National Bank shall notify that representative of the act or document. In this case, the National Bank is not obliged to notify the act or document to the represented person as well.

(4) In the case of notification of an act or document of the National Bank by registered mail or by courier service, the act or document shall be deemed to have been notified to the recipient on the date indicated in the acknowledgment of receipt.

(5) In the case of notification of the National Bank's act regarding the establishment of the acquisition of shares/holdings in entities supervised by the National Bank, carried out in violation of the law, in addition to the notification made in accordance with paragraph (4), the National Bank shall publish an official communication about the notification on its official website and in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova, and the date of notification shall be deemed to be the date indicated in paragraph (4) or the date of publication of the communication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova, whichever occurs first.

(6) In applying the provisions of paragraph (4), the following addresses shall be deemed valid addresses for notification of the National Bank's act or document:

a) the address provided by the recipient at the same time as the filing of the request or, in the case of an administrative procedure initiated ex officio, the address provided by the recipient at the request of the National Bank;

b) in the case of a supervised entity, the last registered office address provided to the National Bank by the supervised entity;

c) if no address is provided to the National Bank and the recipient is an employee, member of the management bodies or shareholder/associate of a supervised entity, the address of the supervised entity in accordance with letter b) of this paragraph.

(7) Each participant in an administrative procedure of the National Bank shall provide it with a valid address at the same time as the filing of the request or, in the case of an administrative procedure initiated ex officio – at the request of the National Bank.

(8) In the case of notification of an act or document of the National Bank by fax, the act or document shall be deemed to have been notified to the recipient if the National Bank has received the transmission verification report confirming the successful transmission of the fax.

(9) In the case of notification of an act or document of the National Bank by electronic means of communication, proof of the notification of the act or document is the message saved in the "Sent" folder of the official electronic mail account of the National Bank or the notice confirming the availability of the act or document within the information systems. The date of notification of the act or document is the date of registration of the message in the "Sent" folder of the official electronic mail account of the National Bank or the date of dispatch of the notice confirming the availability of the act or document within the information systems. If, after registration of the message in the "Sent" folder of the official electronic mail account of the National Bank, the official electronic mail account of the National Bank receives a notification generated by the electronic mail system indicating non-receipt of the message by the recipient, the act or document is considered not to have been notified.

(10) If none of the forms of notification provided for in para. (1) letters a)–f) is successful, the act or document is considered notified if it is available at the headquarters of the National Bank. In this case, proof of the notification of the act or document is the official communication of the National Bank regarding the availability of the respective act or document at the headquarters of the National Bank, which communication is published on the official website of the National Bank and in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova, within 10 days from the date

of establishing that the forms of notification provided for in para. (1) letters a)–f) are not successful, and the date of notification is considered the date of publication of the communication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova.

(11) The National Bank is not obliged to notify the act or document by the form of notification proposed by the participant in the administrative procedure.

[Art. 112 para. (9) amended by Law no. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art. 112 introduced by Law no. 363 of 29.12.2022, in force 20.07.2023]

Article 113. Notification of acts and documents to the National Bank within administrative procedures

(1) For acts and documents submitted at the headquarters of the National Bank, proof of their registration is issued.

(2) Acts and documents sent to the National Bank through the postal service provider, courier service or by fax are considered notified upon their registration within the National Bank.

(3) In the case of acts or documents transmitted by electronic mail, the date of notification is the date of registration of the act or document by the National Bank. The National Bank is obliged to communicate to the person, by the same means, the registration number within at most two working days from receipt of the message in the "Received" folder of the official electronic mail account of the National Bank.

(4) In the cases provided for by the normative acts of the National Bank, acts, documents, periodic reports and other information may be notified to the National Bank through the information systems made available by the National Bank, the date of notification being considered the date of receipt of the act through the respective information system.

[Art. 113 para. (3) as republished by Law no. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art. 113 introduced by Law no. 363 of 29.12.2022, in force 20.07.2023]

Chapter II MONETARY AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE POLICY

Article 12. Establishment of monetary and foreign exchange policy [Art. 12 repealed by Law no. 191-XVI of 30.06.2006, in force 28.07.2006]

Article 13. Annual reports [Art. 13 repealed by Law no. 33 of 06.03.2012, in force 25.05.2012]

Article 14. Monetary policy instruments For the exercise of its duties regarding monetary and foreign exchange policy, the National Bank shall take measures, including those described in this chapter.

Article 15. Open market operations The National Bank may carry out on the financial markets operations with claims issued by the state, by the National Bank or with any other claims by buying, holding and selling them (spot and forward). Operations with claims issued by the state may be carried out by the National Bank only on the secondary market.

Article 16. Foreign exchange operations and other operations The National Bank has the right:

a) to buy, sell and negotiate gold coins, gold bullion and other precious metals;

b) to buy, sell and negotiate foreign currency, using the assets indicated in

Article 53 paragraph (1);

c) to buy and sell treasury bills and other securities issued or guaranteed by foreign governments and international public financial institutions;

d) to establish the rate at which it will buy, sell and carry out the operations mentioned in letters a)–c).

Article 17. Mandatory reserves established for banks

(1) The National Bank establishes for banks the requirements regarding the maintenance of mandatory reserves against deposits and other similar liabilities specified for this purpose. The respective reserves are maintained in the accounts of banks opened with the National Bank. The application of seizure, suspension of operations, application of other precautionary measures, as well as the application of forced execution measures with respect to monetary funds representing mandatory reserves are not permitted.

(2) The National Bank establishes the same mandatory reserve norms for liabilities of the same type and determines their calculation method. The requirements for maintaining mandatory reserves and for their increase enter into force within at least 10 days from notification of the banks.

(3) The National Bank may remunerate, including at negative rates, the mandatory reserves maintained by banks. The principles and method of remuneration of mandatory reserves are established by the normative acts of the National Bank.

(4) In the event of non-compliance by banks with the established requirements regarding mandatory reserves, the National Bank charges interest, calculated by applying to the amount of the average reserve deficit double the weighted average interest rate on the overnight lending facility per day, valid during the period in which the deficit was recorded, multiplied by the number of days in the corresponding application period. The interest is collected into the National Bank's budget by undisputed deduction from the bank's account held at the National Bank.

[Art.17 para.(1) amended, para.(4) in new wording in accordance with Law no.187 of 10.07.2025, in force 17.08.2025]

[Art.17 para.(1) in new wording, para.(2),(3) amended by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.17 amended by Law no.114 of 15.08.2019, in force 02.09.2019]

Article 18. Granting of credits to banks

(1) The National Bank may grant credits to banks under conditions established periodically by the National Bank and secured by:

a) securities issued by the Government;

b) securities issued by the National Bank;

[Lett.c),d) repealed by Law no.114 of 15.08.2019, in force 02.09.2019]

e) deposits and other accounts at the National Bank or at another bank accepted by the National Bank, representing any kind of assets that the National Bank may buy, sell and trade;

f) other eligible financial assets established by the National Bank.

(2) The credits referred to in paragraph (1) may be granted in the form of advances, loans, purchases, sales of financial instruments, on a competitive or non-competitive basis.

[Para.(21 ) art.18 repealed by Law no.114 of 15.08.2019, in force 02.09.2019]

(3) The provisions of the Administrative Code are not applicable to the procedure for drafting, approving, applying and withdrawing, revoking or annulling the acts of the National Bank issued in application of para.(2).

(4) The National Bank establishes and periodically makes known to the public:

a) the minimum interest rate at which it grants credits to banks;

b) the objective criteria according to which banks will be eligible to be granted credits competitively.

(5) The National Bank may establish differentiated rates, ceilings for different categories of these transactions and their maturity dates.

[Art.18 para.(1) amended by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

[Art.18 amended by Law no.114 of 15.08.2019, in force 02.09.2019]

Article 181. Emergency liquidity assistance

(1) In order to maintain the stability of the financial system, the National Bank may grant, at its full discretion and under the conditions established by it, to solvent and viable banks facing temporary liquidity problems emergency liquidity assistance, secured by the assets indicated in art.18 para.(1).

(2) The term for which emergency liquidity assistance is granted is up to 3 months, with the possibility of extending it, exceptionally, for a period not exceeding one year from the date of granting, under the conditions established by the Executive Committee of the National Bank.

(3) Emergency liquidity assistance is granted at an interest rate higher than the rate applied by the National Bank to its lending operations, including the standing lending facility.

(4) The provisions of the Administrative Code are not applicable to the procedure for drafting, approving, applying and withdrawing, revoking or annulling the acts of the National Bank issued in application of para.(1)–(3).

[Art.181 introduced by Law no.114 of 15.08.2019, in force 02.09.2019]

Article 182. Granting of loans to the Deposit Guarantee Fund in the banking system The National Bank may grant loans to the Deposit Guarantee Fund in the banking system under the conditions of art.16 para.(1), (2) and (4) of Law no.575/2003 regarding the guarantee of deposits in the banking system and under the conditions established by the Executive Committee of the National Bank.

[Art.181 introduced by Law no.26 of 27.02.2020, in force 20.03.2020]

Chapter III FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

Article 19. Capital

(1) The capital of the National Bank includes the statutory capital, the reserve accounts created in accordance with the provisions of art.66 and the reserve accounts of unrealized income.

(2) The statutory capital represents the sum of the authorized capital and the general reserve fund. The authorized capital is subscribed and held exclusively by the state, it is not transferable or cannot be encumbered with charges.

(3) The statutory capital is dynamic and is formed from the profit of the year available for distribution, allocated in accordance with the provisions of art.20 para.(5), from the income obtained in accordance with article 64 paragraph (3) and/or from the contributions of the Government, until its size reaches 10% of the total monetary liabilities of the National Bank, and is structured as follows:

a) 1/3 – authorized capital;

b) 2/3 – general reserve fund.

(4) No reduction in the level of monetary liabilities, both during and at the end of the financial year, entails a diminution of the statutory capital created previously.

(5) The general reserve fund is used exclusively to cover losses recorded according to the result of the exercise at the end of the financial year.

(6) If at the end of the financial year the level of statutory capital falls below 4% of the total monetary liabilities of the National Bank, the Government, in the person of the Ministry

of Finance, within 60 days after receiving the external auditor's report on the financial statements of the National Bank, transfers to the National Bank a capital contribution in government securities at a market interest rate, in the volume necessary to increase the statutory capital up to 4% of the total monetary liabilities of the National Bank.

(7) The issue and transfer to the National Bank of the capital contribution in government securities shall be made in a single installment, during the following year, after the registration of a size of the share capital lower than 4% of the total monetary liabilities of the National Bank.

[Art.19 para.(3),(6),(7) amended by Law no.42 of 06.03.2020, in force 02.04.2020]

Article 20. Distribution of profit and coverage of losses

(1) The result of the financial year (profit/loss) of the National Bank for each financial year shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of art.66.

(2) The profit available for distribution represents the result of the financial year obtained after:

a) the allocation of all unrealized income to corresponding reserve accounts of unrealized income;

b) the coverage of all unrealized losses from the sources of the corresponding reserve accounts of unrealized income, until their balance becomes zero;

c) the allocation of income obtained in accordance with Article 64 paragraph (3) to the share capital within the limits provided in Article 19 paragraph (3).

(3) The reserve accounts of unrealized income shall be created separately for each source that generated this income and shall be used to cover unrealized losses of subsequent periods, generated only by the sources that created these reserves.

(4) If the allocation of unrealized income and/or the coverage of unrealized losses provided in para.(2) letters a) and b) exceeds the net profit, this excess is covered from the general reserve fund in accordance with art.19 para.(5).

(5) At the end of the financial year, the profit available for distribution shall be allocated to increase the share capital in the following manner:

a) if the size of the share capital, until the distribution of the profit available for distribution at the end of the financial year, constitutes less than 4% of the total monetary liabilities of the National Bank, the profit available for distribution shall be allocated entirely to increase the share capital in the manner provided in art.19 para.(3);

b) if the size of the share capital, until the distribution of the profit available for distribution at the end of the financial year, constitutes from 4% to 10% of the total monetary liabilities of the National Bank, 50% of the profit available for distribution shall be allocated to increase the share capital in the manner provided in art.19 para.(3), and 50% of the profit available for distribution shall be transferred to the state budget income;

c) if the size of the share capital, until the distribution of the profit available for distribution at the end of the financial year, constitutes more than 10% of the total monetary liabilities of the National Bank, the profit available for distribution shall be transferred entirely to the state budget income.

(6) The balance of the profit available for distribution shall be transferred to the state budget income within 15 days after receiving the external auditor's report on the financial statements of the National Bank.

[Art.20 para.(5) supplemented by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.20 para.(5) as republished by Law no.42 of 06.03.2020, in force 02.04.2020]

Article 21. Expenditure budget

(1) Annually, all administrative expenses and capital investments of the National Bank shall be provided in the expenditure budget and, respectively, in the investment allocations, which are approved

by the Supervisory Board and verified, during execution, in accordance with internal control and audit practices and procedures.

(2) The legality and regularity of the expenditure budgets and investment allocations of the National Bank shall be audited by the Court of Accounts. The external public audit of the Court of Accounts shall be limited to examining the operational efficiency of the decisions taken by the management of the National Bank, excluding those related to the implementation of the monetary and foreign exchange policy of the National Bank and the management of the state's international reserves.

[Art.21 para.(2) amended by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 211. Remuneration of services and operations of the National Bank

(1) The National Bank may charge fees for activities permitted under this law, namely: provision of banking services to eligible entities, putting the national currency into circulation, conducting foreign exchange operations, account management and provision of payment services, offering access to administered financial market infrastructures and other administered systems. The fees shall be established and applied in accordance with the provisions of this law, the regulations of the National Bank and the agreements concluded with the entities and authorities that benefit from the services of the National Bank.

(2) The fees shall be charged by the National Bank in order to recover the costs incurred by the National Bank in connection with the services provided and operations carried out.

[Art.211 introduced by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Chapter IV ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION

Article 22. Governing bodies of the National Bank

(1) The governing bodies of the National Bank are the Supervisory Board and the Executive Committee.

(2) The Supervisory Board and the Executive Committee are collegial bodies, their activity being regulated by this law and the regulations of the National Bank.

(3) The Supervisory Board is the body responsible for organizing an efficient system of independent public supervision of the activity of the National Bank.

(4) The Executive Committee exercises the executive management of the National Bank and ensures the independent fulfillment of its core functions, in the manner established by law.

Article 23. Composition of governing bodies, manner of appointment and dismissal of their members

(1) The Supervisory Board is composed of 7 members as follows:

a) a president, who is also the Governor of the National Bank;

b) a vice-president, who is also the First Deputy Governor of the National Bank;

[Letter c) repealed by Law No. 45 of 02.04.2026, in force 23.04.2026]

d) five members, who are not employees of the National Bank.

(2) The Executive Committee is composed of 5 members, as follows:

a) a president, who is also the Governor of the National Bank;

b) a vice-president, who is also the First Deputy Governor of the National Bank;

c) three members, who are also Deputy Governors of the National Bank.

(3) The Governor of the National Bank is appointed by the Parliament on the proposal of the President of the Parliament. Before presenting the proposed candidate to the Parliament, the President of the Parliament requests the advisory opinion of the Supervisory Council regarding the candidate's fulfilment of the conditions provided in paragraph (7). The advisory opinion of the Supervisory Council is presented to the Parliament before putting to the vote the matter regarding the appointment to office of the proposed candidate. The opinion mentioned in

this paragraph and in paragraphs (4) and (5) is issued in accordance with the internal regulations approved by the Supervisory Council.

(4) The First Deputy Governor and the Deputy Governors are appointed by the Parliament on the proposal of the Governor of the National Bank. Before presenting the proposed candidate to the Parliament, the Governor of the National Bank consults the Supervisory Council regarding the candidate in order to establish whether the latter fulfils the conditions provided in paragraph (7). The advisory opinion of the Supervisory Council is presented to the Parliament before putting to the vote the matter regarding the appointment to office of the proposed candidate.

(5) The members of the Supervisory Council indicated in paragraph (1) letter d) are appointed by the Parliament on the proposal of the Parliament's Committee for Economy, Budget and Finance, in accordance with the procedure established by it. Before presenting the proposed candidate to the Parliament, the Parliament's Committee for Economy, Budget and Finance requests the advisory opinion of the Supervisory Council regarding the candidate's fulfilment of the conditions provided in paragraph (7), including in terms of the adequate knowledge, skills and experience required, at the collective level, for the members of the Supervisory Council. The advisory opinion of the Supervisory Council is presented to the Parliament at least 5 working days before putting to the vote the matter regarding the appointment to office of the proposed candidate. The failure to present the respective opinion within the established term does not prevent putting to the vote the matter regarding the appointment to office of the proposed candidate.

(6) A candidate may be proposed to the Parliament for appointment no more than twice during a year.

(7) A person may run for the position of member of the Supervisory Council or of the Executive Committee if the person holds the citizenship of the Republic of Moldova, has higher education, enjoys a good reputation, is not subject to the prohibition to hold a public office or a public dignity office, deriving from a finding act of the National Integrity Authority, has not, in the last 5 years, in the professional integrity record, entries regarding the negative result of the professional integrity test for the violation of the obligation provided in art. 7 paragraph (2) letter a) of Law No. 325 of 23 December 2013 on the evaluation of institutional integrity, and, in the case of a candidate for the position of member of the Supervisory Council, has at least 10 years of work experience in the field of financial reporting, auditing, risk management, cybersecurity or in a scientific or academic position in the respective fields, of which at least 5 years of managerial experience, or, in the case of a candidate for the position of member of the Executive Committee, has at least 10 years of work experience in the financial or monetary field. The members of the Supervisory Council must possess, at the collective level, adequate knowledge, skills and experience in relation to the duties held.

(8) The members of the Supervisory Council who are not also members of the Executive Committee are appointed to office for a term of 5 years, and the members of the Executive Committee ?

for a term of 7 years, in both cases with the possibility of renewal of the mandate. Upon the expiry of the mandate, the member of the Supervisory Council who is not also a member of the Executive Committee, as well as the member of the Executive Committee, remain in office until the appointment to the respective position of a new member.

(9) The members of the Supervisory Council and the members of the Executive Committee may resign, subject to written notification, 3 months in advance, to the Parliament. Any member of the Supervisory Council or of the Executive Committee may withdraw the resignation notification within 3 months from the date of notification only if the Parliament, until the date of withdrawal of the notification, has not appointed a new member. The mandate of any member of the Supervisory Council or of the Executive Committee terminates on the date of appointment by the Parliament of the new member or upon the expiry of the 3-month term from the date of notification if the Parliament has not appointed a new member and the notification has not been withdrawn.

(10) The member of the Supervisory Council or the member of the Executive Committee may be revoked by the President of the Republic of Moldova, on the proposal of the Parliament submitted in accordance with the procedure provided in paragraphs (101)–(111), only if the respective member no longer fulfils the conditions for exercising the duties or has committed a serious misconduct.

(101) Before submitting to vote the draft decision of the Parliament proposing the revocation of the member of the Supervisory Council or of the member of the Executive Committee, the member concerned has the right to be heard in connection with the relevant facts and circumstances. The member of the Supervisory Council or the member of the Executive Committee is notified of the date of the hearing and is informed in detail of the grounds for the proposal for dismissal at least 5 days before the hearing.

(11) The decision of the Parliament proposing the dismissal of the Governor of the National Bank is adopted on the proposal of the President of the Parliament, with the vote of 2/3 of the number of elected deputies. The decision of the Parliament proposing the dismissal of the other members of the Supervisory Council or of the Executive Committee is adopted on the proposal of the Supervisory Council submitted following the approach of the Governor of the National Bank or on the proposal of the President of the Parliament, with the vote of the majority of elected deputies.

(111) The decision of the Parliament proposing the dismissal of the member of the Supervisory Council or of the member of the Executive Committee is sent for examination to the President of the Republic of Moldova no later than the next working day after the date of its adoption. The President of the Republic of Moldova decides on the proposal for dismissal of the member of the Supervisory Council or of the member of the Executive Committee within 30 days from the date of its receipt.

(12) The act of dismissal of the member of the Supervisory Council or of the member of the Executive Committee may be challenged at the Chisinau Court of Appeal within 15 days from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova. The action challenging the dismissal act is tried within 3 months from the date of its filing with the Chisinau Court of Appeal.

(13) The National Bank informs the Parliament about the need to initiate the procedure for appointing the members of the Supervisory Council and of the Executive Committee at least 3 months before the expiry of the respective mandate. The Parliament appoints the members of the Supervisory Council and of the Executive Committee within at most 3 months from the date on which the vacancy of the position occurred or, in the case provided for in para.(8) in the second sentence, within at most 3 months from the date of expiry of the mandate or, in the case provided for in para.(9), within at most 3 months from the date of notification of the Parliament regarding the resignation.

[Art.23 para.(1),(3),(4),(7) amended, para.(5),(8),(10),(11),(12),(13) in new wording, para.(101 ),(111 ) introduced by Law no.45 of 02.04.2026, in force 23.04.2026]

[Art.23 para.(9),(10) in new wording, para.(13) supplemented by Law no.364 of 29.12.2022, in force 13.01.2023]

[Art.23 supplemented by Law no.74 of 26.04.2018, in force 29.06.2018]

[Art.23 amended by Law no.305 of 21.12.2017, in force 12.01.2018]

[Art.23 supplemented by Law no.102 of 21.07.2016, in force 12.11.2016]

[Art.23 amended by Law no.134 of 17.06.2016, in force 01.08.2016]

Article 24. Powers of the Governor

(1) The Governor is responsible for formulating initiatives in the field of monetary and foreign exchange policy to be presented to the Executive Committee and for their execution.

The Governor organizes and leads the activity of the National Bank, acts, without a power of attorney, on its behalf, represents it in relations with any legal or natural person both in the Republic of Moldova and outside it, issues orders and instructions binding on the employees of the National Bank, controls their execution, signs, directly or through persons authorized by him, the agreements and other acts concluded by the National Bank.

(2) In case of absence or impossibility to perform his duties, the Governor is replaced by the First Deputy Governor, and in his absence – by one of the Deputy Governors, who is authorized in accordance with the internal regulations of the National Bank. The Governor may delegate some of his duties to the members of the Executive Committee and to the heads of subdivisions of the National Bank.

Article 241. The Governor's Cabinet and the Governor's Control Body

(1) In performing his duties, the Governor may be assisted by his own cabinet, established at his decision.

(2) The Governor may decide to establish the Governor's Control Body.

(3) By derogation from art.27 para.(1) letter g), the Governor approves the internal regulations of organization and functioning and other internal regulations regarding the activity of the Governor's Cabinet and of the Governor's Control Body [Art.241 introduced by Law no.47 of 14.03.2024, in force 01.04.2024]

Article 25. Incompatibilities and restrictions

(1) The members of the governing bodies of the National Bank may not be deputies, members of the Government, members of any political party or social-political formation, may not be part of the judicial authority or of the public administration, may not carry out or participate in activities of a political nature, may not conduct electoral agitation in favor of any party or social-political formation.

(2) The members of the governing bodies and the staff of the National Bank may not carry out activities that could generate a conflict of interest in the process of performing their official duties. The members of the Executive Committee may not carry out other remunerated activities, except for teaching and scientific activities or activities provided for in the regulation of functioning of the Executive Committee or designations by the National Bank under the Law on the recovery and resolution of banks and Law no.92/2022 on insurance or reinsurance activity, in which case the mandate is suspended by law.

(3) The members of the governing bodies, for one year after their release from office, may not act as members of the governing bodies of entities regulated and supervised by the National Bank, except for designations by the National Bank under the Law on the recovery and resolution of banks and Law no.92/2022 on insurance or reinsurance activity.

(4) The members of the governing bodies hold public dignity positions by appointment and are subject to the applicable provisions of the legislation regarding the status of persons exercising public dignity positions, insofar as this law does not provide otherwise.

(5) Without prejudice to the provisions of Art. 4 para. (3) of Law no. 75/2020 on the procedure for establishing violations in the field of preventing money laundering and terrorist financing and the manner of applying sanctions, staff with direct supervision and control duties are prohibited from participating as a witness/expert/specialist in the administrative procedures of other public authorities, from participating in expert commissions, as well as from participating in any other verification actions that exceed the duties and competences conferred on them by law.

(6) Members of the governing bodies and staff of the National Bank are prohibited from holding participation shares in the share capital of supervised entities.

[Art. 25 para. (5) in new wording, para. (6) introduced by Law no. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art. 25 para. (2), (3) completed by Law no. 214 of 20.07.2023, in force 03.08.2023]

[Art. 25 completed by Law no. 233 of 03.10.2016, in force 04.10.2016]

Article 26. Duties of the Supervisory Board

(1) In exercising the competences regarding supervision, provided for in Art. 22 para. (3), the Supervisory Board has the following duties:

a) approves the annual report and the annual financial statements to be submitted by the National Bank to the competent authorities;

b) adopts the standards of the internal control system, continuously verifies and evaluates the functioning of the internal control system and its elements;

b1) adopts and reviews the risk management policy;

c) appoints the general controller, on the proposal of the Audit Committee, and establishes their remuneration conditions, with the vote of at least 2/3 of the number of members appointed to office;

d) adopts the professional ethics rules and the compliance policy;

e) determines the salary fund of the National Bank and the salary level of the members of the Executive Committee, with the vote of the simple majority of the members present at the meeting, of which at least two "for" votes belong to the members of the Supervisory Board who are also members of the Executive Committee;

f) establishes the conditions for granting loans to the employees of the National Bank;

g) establishes the nominal value, the design of banknotes and metal coins, the manner of putting them into circulation and the conditions for their withdrawal from circulation, with the vote of at least 2/3 of the number of members appointed to office;

h) submits proposals regarding the increase of the National Bank's capital, with the vote of at least 2/3 of the number of members appointed to office;

i) approves the expenditure budget and investment allocations of the National Bank and monitors their execution, with the vote of the simple majority of the members present at the meeting, of which at least two "for" votes belong to the members of the Supervisory Board who are also members of the Executive Committee;

j) confirms the audit entity selected in accordance with Art. 68;

k) determines the amount of the monthly allowances of the members of the Supervisory Board who are not also members of the Executive Committee, with the vote of at least 2/3 of the number of members appointed to office. The monthly allowance is set at up to 50% of the average value of the average monthly incomes obtained at the National Bank in the last 12 months by the members of the Executive Committee who have held the respective position for no less than 12 months at the date of establishment;

l) establishes the manner of creation and functioning of the Monetary Committee, the Investment Committee, the Audit Committee, the Prudential Supervision Committee and other committees that may function within the National Bank;

m) approves, with the vote of at least 2/3 of the number of members appointed to office, the submission to Parliament of the proposals for revocation from office of the members of the governing bodies, as a result of the approach submitted by the Governor;

n) approves the internal regulations related to the exercise of the duties provided for in this paragraph, with the vote of at least 2/3 of the number of members appointed to office;

o) issues opinions, with the unanimous vote of the members appointed to office, in the case of the exercise by the Government of the competences in accordance with Art. 701;

p) issues opinions under the conditions of Art. 23 para. (3)?(5).

(2) The Supervisory Board may request the information necessary for the exercise of its duties only from the Executive Committee, by submitting a written request to it.

The requested information is transmitted to the Supervisory Board through the decision of the Executive Committee.

(3) The Supervisory Board presents to Parliament, at least annually, reports on the supervision activity carried out.

[Art. 26 para. (1) amended by Law no. 45 of 02.04.2026, in force 23.04.2026]

[Art. 26 para. (1) amended by Law no. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art. 26 amended by Law no. 233 of 03.10.2016, in force 04.10.2016]

Article 27. Duties of the Executive Committee

(1) In addition to the duties of exercising the executive management of the National Bank, the Executive Committee has the following duties:

a) establishes the monetary policy in the state, including the level of interest rates on monetary policy instruments, the conditions for granting loans, the type and level of reserves that banks are obliged to hold at the National Bank;

b) establishes the foreign exchange policy in the state and the exchange rate regime of the national currency;

c) adopts the normative acts of the National Bank and approves the recommendations to be submitted by the National Bank to the competent authorities;

d) approves, with the vote of at least 2/3 of the number of members present at the meeting, each granting of emergency liquidity assistance or use of other financial instruments in favor of a bank, in accordance with art.181;

e) ensures the implementation of the decisions of the Supervisory Board, adopted in accordance with

art.26;

f) decides on the manner of issuing licenses, authorizations, permits, approvals to be issued by the National Bank in accordance with the legislation in force;

g) plans the current activity of the National Bank and adopts internal regulations regarding its current activity;

g1) approves the regulation on the manner of planning, organizing and conducting paid internships within the National Bank of Moldova, as well as the monthly amount of internship scholarships;

h) examines, as the case may be, the results of controls carried out at entities supervised by the National Bank, adopts the related decisions;

i) decides on the issuance of claims of the National Bank, the volume and conditions of their issuance.

(2) The Executive Committee also exercises other duties that are not assigned by law to the Supervisory Board or are not provided for in art.24.

(3) The meetings of the Executive Committee are convened by its president at least once a month and are conducted in accordance with the provisions of art.31. The meetings may also be convened upon the written request of three members of the Executive Committee.

[Art.27 para.(1) amended by Law no.45 of 02.04.2026, in force 23.04.2026]

[Art.27 para.(1),(2) amended by Law no.364 of 29.12.2022, in force 13.01.2023]

[Art.27 amended by Law no.114 of 15.08.2019, in force 02.09.2019]

Article 28. Audit Committee

(1) The Audit Committee is created by decision of the Supervisory Board.

(2) The Audit Committee is composed of 3 members of the Supervisory Board who are not employees of the National Bank.

(3) The Audit Committee has the following duties:

a) monitors the financial reporting process of the National Bank;

b) monitors the effectiveness of the internal control and risk management system;

c) monitors and directs the internal audit function;

d) monitors the independence and activity of the external audit;

e) participates in the selection process of the audit entity indicated in art.68 para.(1) and submits recommendations to the Supervisory Board regarding the confirmation, mandate and evaluation of the activity of the respective entity.

(4) The detailed areas of competence of the Audit Committee are established by an internal regulation, approved by the Supervisory Board.

(5) The Audit Committee submits to the Supervisory Board, at least annually, reports on the monitoring activity carried out, which will contain recommendations for the improvement and development of the activity processes of the National Bank.

[Art.28 para.(3) supplemented by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 29. Exercise of certain subsequent functions [Art.29 repealed by Law no.147 of 30.07.2015, in force 21.08.2015]

Article 30. Vacant positions in the Board of Directors [Art.30 repealed by Law no.147 of 30.07.2015, in force 21.08.2015]

Article 31. Meetings of the Supervisory Board

(1) The meetings of the Supervisory Board are chaired by the Governor, and in his absence by the First Deputy Governor.

(11) One meeting per year of the Supervisory Board is chaired by a member thereof who is not also a member of the Executive Committee, selected by the Supervisory Board by rotation. During the respective meeting, the Supervisory Board examines the matters related to the annual report on the supervisory activity carried out, provided for in art.26 para.(3).

(2) The meetings of the Supervisory Board are convened by the Governor at least quarterly. The meetings may also be convened upon the written request of two members of the Board.

(3) The decision on convening the meetings of the Supervisory Board is communicated to all its members at least 5 working days in advance, except in emergency situations, when the meetings may be convened urgently. At the same time, the members of the Board are informed of the date, place of the meeting and the agenda.

(4) Each member of the Supervisory Board has the right to one vote. The meeting is deliberative if more than half of the members appointed to office of the Board are present, including the Governor or the First Deputy Governor.

(5) The meetings of the Supervisory Board are secret. According to the decision of the Board, all or part of its decisions may be brought to the attention of public opinion, taking into account the provisions regarding professional secrecy and regarding any other secret protected by law.

(6) The decisions of the Board are adopted by simple majority of votes of its members present at the meeting, except for the cases provided for by this law or by the acts of the National Bank. The right to vote belongs only to those members of the Board who attended the meeting. In case of parity of votes, the vote of the chairperson of the meeting is decisive.

(7) The decisions of the Supervisory Board are issued under the signature of the chairperson of the meeting.

(8) No decision of the Supervisory Board may be annulled due to the existence of vacant positions in its composition.

(9) The decisions of the Supervisory Board remain valid, regardless of the subsequent discovery of irregularities related to the appointment of the member of the Board to office, eligibility or professional qualification.

(10) At each meeting of the Supervisory Board, minutes are drawn up and signed by the chairperson of the meeting and the secretary of the Board.

[Art.31 para.(11) introduced, para.(2) amended by Law no.45 of 02.04.2026, in force 23.04.2026]

[Art.31 para.(5) amended by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 32. Personal interests of the members of the governing bodies

(1) The members of the governing bodies, after appointment and subsequently annually, must inform the Council of all their direct or indirect financial interests and those of their family members in the manner established by the Council.

(2) If a matter related to such interests is being examined, the member of the governing body shall inform the Supervisory Board or the Executive Committee at the beginning of the debates and shall not take part in the examination and voting on this matter. At the same time, his presence is taken into account when establishing the quorum.

Article 33. Internal audit

(1) The National Bank has an internal audit body, composed of specialists with competences in the fields of audit, accounting, finance and information technologies and led by the general controller.

(2) The general controller of the National Bank is appointed for a term of 5 years by the Supervisory Board on the proposal of the Audit Committee and is dismissed from office by the reasoned decision of the Supervisory Board. The general controller may resign provided that the president of the Supervisory Board is notified 3 months in advance.

(3) The general controller, together with the specialists of the internal audit body:

a) establishes the internal audit procedures;

b) examines and evaluates the activity processes, including the quality of the control and risk management methods, the information systems used, examines other subjects, in order to ensure compliance with the requirements of the legislation in force and of the internal norms;

c) examines the financial statements and the execution of the expenditure budget and of the investment allocations of the National Bank, confirming this by an opinion.

(4) The internal audit body is subordinate to and reports to the Supervisory Board.

Article 34. Staff of the National Bank

(1) The Executive Committee approves the Internal Regulation of the National Bank.

(2) The Governor hires and dismisses the staff of the National Bank in the manner and under the conditions established by the Executive Committee.

(21) By derogation from the provisions of para.(2), the Governor appoints and dismisses the staff of his Cabinet and of the Governor's Control Corps, in accordance with the internal regulations approved by the Governor.

(3) The Executive Committee decides on the remuneration of the registered staff of the National Bank in accordance with the legislation. The National Bank establishes and maintains the remuneration system of its employees in a manner which, according to the principles accepted in international practice, ensures internal fairness and external competitiveness, the consolidation of institutional capacities, the continuity of activity and of human resources. For this purpose, the level of remuneration of the employees of the National Bank is not lower than the level of remuneration of positions similar in impact and complexity in the banking sector and/or the general market of specialized services.

(4) By derogation from art.71 and 72 of the Labor Code, the National Bank may second its officials to the single central securities depository for a period of up to 5 years.

(5) The officials of the National Bank are obliged to declare any loans, except those received from the National Bank, according to the internal reporting lines established by the professional ethics norms in the National Bank. The Executive Committee may establish the maximum amounts of loans that employees may receive from other banks.

(6) The officials of the National Bank are obliged to comply with the provisions of art.7 para.(2)

of Law no.325 of 23 December 2013 on the evaluation of institutional integrity.

(7) By derogation from the provisions of art.11 of the Integrity Law no.82/2017, the interns who have completed a full internship and meet the evaluation criteria provided by the regulation approved by the Executive Committee in accordance with art.27 para.(1) letter g1) may be proposed for appointment to a vacant position within the National Bank, for which professional experience is not required, without organizing a competition if they meet the conditions provided by the internal regulations of the National Bank and the job description.

[Art.34 para.(7) introduced by Law no.45 of 02.04.2026, in force 23.04.2026]

[Art.34 para.(1),(5) amended by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.34 para.(21 ) introduced by Law no.47 of 14.03.2024, in force 01.04.2024]

[Art.34 amended by Law no.305 of 21.12.2017, in force 12.01.2018]

[Art.34 amended by Law no.58 of 06.04.2017, in force 14.04.2017]

[Art.34 supplemented by Law no.102 of 21.07.2016, in force 12.11.2016]

[Art.34 amended by Law no.233 of 03.10.2016, in force 04.10.2016]

[Art.34 supplemented by Law no.62 of 08.04.2016, in force 06.05.2016]

Article 35. Guarantees in the exercise of duties

(1) The National Bank, the members of the governing bodies of the National Bank, the liquidator designated by it, as well as its staff shall not be liable civilly, administratively, contraventionally or criminally for the acts or facts performed or for the omission to perform certain acts or facts in the exercise of the duties conferred by law on the National Bank, including for carrying out internal operations circumscribed to the exercise of these duties, except in cases where the courts establish the performance or omission of performance by these persons, in bad faith, of any act or fact related to the exercise of the duties of the National Bank, which caused damage to third parties.

(2) At the request of the natural persons provided for in para.(1), the National Bank bears, in the cases and under the conditions provided by the regulations of the National Bank, the expenses occasioned by the participation of these persons:

a) to criminal, contraventional, administrative or civil proceedings, conducted in the country or abroad, initiated against the natural persons provided for in para.(1) with regard to acts or facts performed by them or the omission to perform certain acts or facts in the exercise of the duties conferred by law on the National Bank, including with regard to internal operations circumscribed to the exercise of these duties;

b) to criminal, contraventional, administrative or civil proceedings, conducted in the country or abroad, in which the natural persons provided for in para.(1) participate as a witness in connection with the information that became known to them in the exercise of the duties conferred by law on the National Bank;

c) to criminal, contraventional, administrative or civil proceedings, conducted in the country or abroad, which do not fall within the proceedings provided for in items a) and b) and in which the natural persons provided for in para.(1) participate, including as a witness, in connection with the prior participation in proceedings that meet the conditions provided for in item b).

(21) If the court of law has established, by an irrevocable judgment, the performance or the omission to perform, in bad faith, of any fact or act related to the exercise of the duties of the National Bank, which caused damage to third parties, or the commission of an offence in the exercise of the capacity of witness in the proceedings provided for in para.(2)

items b) and c), the expenses occasioned provided for in paragraph (2) shall be compensated to the National Bank by the person in respect of whom the respective judgment was adopted if these expenses were borne by the National Bank.

(22) For the purpose of this article, the expenses occasioned by criminal, contraventional, administrative or civil proceedings mean, at least, the expenses for legal assistance and the expenses for expertise, if the regulations of the National Bank do not provide for other categories of expenses. In order to establish the categories of expenses borne, the cases, conditions and the procedure for bearing these expenses, the National Bank shall issue regulations.

(3) For the acts or facts performed or for the omission to perform certain acts or facts in the exercise of the duties conferred by law on the National Bank, including for carrying out the internal operations circumscribed to the exercise of these duties, the initiation of criminal prosecution against the member of the governing body of the National Bank, the detention, the forced bringing, the arrest and the search of the latter may not take place except upon the order of

the Prosecutor General, with the authorization of a panel made up of 3 judges within the Chisinau Court of Appeal. The procedural actions in respect of the member of the governing body of the National Bank, except for cases of flagrant offence, may be carried out only after the issuance of the order to initiate criminal prosecution.

(4) The provision of para.(1) shall also apply after the termination of the mandate or of the employment relations of the persons provided for in para.(1), for acts or facts performed by them or the omission to perform certain acts or facts in the exercise of the duties during the period in which they held the status of employee, liquidator or member of the governing body.

The provisions of para.(2)–(22) shall also apply after the termination of the mandate or of the employment relations of the natural persons provided for in para.(1), in connection with their participation in the proceedings provided for in para.(2) items a)–c).

(5) In criminal proceedings, the National Bank shall make available to the persons provided for in para.(1), at their request, all the information and materials necessary to ensure their right to defence.

(6) The reparation of the damage caused by the persons provided for in para.(1) through acts or facts performed or through the omission to perform certain acts or facts in the exercise of the duties conferred by law on the National Bank, including for carrying out the internal operations circumscribed to the exercise of these duties, may be requested only from the National Bank.

(7) In the case of reparation by the National Bank, according to para.(6), of the damage caused by the persons provided for in para.(1), the National Bank shall exercise the right of recourse against these persons, proportionally to their degree of guilt, only on the basis of a final court judgment, by which is established the performance or the omission to perform by these persons, intentionally and in bad faith, of any act or fact related to the exercise of the duties conferred by law on the National Bank, including of carrying out the internal operations circumscribed to the exercise of these duties, which caused damage to third parties and by which is established the extent of the patrimonial liability of these persons.

[Art.35 para.(2),(4) in new wording, para.(21) amended, para.(22) introduced by Law no.95 of 25.04.2024, in force 03.05.2024]

[Art.35 para.(3) in new wording. para.(5)-(7) introduced by Law no.178 of 11.11.2021, in force 29.11.2021]

[Art.35 para.(1),(2),(4) amended, para.(21) introduced by Law no.152 of 20.07.2020, in force 14.08.2020]

[Art.35 amended by Law no.233 of 03.10.2016, in force 04.10.2016]

[Art.35 amended by Law no.62 of 08.04.2016, in force 06.05.2016]

Article 36. Preservation of professional secrecy

(1) The members of the governing bodies, the employees of the National Bank, the chartered accountants, the authorised accountants and other specialists appointed, according to the law, by it to carry out the control, as well as the auditors are obliged to preserve professional secrecy over any information that represents banking, commercial, fiscal and other secrecy protected by law, of which they become aware in the course of performing their duties. These persons are obliged to preserve professional secrecy also after the termination of the activity at the National Bank or after the termination of relations of another nature with it.

(2) The obligation to maintain professional secrecy also extends to confidential information created by the National Bank for the purpose of or in connection with the exercise of its duties, the disclosure of which could affect the exercise of the core duties of the National Bank or could harm the interest or reputation of the person to whom it refers.

(3) The persons mentioned in paragraph (1) may use information constituting professional secrecy only for the purpose and within the framework of the performance of their obligations related to the duties of the National Bank. The persons mentioned do not have the right to use information constituting professional secrecy in their personal interest or in the interest of third parties, to disclose this information or to allow its use by third parties or to allow third parties access to the respective information.

(4) Information constituting professional secrecy may be disclosed or provided in the following situations:

a) when there is the express consent of the person to whom the information refers;

b) when this information is to be published in accordance with legislation;

c) in the case of providing this information in summary or aggregated form, so that the bank or the person to whom it refers cannot be identified;

d) in the cases provided for in art.97 of Law no.202/2017 on the activity of banks and in art.103 of Law no.114/2012 on payment services and electronic money, which apply accordingly;

e) within cooperation agreements with other public authorities or on the initiative of the National Bank, for the purpose of exercising the specific duties of supervision and control over compliance with legal provisions;

f) in the case of providing this information to the Deposit Guarantee Fund in the banking system, necessary for the exercise of its duties;

g) within procedures related to the forced liquidation of a bank, except for information regarding third parties involved in actions related to the liquidation of the respective bank;

h) when the interests of the National Bank require the disclosure of this information within judicial procedures;

i) at the request of central banks, financial market and payment systems supervisory bodies from other states, under the conditions of paragraph (6).

(5) The persons and bodies competent to request and receive information constituting professional secrecy are obliged to maintain their confidentiality and may use them only for the purpose for which they requested them or for which they were provided to them, in accordance with the law or concluded agreements, and are obliged not to provide them and not to disclose them to third parties, except in cases of performance of obligations provided by law.

(6) Information constituting professional secrecy may be provided to central banks, financial market and payment systems supervisory bodies from another state based on the principle of reciprocity, in the manner provided by international treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is a party and by agreements concluded between the National Bank and financial market and payment systems supervisory bodies from other states.

(7) When information constituting professional secrecy originates from another state, it may be disclosed or provided only with the express consent of the competent body that provided it and, as the case may be, exclusively for the purpose for which this consent was given.

(8) By derogation from the provisions of paragraph (1)–(7), in the case of the exchange of information and the obligation to maintain professional secrecy in the exercise by the National Bank of the duty of licensing, regulation and prudential supervision of banks that are legal entities of the Republic of Moldova and of branches of banks from other states, the provisions of chapter 3 of title V of Law no.202/2017 on the activity of banks are applicable.

[Art.26 paragraph (1),(2),(4) amended by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.36 paragraph (4),(6) amended, paragraph (8) introduced by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

Chapter V FINANCIAL RELATIONS WITH STATE BODIES

Article 37. The banker and agent of the state

(1) The National Bank acts as banker and agent of the state and its bodies. No transaction or operation carried out by the National Bank may result in the granting of financial assistance to the mentioned bodies. The honoring by the National Bank of the obligations of the Republic of Moldova resulting from its status as a member of the International Monetary Fund is not considered granting financial assistance to the state or its bodies, nor lending to the state. Any amount paid by the International Monetary Fund belongs to the National Bank, unless the special law provides otherwise.

(2) The National Bank is obliged to offer the Government consultations on important monetary and financial issues within its competence, and the Government is obliged to offer consultations to the National Bank on issues within its competence.

(3) Annually, when drafting the state budget project, the Government consults with the National Bank on economic and financial issues, and the latter presents it with a report on these issues.

[Art.37 paragraph (1) completed by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.37 amended by Law no.242 of 29.12.2015, in force 29.01.2016]

Article 38. Consultations and information on public sector borrowings Annually, the Government consults with the National Bank regarding its objectives in the field of domestic and external borrowings of the public sector for the next financial year, including the amounts and conditions under which these borrowings will be contracted. The borrowings of the state and its bodies must be reported to the National Bank in the manner established by the bank. All these borrowings are carried out in accordance with legislation.

Article 39. Deposits and cash operations

(1) On the basis of a request from the Government, the National Bank accepts deposits from the Ministry of Finance and from other state bodies, under market conditions, in accordance with the National Bank's regulations. As depositary, the National Bank receives and issues money, keeps records of accounts and provides any other financial services. The National Bank makes payments within the limit of the balance in the respective accounts.

[Art.39 para.(2) repealed by Law no.45 of 02.04.2026, in force 23.04.2026]

(3) Taxes, fees and other obligatory payments, which have been paid by taxpayers into the accounts of the state budget and into the special funds from the banks serving them, shall be transferred to the single Treasury account (CUT) at the National Bank or to the respective accounts of the budgets of the administrative-territorial units no later than the end of the day following the day on which they were paid. For each day of delay, banks pay a fine in the amount of 5% of the amounts transferred with delay.

Article 40. Duties as agent of the state The National Bank, on the basis of an agreement with the Ministry of Finance, acts as agent of the state for state securities issued in book-entry form with regard to:

a) the organization and conduct, on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, of the placement of state securities on the domestic market;

[Item b) repealed by Law no.58 of 06.04.2017, in force 31.07.2018]

[Item c) repealed by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

d) providing advice to the Ministry of Finance in the continuous development of the state securities market;

e) other operations in accordance with the fundamental objective and basic duties of the National Bank.

[Art.40 in the wording of Law no.242 of 29.12.2015, in force 29.01.2016]

Article 41. Prohibition on lending to the state The National Bank shall not grant loans and guarantees in any form to the state or its bodies, including by purchasing state securities on the primary market or by granting overnight credits. The prohibition on purchasing and holding

state securities does not apply to the Central Depository of Securities.

[Art.41 supplemented by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 42. Purchase of securities issued by the state No provision of this chapter may prohibit the National Bank from buying and selling, on the secondary market, securities issued by the state:

a) provided that the National Bank shall purchase state securities only through open market operations;

b) in connection with the granting of credits to banks.

[Art.42 item a) amended by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

Article 43. Provision of information The National Bank receives from the bodies of the state all information and financial and economic documents necessary for the exercise of its duties.

CHAPTER VI RELATIONS WITH LEGAL ENTITY BANKS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA AND WITH BRANCHES OF BANKS FROM OTHER STATES [Title of Chapter VI in the wording of Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

Article 44. Supervision and regulation of the activity of legal entity banks in the Republic of Moldova and of branches of banks from other states The National Bank is the sole institution that carries out licensing, regulation and supervision, on an individual basis and, where appropriate, on a consolidated basis, of legal entity banks in the Republic of Moldova and of branches of banks from other states. For this purpose the National Bank is empowered:

a) to issue the necessary normative acts and to take the appropriate measures to exercise the powers and duties arising from this law, by granting licences to legal entity banks in the Republic of Moldova and to branches of banks from other states and by developing supervision standards for them, and to establish the manner of application of the normative acts and measures mentioned;

b) to carry out, through its officials or other qualified specialists engaged for this purpose, inspections of legal entity banks in the Republic of Moldova and of branches of banks from other states, as well as to examine their registers, documents and accounts, the conditions under which they carry on their activity, and compliance by these institutions with the legislation;

c) to require any legal entity bank in the Republic of Moldova and any branch of a bank from another state or any employee thereof to provide the National Bank with the documents, information and data necessary for the exercise of the duty of licensing, regulation and supervision of their activity;

d) to order any legal entity bank in the Republic of Moldova and any branch of a bank from another state to take supervision measures or to apply sanctions and/or punitive measures in accordance with the provisions of Law no.202/2017 on banking activity;

e) to verify, within its competence, in the course of ex officio and/or on-site inspections, the veracity of the information presented by commercial banks to the credit history bureau and the correctness of the use of credit reports, including the manner of obtaining consent from credit history subjects for the provision of information to the credit history bureau and the manner of obtaining credit reports.

[Art.44 amended by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

[Art.44 supplemented by Law no.149 of 14.07.2017, in force 04.08.2017]

Article 45. Deposit services

The National Bank may open accounts for legal entity banks in the Republic of Moldova and for branches of banks from other states and accepts deposits from them on the conditions established by it, which provide for the payment of interest and the establishment of fees.

[Art.45 amended by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

Article 46. Prudential regulations Banks shall comply with the provisions of Law no.202/2017 on banking activity and with the normative acts of the National Bank issued in implementation thereof concerning prudential requirements.

[Art.46 in the wording of Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

Article 47. Provision of information

(1) Banks are obliged to provide the National Bank with any information and data requested by it, necessary for the exercise of its duties.

(2) The National Bank may publish these information and the aggregated data in full or in part by categories of banks classified according to their type of activity.

Article 48. Clearing and interbank settlements [Art.48 repealed by Law no.147 of 30.07.2015, in force 21.08.2015]

Article 49. Information network The National Bank may create and maintain an information network for the needs of the banking system.

Chapter VI1 FINANCIAL MARKET INFRASTRUCTURES, SCHEMES, ARRANGEMENTS AND PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS [Title of Ch. VI1 in the wording of Law no.292 of 19.10.2023, in force 21.10.2023]

[Title of Ch. VI1 in the wording of Law no.58 of 06.04.2017, in force 14.04.2017]

Article 491. Regulation, licensing, authorisation and supervision of financial market infrastructures, schemes, arrangements and payment instruments operating in the Republic of Moldova

(1) The National Bank regulates, licenses, authorises and supervises financial market infrastructures, schemes, arrangements and payment instruments whose stable and efficient functioning is essential for financial stability, for the implementation of monetary policy and for promoting public confidence in making non-cash payments.

(2) The supervisory activity consists of:

a) obtaining information, including by carrying out inspections, regarding the architecture and functioning of existing or planned financial market infrastructures, the issuance, acceptance and use of payment instruments and electronic money;

b) evaluating the information obtained;

c) bringing about changes or ordering remedial measures and sanctions.

(3) For the purposes of regulating, licensing, authorising and supervising financial market infrastructures, schemes, arrangements and payment instruments in the Republic of Moldova, the National Bank has the right to:

a) adopt policy documents and normative acts establishing the principles and the manner of organising the supervision of financial market infrastructures, schemes, arrangements and payment instruments;

b) adopt normative acts establishing the conditions and the manner of licensing and authorising the administrators of financial market infrastructures and the governance

authorities of schemes and payment arrangements, as well as the requirements for their activities for the purpose of implementing art.494 para.(8) and art.495 para.(8);

c) adopt normative acts establishing requirements for the issuers of payment instruments in connection with the issuance and management of such instruments;

d) request and receive information and reports from the administrators of financial market infrastructures, from the governance authorities of schemes and payment arrangements, and from the participants therein;

e) carry out inspections of the activities of the administrators of financial market infrastructures, the governance authorities of schemes and payment arrangements, and the participants therein;

f) apply remedial measures and sanctions to the administrators of financial market infrastructures, the governance authorities of schemes and payment arrangements, and the participants in any of these.

[Art.491 in the wording of Law no.292 of 19.10.2023, in force 21.10.2023]

[Art.491 in the wording of Law no.209 of 15.07.2022, in force 05.08.2022]

[Art.491 amended by Law no.208 of 12.10.2018, in force 23.12.2018]

Article 492. The single central securities depository The National Bank establishes, regulates the activity of, monitors and supervises the single central securities depository in accordance with Law No. 234 of 03.10.2016 on the single central securities depository.

[Art.492 amended by Law No. 292 of 19.10.2023, in force 21.10.2023]

[Art.492 as amended by Law No. 58 of 06.04.2017, in force 14.04.2017]

Article 493. Provision of clearing and payment services The National Bank may provide banks and other eligible institutions with clearing (compensation) and payment services, and may establish rules and issue respective normative acts.

Article 494. Licensing of administrators of financial market infrastructures

(1) A legal entity intending to operate a financial market infrastructure on the territory of the Republic of Moldova shall submit to the National Bank an application for licensing, including the related supporting documentation, regarding the permanent fulfilment of the requirements applicable to administrators of financial market infrastructures, established in this law and in the normative acts of the National Bank.

(2) The licensing conditions shall be established in the normative acts of the National Bank, which shall contain at least the following:

a) requirements regarding the rules, procedures and contracts drawn up/concluded by the administrator of the financial market infrastructure and regarding their compliance with the applicable legislation in all relevant jurisdictions;

b) general requirements regarding the governance of the administrator of the financial market infrastructure;

c) requirements regarding the framework for comprehensive risk management;

d) requirements for managing financial risks (liquidity risk, credit risk, general business risk, guarantee risk, margin risk, final settlement risk, funds settlement risk, physical delivery risk of financial instruments, financial instruments management risk, segregation and portability risk, custody and investment risk);

e) requirements regarding operational risk management, including ensuring cyber resilience;

f) requirements regarding access and participation criteria, including tiered participation;

g) requirements applicable to connections between financial market infrastructures;

h) requirements regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of the activity of the financial market infrastructure;

i) requirements regarding communication procedures and standards and regarding the transparency of the rules, procedures and fees of the financial market infrastructure;

j) requirements regarding situations of failure by participants in the financial market infrastructure to fulfil obligations.

(3) Within 30 working days from receipt of the application, the National Bank shall verify the completeness of the documentation submitted in accordance with paragraph (1) and shall inform the applicant legal entity whether the documentation is complete.

(4) If the documentation is incomplete, the National Bank shall set a maximum deadline within which the applicant legal entity must complete the documentation, during which period the deadline provided in paragraph (3) shall be suspended.

(5) The applicant legal entity must submit, at the request of the National Bank, any other information, data, documents and declarations necessary for assessing compliance with the requirements established in this law and in the normative acts of the National Bank.

(6) Within 6 months from the submission of the complete documentation related to the licensing application, the National Bank shall send the applicant legal entity, in writing, a reasoned decision regarding the granting or refusal of the issuance of the operating license for the financial market infrastructure.

(7) The National Bank shall issue the license only if it is fully satisfied that the administration of the financial market infrastructure is safe, complete, effective, stable over time, complies with the relevant regulations and standards and does not have a negative impact on the safe and efficient functioning of the infrastructure in question, on the participants in the infrastructure and on the systems with which it interacts, including on financial stability.

(8) The administrators of financial market infrastructures must ensure that the conditions provided in paragraphs (2) and (7) are met throughout the validity period of the license.

[Art.494 introduced by Law no.292 of 19.10.2023, in force 21.10.2023]

Article 495. Authorisation of governance authorities of payment schemes or arrangements

(1) The legal entity intending to operate a payment scheme or arrangement on the territory of the Republic of Moldova shall submit to the National Bank an authorisation application, including the related supporting documentation, regarding the permanent fulfilment of the requirements applicable to the governance authorities of payment schemes/arrangements, established in this law and in the normative acts of the National Bank.

(2) The authorisation conditions shall be established in the normative acts of the National Bank, which shall contain at least the following:

a) requirements regarding the rules, procedures and contracts drawn up/concluded by the governance authority of the payment scheme/arrangement and regarding their compliance with the legislation applicable in all relevant jurisdictions;

b) general requirements regarding the governance of the governance authorities of payment schemes/arrangements;

c) requirements regarding the framework for comprehensive management of risks associated with payment schemes or arrangements;

d) requirements regarding operational risk management, including ensuring cyber resilience;

e) requirements regarding access and participation criteria;

f) requirements regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of the payment scheme or arrangement;

g) requirements regarding communication procedures and standards and regarding the transparency of the rules, procedures and fees established in the application of the payment scheme or arrangement.

(3) Within 20 working days from receipt of the authorisation application, the National Bank shall verify the completeness of the documentation submitted in accordance with paragraph (1) and shall inform the applicant legal entity whether the documentation is complete.

(4) If the documentation is incomplete, the National Bank shall set a maximum deadline within which the applicant legal entity must complete the documentation, during which period the deadline provided in paragraph (3) shall be suspended.

(5) The applicant legal entity must submit, at the request of the National Bank, any other information, data, documents and declarations necessary for assessing compliance with the requirements established in this law and in the normative acts of the National Bank.

(6) Within 6 months from the submission of the complete documentation related to the authorisation application, the National Bank shall send the applicant legal entity, in writing, a reasoned decision regarding the authorisation or refusal of the issuance of the authorisation to operate the payment scheme or arrangement.

(7) The National Bank shall issue the authorisation only if it is fully satisfied that the administration of the payment scheme or arrangement is safe, effective, complies with the relevant regulations and standards and does not have a negative impact on the participants in the payment scheme or arrangement, on the safe and efficient functioning of the payment systems, of the payment instruments, with which it interacts, including on financial stability.

(8) The governance authority of the payment scheme or arrangement must ensure that the conditions provided in paragraphs (2) and (7) are met throughout the entire period of activity.

[Art.495 introduced by Law no.292 of 19.10.2023, in force 21.10.2023]

Article 496. Withdrawal of the authorisation of the governing authorities of payment schemes or arrangements

(1) The National Bank may withdraw the authorisation issued to the governing authorities of payment schemes/arrangements if the governing authority:

a) does not commence activity within 24 months from the date the authorisation was issued;

b) explicitly renounces the authorisation or has not provided any service and has not carried out any activity in the last 6 months;

c) obtained the authorisation through false statements or other illicit means;

d) no longer meets the conditions under which the authorisation was granted and has not taken the remedial measures requested by the National Bank within a predetermined time limit.

(2) In the case of voluntary liquidation or cessation of its activity, the governing authority of the payment scheme/arrangement is obliged, at least 30 days before the date envisaged for adopting the decision on voluntary liquidation or cessation of activity, to request the withdrawal of the authorisation. The National Bank, within 60 days of receiving the request for withdrawal of the authorisation, shall decide on the withdrawal of the authorisation after having satisfied itself that the governing authority:

a) has a plan for cessation of activity, without prejudicing the interests of the participants in the scheme/arrangement and of the users of payment services;

b) will ensure the full and timely performance of its obligations regarding the processed operations.

(3) The decision on the withdrawal of the authorisation shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

(4) The reasoned decision of the National Bank on the withdrawal of the authorisation shall be communicated in writing to the governing authority of the respective payment scheme/arrangement.

(5) The governing authority of the payment scheme/arrangement is obliged, within 3 working days from the date of adoption of the decision to withdraw the authorisation, to submit the withdrawn authorisation to the National Bank.

[Art.496 introduced by Law no.292 of 19.10.2023, in force 21.10.2023]

Chapter VII REGULATION OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE OPERATIONS

Article 50. Foreign exchange control The National Bank, as a foreign exchange control body, shall, within the limits of its competence, exercise control over compliance with foreign exchange legislation.

Article 51. Foreign exchange regulation The competence of the National Bank in the field of foreign exchange regulation includes:

a) issuing normative acts regarding the regulation (including authorisation and reporting) of foreign exchange operations of natural and legal persons, including banks and state bodies;

b) issuing and withdrawing licences, supervising and regulating the activity of foreign exchange units, including banks;

[Letter c) repealed by Law no.147 of 30.07.2015, in force 21.08.2015]

d) establishing the method for determining the official exchange rate of the Moldovan leu against foreign currencies.

Article 52. Reporting of foreign exchange operations Banks, foreign exchange units (other than banks), other legal and natural persons are obliged to report to the National Bank on foreign exchange operations in accordance with the provisions of foreign exchange legislation.

Article 53. International reserves

(1) The National Bank maintains in its balance sheet the international reserves of the state, which are represented by the following assets:

a) monetary gold;

b) foreign currency in the form of banknotes and metal coins or bank accounts held abroad in foreign currency;

b1) special drawing rights and reserves in the International Monetary Fund;

[Letters c),d) repealed by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

e) claims expressed and payable in foreign currency, issued or guaranteed by foreign states, their central banks or international public financial institutions, as well as forward purchase and repurchase agreements concluded with or guaranteed by them;

f) any other assets recognised internationally, including corporate securities.

(2) The main criteria for selecting reserve assets are the safety of the principal amounts and liquidity.

(3) The National Bank maintains international reserves at a level which in its view is adequate for achieving the monetary and foreign exchange policy of the state.

(4) In the event of a decrease in international reserves or if the National Bank considers that they are about to decrease to a level that would jeopardise the implementation of foreign exchange policy or the timely fulfilment of international transactions, the National Bank shall submit to Parliament and the Government a report on the situation of international reserves and the causes that have led or may lead to their decrease. The report shall also contain recommendations for remedying the situation.

(5) The National Bank shall continue to make such reports and recommendations until it considers the situation remedied.

[Art.53 para.(1) amended by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 54. Unrealised foreign exchange profits and losses [Art.54 repealed by Law no.382-XVI of 07.12.2006, in force 22.12.2006]

Article 55. International payment and clearing agreements The National Bank may conclude payment and clearing agreements or any other similar contracts with central clearing institutions, public or private, from other countries, both in its own name and in the name and on behalf of state bodies.

Chapter VIII NATIONAL CURRENCY

Article 56. Monetary unit

(1) The monetary unit of the Republic of Moldova is the Moldovan leu. One leu is divided into 100 bani.

(2) The Moldovan leu is legal tender on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.

Article 57. Right to issue banknotes and metal coins The National Bank has the exclusive right to issue on the territory of the Republic of Moldova banknotes and metal coins as a means of payment, as well as jubilee and commemorative banknotes and metal coins as a means of payment and for numismatic purposes.

Article 58. Means of payment Banknotes and coins, issued by the National Bank as a means of payment and which are not withdrawn from circulation, must be accepted at their nominal value for the payment of all public or private debts on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.

Article 59. Characteristics of the national currency

(1) The National Bank establishes the nominal value, dimensions, weight, design and other characteristics of banknotes and coins, as well as of jubilee and commemorative banknotes and coins, which are a means of payment in the Republic of Moldova.

(2) Banknotes bear the signature of the governor of the National Bank.

(3) Any color reproduction of banknotes and coins, with a size from 2/3 to 4/3, partial or integral, for advertising, informational or other commercial purposes is prohibited.

[Art.59 para.(1) completed by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 60. Printing of banknotes and minting of coins The National Bank organizes the printing of banknotes and minting of coins, as well as of jubilee and commemorative banknotes and coins, and takes measures for the safe keeping of those not issued into circulation, for the withdrawal and destruction of banknotes and coins withdrawn from circulation.

[Art.60 completed by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 61. Exchange of the national currency

(1) The National Bank may carry out the exchange of the national currency that is in circulation in the Republic of Moldova.

(2) Worn or unfit for circulation banknotes and coins are withdrawn, destroyed and replaced by the National Bank with other banknotes and coins.

(3) The National Bank may refuse to exchange banknotes and coins if their manner of presentation does not comply with the norms established by it.

[Art.61 para.(2) completed by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 62. Ensuring monetary circulation

(1) The National Bank ensures the coverage of the needs of monetary circulation with banknotes and coins.

(11) The National Bank may commercialize jubilee and commemorative banknotes and coins, as well as other numismatic items containing banknotes and coins put into circulation by it.

(2) The National Bank may charge commissions for putting into circulation banknotes and coins as a means of payment and may establish the price, different from the nominal value, for jubilee and commemorative banknotes and coins, as well as for numismatic items, when commercializing them.

(3) In applying this article, the National Bank issues regulations regarding the procedure for putting into circulation and withdrawing from circulation banknotes and coins, regarding the conditions for depositing and withdrawing cash by banks to/from the National Bank, regarding the commercialization of jubilee and commemorative banknotes and coins and other numismatic items, as well as regarding the commissions charged for carrying out these operations.

[Art.62 para.(11 ),(3) introduced, para.(2) completed by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 63. Recording of issued currency The total amount of banknotes and coins in circulation is recorded in the accounting of the National Bank as its liability. Banknotes and coins in the cash reserve are not included in the liability.

Article 64. Withdrawal of the national currency

(1) The National Bank has the exclusive right to withdraw from circulation any banknotes or coins issued previously.

(2) Upon expiry of the exchange period, the withdrawn banknotes and coins shall cease to be a means of payment.

(3) The total amount of banknotes and coins withdrawn from circulation but not exchanged within the period established by the National Bank is deducted from the total cash in circulation recorded in the accounting records and is recorded as income of the National Bank.

Chapter IX FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. EXTERNAL AUDIT. REPORTS

Article 65. Financial year The financial year of the National Bank begins on 1 January and ends on 31 December.

Article 66. Accounting records The National Bank has the obligation to keep accounting and to prepare financial statements in the manner provided by the legislation in the field of accounting and financial reporting and by international financial reporting standards, providing a faithful image of the financial position, financial performance and other information related to its activity.

[Art.66 in the wording of Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 67. Financial statements

(1) At the end of each financial year, the National Bank prepares annual individual and, where applicable, consolidated financial statements, in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards and their interpretations, which are issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.

(2) The National Bank prepares semi-annual condensed individual and, where applicable, consolidated financial statements, in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 "Interim Financial Statements".

[Art.67 in the wording of Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 68. Audit of financial statements

(1) The annual financial statements of the National Bank are subject to annual audit, in accordance with international auditing standards, which is carried out by an independent audit entity, with a reputation and recognized experience in the field of auditing central banks.

(2) The audit entity indicated in para.(1) is confirmed by the Supervisory Board after its selection in accordance with the regulations of the National Bank regarding the selection and mandate of the audit entity for carrying out the audit of financial statements.

(3) The auditor's report is published together with the annual financial statements of the National Bank.

(4) The same audit entity may not audit the annual financial statements of the National Bank for more than 5 consecutive years.

[Art.68 as amended by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 69. Presentation and publication of financial statements and reports

(1) Annually, by 1 July, the National Bank shall submit to Parliament a report that includes information on:

a) the financial statements confirmed by the external auditor;

b) its activity and operations for the financial year ended;

c) the economic situation of the state.

(11) A copy of the report shall be sent to the President of the Republic of Moldova for information.

(2) The National Bank shall submit quarterly, within up to 45 days from the end of the management quarter, to Parliament and the Government a report containing an analysis of the macroeconomic situation and a medium-term forecast of inflation and the main macroeconomic indicators, which shall be published within the indicated term.

(3) The National Bank may publish the financial statements and reports referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2), as well as any other financial and economic reports or studies.

(4) The National Bank shall publish annually the balance of payments of the state.

(5) The National Bank shall publish the balance of payments statistics, the international investment position statistics and the external debt statistics of the Republic of Moldova:

a) provisional data – quarterly, within 3 months from the end of the management quarter;

b) final data – annually, within 9 months from the end of the management year.

[Art.69 para.(1) amended by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.69 para.(1) amended, para.(11) introduced by Law no.38 of 28.02.2020, in force 14.05.2020]

[Art.69 amended by Law no.58 of 06.04.2017, in force 14.04.2017]

Chapter X MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Article 70. Preferential right

(1) The National Bank shall have the preferential and unconditional right to satisfy each of its matured claims from any bank accounts or other assets it maintains:

a) on its own account;

b) on the account of the respective debtor;

c) as collateral to secure its claims;

d) in any other way.

(2) The National Bank shall exercise the aforementioned right by deducting the debts from the bank accounts and selling other assets at a reasonable price, covering the claims from the net income resulting from the sale. The exercise of this right in accordance with this article does not require legal action. No kind of competition between claims, including between

claims based on ownership right, may prevent the exercise of this preferential right, except in cases where there is clear evidence that the staff of the National Bank knew or should have known that at the time these assets, except monetary ones, came into the possession of the National Bank, they did not belong to the respective debtor.

Article 701. Property of the National Bank

(1) The delimitation of movable property by domains (public domain and private domain) and the assignment of movable property to the public domain or private domain shall be carried out by the National Bank, in the manner established by the Government, based on inventory lists.

(2) Decisions regarding the gratuitous transfer of the National Bank's property by transferring property from one domain to another, by transferring property from the National Bank into the ownership of administrative-territorial units, by transferring movable property of the public domain and immovable property from the National Bank to a public authority/public institution shall be taken by the Government, with the positive opinion of the National Bank, only if they do not affect the proper functioning of the National Bank and the exercise of its duties.

(3) Decisions regarding the gratuitous transfer of movable property of the private domain from the National Bank to a public authority/public institution shall be taken by the National Bank, in the manner established by the Government, only if they do not affect the proper functioning of the National Bank and the exercise of its duties.

(4) By derogation from the provisions of Law no.121/2007 on the administration and denationalization of public property and of Law no.29/2018 on the delimitation of public property and without prejudice to the provisions that allow the National Bank to exercise the rights of possession, use or disposal over the property it holds, the National Bank shall exercise exclusively and without restriction the rights of possession, use and disposal over the property constituting the international reserves of the state, over the property acquired in accordance with art.71 para.(2) lit.c) of this law, as well as over the movable property used in the exercise of monetary and foreign exchange policy duties.

(5) The property constituting the international reserves of the state may not be subject to seizure, forced execution, confiscation, requisition or expropriation.

(6) The powers of the Government provided for in para.(2) shall not apply in relation to the property indicated in para.(4).

(7) The National Bank may sell unused assets, which represent tangible and intangible fixed assets that are part of the private domain of the state and are held by the National Bank, in the manner established by the Government. The financial means obtained from the sale of the respective property, after covering the expenses related to their sale, shall be recorded as income of the National Bank.

(8) The National Bank shall not be liable for the obligations of the state and the obligations of other public authorities or institutions.

[Art.701 introduced by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 71. Prohibited activities

(1) Except for the cases provided for by this law, the National Bank may not:

a) to grant no kind of financial assistance, whether in the form of a direct or indirect loan, or by purchasing a loan, participating in a loan or using any instrument resulting in any obligations, assumption of a debt or other similar actions;

b) to carry out commercial activities, such as purchasing securities of commercial companies in the Republic of Moldova and acquiring any ownership right of a financial, commercial, agricultural, industrial nature for any purposes other than for the exercise of its duties and for ensuring the operational needs of the National Bank.

(2) By way of derogation from the provisions of paragraph (1), the National Bank may:

a) make capital investments in an amount of at most 20% of its capital and reserves in institutions that have undertaken to provide only to the National Bank and other banks services regarding the valuation, management and maintenance of collateral, the processing and transmission of data, the printing of financial instruments, clearing operations, courier services and the sale of properties;

[Item b) repealed by Law No. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

c) acquire, for the purpose of covering amounts owed to it, any goods and exercise the rights and obligations pertaining to these goods, provided that it releases itself from these goods as soon as possible;

d) grant credits to any of its employees based on the regulation approved by the Supervisory Board;

e) establish and hold up to 100%, but not less than 76% of the share capital of the single central securities depository;

f) exercise the rights and obligations regarding the movable and immovable property held, including by carrying out, in accordance with the applicable regulatory framework, construction, reconstruction, restoration, modernization, consolidation, extension or partial demolition activities in respect of immovable property in the public or private domain;

g) charge payments and commissions in accordance with this law.

(3) The purchase and holding by the single central securities depository of shares and other securities does not constitute a prohibited activity within the meaning of paragraph (1).

[Art. 71 paragraphs (2), (3) amended, paragraph (3) introduced by Law No. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art. 71 amended by Law No. 114 of 15.08.2019, in force 02.09.2019]

[Art. 71 amended by Law No. 58 of 06.04.2017, in force 14.04.2017]

[Art. 71 supplemented by Law No. 62 of 08.04.2016, in force 06.05.2016]

Article 72. Collection of statistical information

(1) The National Bank collects primary statistical information necessary for achieving its objectives and fulfilling its duties, from the competent state authorities, banks and from other legal and natural persons.

(2) The National Bank contributes to the harmonization of the rules and practice of collecting, processing and using statistical data in its field of competence.

(3) The National Bank establishes by regulation the type of primary statistical information necessary for it and the manner of their presentation, the units that are obliged to present them to the National Bank, as well as the conditions for maintaining the secrecy of this information.

(4) In fulfilling its duties provided for in Article 8 paragraph (1), the National Bank may publish the aggregate statistical data at its disposal, in whole or in part.

(5) The provisions of this article also refer to the compilation and publication of balance of payments statistics, international investment position and external debt.

[Art. 72 paragraph (3) amended by Law No. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 73. Immunity from taxes [Art. 73 repealed by Law No. 268-XVI of 28.07.2006, in force 08.09.2006]

Article 74. Standards on sound management

(1) The National Bank must exercise its powers provided by this law in a fair, uniform manner and in accordance with sound management practice. The Bank may not use its powers for purposes exceeding its competence and objective.

(2) The decisions of the National Bank, adopted in accordance with this law, must be impartial, based only on objective grounds and carried out with strictness and correctness.

Article 741. Continuous monitoring

(1) The National Bank exercises duties of continuous monitoring of supervised entities, based on the information provided to the National Bank for supervision purposes and for statistical recording purposes, at the request of the National Bank or regularly, at certain intervals, in the specified form.

(2) Continuous monitoring does not represent an administrative procedure within the meaning of the Administrative Code nor a control procedure within the meaning of Art. 751 of this law.

[Art. 741 introduced by Law No. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 75. Sanctions, punitive measures, supervisory measures and other remedial measures

(1) The National Bank, in case of finding a violation of the law or of its normative acts, of licensing conditions, of the requirements of authorizations, permissions, approvals and confirmations issued by the National Bank (hereinafter referred to as authorizations), of shortcomings in activity, of non-execution of sanctions, punitive measures, supervisory measures and remedial measures imposed (hereinafter referred to as violations), may apply the following sanctions:

a) the sanctions provided by Law No. 202/2017 on the activity of banks;

a1) the sanctions provided by Art. 35 of Law No. 308/2017 on preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing and of Law No. 75/2020 on the procedure for establishing violations in the field of preventing money laundering and terrorist financing and the manner of applying sanctions;

b) issuing a written warning;

c) the uncontested application and collection of the fine on the foreign exchange unit (other than the bank) in the amount of from 10000 to 40000 lei;

c1) the uncontested application and collection of the fine in accordance with art.491 para. (3) letter f) in the amount of from 10 000 lei to 600 000 lei;

d) partial or total suspension of activity;

d1) suspension or exclusion of a participant from one or more financial market infrastructures, payment schemes or arrangements;

e) withdrawal of the license, authorization.

(2) Following the establishment of the violations mentioned in paragraph (1), the National Bank may apply the following remedial measures, sanctioning measures and supervisory measures:

a) sanctioning measures and supervisory measures provided by Law no.202/2017 on the activity of banks;

b) issuance of prescriptions;

c) conclusion of an agreement;

d) other measures that do not contravene the law and the attributions of the National Bank.

(3) The sanctions provided in paragraph (1) may be applied concurrently with the remedial measures, sanctioning measures and supervisory measures mentioned in paragraph

(2) or independently of these.

(4) The written warning provides, as a rule, information about the established violations, the requirement to liquidate the violations within the established term and recommendations on how to remedy them, as well as a warning about the possibility of applying harsher sanctions and/or remedial measures or supervisory measures in case of non-liquidation within the established term of the established violations or in case of their repeated commission.

(5) The warning may be applied concurrently with the application of another sanction or remedial measure, or sanctioning measure, or supervisory measure or independently of these.

(6) The partial or total suspension of activity has the effect of prohibiting for a certain period the carrying out of certain activities/all activities, the activity of certain subdivisions or the performance of certain operations/all operations for which the license/authorization was issued. In case of suspension of activity, it is not permitted to conclude new contracts or re-conclude for a new term contracts previously concluded, whose execution is related to the carrying out of the suspended activity, or to perform in the future the prohibited transactions or operations.

(7) During the suspension of activity, the validity term of the license/authorization issued for a determined term is not extended.

[Art.75 para.(1) completed by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.75 para.(1) completed by Law no.292 of 19.10.2023, in force 21.10.2023]

[Art.75 para.(1) amended by Law no.363 of 29.12.2022, in force 20.07.2023]

[Art.75 amended by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

Article 751. Establishment of violations

(1) The establishment of violations is carried out by the personnel of the National Bank or by chartered accountants, authorized accountants and other qualified specialists, engaged for this purpose by the National Bank (hereinafter referred to as - inspectors), within the control, including on-site inspections carried out at the offices/addresses of carrying out the activity of the entities supervised and/or monitored by the National Bank.

(2) The control indicated in para.(1) includes, without being limited to these, the study and examination of the constitutive acts, internal regulations and policies, reports and returns, internal acts drawn up as a result of the operations performed, accounting documents, business acts of an external and internal nature (contracts, certificates, minutes, requests, informative notes, etc.), including regarding the shareholders, associates, beneficial owners, clients, counterparties of the person subject to control, other documents and data, on paper and/or in electronic form.

(3) The control indicated in para.(1) of this article is carried out based on the decision of the National Bank, which is notified to the person subject to control. By derogation from art.69 para.(1) of the Administrative Code no.116/2018, the control is considered initiated from the date of commencement of the control, established in the decision on carrying out the control.

(4) Within the control, the National Bank may carry out on-site inspections.

The on-site inspection is carried out based on the decision of the National Bank, which contains at least the following information: the name of the person subject to control, the data regarding the inspectors empowered to carry out the on-site inspection, the date of commencement and its duration.

The on-site inspection may be carried out based on the decision issued in accordance with para.(3) if it provides for the carrying out of the on-site inspection and the data regarding the inspection provided by this paragraph.

(5) The control over the activity of the foreign exchange unit is carried out under the conditions of Law no.62/2008 on foreign exchange regulation, taking into account the provisions of this article.

(6) The person subject to control is obliged to present or provide the inspectors with direct and free access, without unjustified delay, to the information requested by the National Bank, including digitized information, programs, systems, applications and databases.

(7) Within the control, except for the control mentioned in para.(8), the person subject to control is notified of the preliminary act regarding the control results for the presentation, as the case may be, in written form, within 5 working days from the date of notification of the mentioned act, of objections and explanations, attaching, as the case may be, the relevant documents.

Following the examination of the objections and explanations of the person subject to control or, as the case may be,

in their absence, the act regarding the control results is drawn up, which is notified to the person subject to control.

(8) Within the control over the activity of the foreign exchange unit, the act on the control results is drawn up and notified to the person subject to control.

(9) If, based on the control results, a decision unfavorable to the person subject to control or to other participants in the control is to be issued, the provisions of Art. 11 para. (34)–(37) shall apply accordingly.

(10) By derogation from the provisions of para. (7) and (9) of this article, if it is considered necessary to issue urgently a decision for the purpose of preventing significant damage in the financial system, the National Bank may order the application of sanctions and measures without prior notification to the person subject to control of the act on the control results, without granting that person a term for submitting objections and explanations and without conducting its hearing in accordance with Art. 11 para. (34). In this case, the provisions of Art. 11 para. (36) shall apply accordingly.

(11) The general term within which the control procedure must be completed, from the date of commencement of the control established in the decision on carrying out the control until the date of adoption of the National Bank's decision based on the control results, is 12 months.

(12) By derogation from the provisions of para. (11), the general term within which the control procedure over non-bank lending organizations, savings and loan associations and credit history bureaus must be completed, from the date of commencement of the control established in the decision on carrying out the control until the date of adoption of the National Bank's decision based on the control results, is 9 months.

(13) For justified reasons, the general term provided in para. (11) and (12) may be extended, initially, by at most 3 months based on the decision of the governor, the first deputy governor or the deputy governor. If the object of the control is of particular complexity and requires more time for processing information or documents, the term of the control procedure may be extended additionally by decision of the Executive Committee. The decision on the extension, initial or additional, of the term of the control procedure, together with its reasoning, shall be notified to the person subject to control.

(14) The National Bank is entitled to establish in its normative acts additional provisions for conducting the control, including regulations regarding the rights and obligations of the person subject to control and of other participants in that procedure.

[Art. 751 as amended by Law no. 174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art. 751 para. (1) amended by Law no. 292 of 19.10.2023, in force 21.10.2023]

[Art. 751 para. (1) amended, para. (8) in new wording according to Law no. 214 of 20.07.2023, in force 03.08.2023]

[Art. 751 supplemented by Law no. 233 of 03.10.2016, in force 04.10.2016]

Article 752. Application of sanctions, sanctioning measures, supervisory measures and remedial measures

(1) Sanctions, sanctioning measures and supervisory measures in respect of banks shall be applied by the National Bank in accordance with Law no. 202/2017 on the activity of banks.

(11) Sanctions and remedial measures that may be applied by the National Bank in respect of the subjects provided for by Law no. 114/2012 on payment services and electronic money, other than banks and branches of banks from other states, shall be applied by the Executive Committee. The sanctions and remedial measures provided for in Art. 99 para. (1) let. a)

and b), para. (2) let. g) and para. (3) items 1) and 2) of Law no. 114/2012 on payment services and electronic money may be applied by the governor, the first deputy governor and the deputy governors of the National Bank.

(2) Sanctions and remedial measures in respect of foreign exchange control agents, specified in Article 58 paragraph (2) letters b) and c) of Law no. 62-XVI of 21 March 2008 on foreign exchange regulation, as well as in respect of holders of authorizations issued by the National

Bank, shall be applied by the governor, first deputy governor, deputy governors, heads of subdivisions of the National Bank with competences for supervision of the respective subjects, except for those of suspension of activity and withdrawal of the license/authorization which fall within the competence of the Executive Committee.

(21) Sanctions, sanctioning measures and supervisory measures that may be applied by the National Bank in respect of the subjects provided for in Law no. 92/2022 on insurance or reinsurance activity shall be applied by the National Bank in accordance with the mentioned law.

(22) Sanctions, sanctioning measures, supervisory measures, remedial measures and stabilization measures that may be applied by the National Bank in respect of the subjects provided for in the Law on savings and loan associations no. 139/2007, Law no. 122/2008 on credit history bureaus and Law no. 1/2018 on non-bank lending organizations shall be applied by the governor, first deputy governor, deputy governors, heads of subdivisions of the National Bank with competences for supervision of the respective subjects, except for sanctions providing for suspension of activity or of the license, withdrawal of the license or removal from the register, which fall within the competence of the Executive Committee.

(3) The Executive Committee may issue decisions on the application of sanctions, sanctioning measures, supervisory measures, remedial measures and stabilization measures in respect of any person subject to control.

(4) The application of sanctions shall be time-barred within 3 years from the date of commission of the infringement, unless the law provides otherwise. In the case of a continuous infringement, the 3-year term shall begin to run from the date of cessation of the infringement. The running of the 3-year term shall be suspended during the suspension of the term of the control procedure.

(5) When individualizing sanctions, account is taken of the gravity of the violations committed, of their repeated nature, and of the personal and factual circumstances thereof. A violation committed within 3 years from the date of application of sanctions, sanctioning measures, supervisory measures, stabilization measures or remedial measures for the same type of violation is considered repeated.

(6) Sanctions, sanctioning measures, supervisory measures and remedial measures shall be enforced immediately after notification of the decision on their application, unless that decision provides otherwise.

[Art.752 para.(7),(8) repealed by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.752 para.(9) repealed by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

(10) The decision on the application of the fine is an enforceable document.

(11) The decision on the application of the fine shall be handed personally to the person subject to control or sent by registered letter within 3 working days from the date of issuance. The decision on the application of the fine shall be notified to the person subject to control within 3 working days from the date of issuance. In case of non-payment of the fine within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the decision on the application of the fine, the National Bank:

a) incontestably collects the fine from the entity subject to supervision by deducting the amount of the fine from the accounts of the entity subject to supervision opened with the National Bank;

b) forwards to the payment service provider where the account of the entity subject to supervision (other than the bank) is opened the respective decision, accompanied by the collection order for the incontestable collection of the fine;

c) forwards the respective decision (the extract from the decision) for enforcement to the bailiff, in the manner established by the Enforcement Code of the Republic of Moldova, in case of withdrawal/return of the respective decision on the ground of lack or insufficiency of monetary funds in the bank account of the entity subject to supervision (other than the bank), as well as in case of application of the fine to other persons.

(12) The fine shall be paid to the state budget.

(13) The decision (the extract from the decision) on the application of the fine, after its full collection, shall be returned to the National Bank together with the enforcement note.

(14) The person against whom sanctions (other than withdrawal of the license/authorization), sanctioning measures, supervisory measures and remedial measures have been applied is obliged to notify the National Bank about the elimination of the circumstances that led to the application of the sanctions, sanctioning measures, supervisory measures and remedial measures and, as the case may be, to undertake other actions provided by the decision on the application of the sanction, sanctioning measure, supervisory measure and remedial measure and by the normative acts. The National Bank has the right to verify the fact of the elimination of the mentioned circumstances.

(15) The person whose license/authorization has been withdrawn is obliged, within 10 working days, and in case of withdrawal of the bank's license – within 3 working days from the date of adoption of the decision to withdraw the license/authorization, to submit to the National Bank the original of the withdrawn license/authorization and certified copies of the license.

[Art.752 para.(1),(2),(21 ),(22 ),(6),(11) amended, para.(11 ) introduced, para.(4),(5) in new wording according to Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

[Art.752 para.(21 ),(22 ) introduced, para.(11) amended by Law no.214 of 20.07.2023, in force 03.08.2023]

[Art.752 amended by Law no.32 of 27.02.2020, in force 02.05.2020]

Article 753. Publication of sanctions

(1) The National Bank shall publish, without delay, on its official website the applied sanctions, as well as information on the type and nature of the violation committed and on the identity of the sanctioned natural or legal person, after notifying it regarding the application of the sanction. If the applied sanction has been challenged under the law, the National Bank shall publish, without delay, information on the stage of the challenge and its outcome.

(2) The National Bank shall publish the sanctions, without indicating the identity of the sanctioned natural or legal persons, in any of the following situations:

a) the sanction is applied to a natural person and, following a prior mandatory assessment, it has been established that the publication of personal data is disproportionate;

b) the publication would endanger the stability of financial markets or an ongoing criminal prosecution;

c) the publication would cause, to the extent that this can be established, a disproportionate harm to the sanctioned natural persons.

(3) If the National Bank considers that the situations provided in para.(2) may cease within a reasonable term, it may postpone the publication of the sanctions according to para.(1) for such a term.

(4) The information published according to para.(1) or (2) of this article shall remain on the official website of the National Bank for a period of at least 5 years. Personal data shall be kept on the official website of the National Bank only for as long as necessary, in compliance with the provisions of Law no.133/2011 on the protection of personal data.

[Art.753 introduced by Law no.174 of 11.07.2024, in force 02.08.2024]

Article 76. Settlement of disputes Disputes arising between the National Bank and other subjects shall be examined by the competent court.

Chapter XI FINAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Article 761.

(1) Annually, for the respective budget year, the Government and the National Bank shall reach an agreement regarding the balance of the state debt previously contracted from the National Bank.

(2) By way of derogation from the provisions of Art. 15 and 41, the Executive Committee shall approve the restructuring of the loans in Moldovan lei granted previously to the state and the acceptance of the reissue of state securities issued following the conversion of loans contracted previously.

(3) The restructured loans shall be guaranteed by negotiable claims at the market interest rate and with a maturity corresponding to the term of the loans they guarantee, issued and delivered by the state to the National Bank. For each restructured loan and for each tranche of the reissued state securities, an agreement shall be concluded between the Government, represented by the Ministry of Finance, and the National Bank. The agreement shall specify the principal amount of the restructured loan or of the reissued securities, the term, the interest rate and other fees.

Article 77.

(1) This law shall enter into force on the date of its publication.

(2) On the date of entry into force of this law, the following shall be repealed:

• Law No. 599-XII of 11 June 1991 on the State National Bank of Moldova (National Bank of Moldova);

• Decision of Parliament No. 600-XII of 11 June 1991 on the implementation of the Law of the Republic of Moldova on the State National Bank of Moldova;

• Decision of Parliament No. 667-XII of 24 July 1991 on the approval of the Statute of the National Bank of Moldova;

• Law No. 884-XII of 23 January 1992 on the introduction of an amendment to the Law on the State National Bank of Moldova;

• Decision of Parliament No. 976-XII of 19 March 1992 on the appointment of Mr. Leonid Talmaci to the position of Governor of the State National Bank of Moldova;

• Article 4, point (1) of Decision of Parliament No. 1201-XII of 19 November 1992 on the resolution of the social-economic problems set out in the report of the Prime Minister;

• Law No. 1202-XII of 19 November 1992 on the amendment of the Law on the State National Bank of Moldova (National Bank of Moldova);

• Law No. 1234-XII of 15 December 1992 on the amendment and supplementation of the Law on the State National Bank of Moldova;

• Decision of Parliament No. 1235-XII of 15 December 1992 on the amendment of Article 19 of the Statute of the State National Bank of Moldova;

• Law No. 125-XIII of 27 May 1994 on the amendment and supplementation of the Law on the State National Bank of Moldova (National Bank of Moldova);

• Decision of Parliament No. 125a-XIII of 27 May 1994 on the implementation of the Law on the amendment and supplementation of the Law on the State National Bank of Moldova (National Bank of Moldova);

• Decision of Parliament No. 128a-XIII of 27 May 1994 on the amendment of point 5 of the Decision of Parliament on the implementation of the Law on the State National Bank of Moldova;

• Decision of Parliament No. 281-XIII of 11 November 1994 on the amendment and supplementation of the Statute of the State National Bank of Moldova (National Bank of Moldova).

(3) The President of the Republic of Moldova is proposed to annul the Decree of 4 June 1991 on the National Bank of Moldova.

PRESIDENT OF PARLIAMENT Petru LUCINSCHI Chișinău, 21 July 1995.

No. 548-XIII.