In 2008, the UNIQA Group became the majority shareholder of the UNITA insurance company, after taking-over the block of shares from VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP, transaction approved by the regulator of the Romanian insurance market, the Insurance Supervisory Commission (“CSA”).

The new shareholder of UNITA proceeded towards changing the structure of the company’s management, previously obtaining the authorisation of the Competition Council and European Commission, and it further requested the approval of the amendments to the insurer’s memorandum of association, concerning the changes to the Supervisory Board and Directorate.

 

Following the implementation of such changes by UNITA, the transaction concluded by the new UNIQA shareholder and initially approved by the supervisory authority, the insurer was sanctioned according to the Law no. 32/2000, being barred to exercise specific insurance activity until the issuance of the CSA decision on the approval for the changes occurred in its management and operation structure; the activity was suspended in the middle of RCA campaign, when the insurers authorised to issue this type of policies submitted the documentation required for obtaining reauthorisation for conducting this activity also in 2009.

After receiving the sanction, the lawyers with Bostina &Associates pursued to check the entire documentation submitted in order to obtain the CSA approval for establishing the matters that had to be completed in the authorisation file, as well as to analyse the applicable legal provisions invoked by CSA in support of the sanction. The objective of the lawyers with Bostina &Associates was to obtain a CSA decision for revocation of the sanction.

 

Therefore, the objective for the lawyers with Bostina &Associates was to finalize as urgently as possible the entire documentation required for approval by CSA of the amendments to the memorandum of association of UNITA as well as the immediate release of the CSA Council decision on revocation of the measure for a temporary stop of the insurance activity.

 

The UNITA file was (re)assessed in the meeting of the CSA Council on 11th of Dec 2008, and based on its resolution the President of CSA, the decision no. 1132/12.12.2008 has been issued acknowledging the full compliance with the legal requirements and therefore all measures ordered by the Sanction Decision issued by CSA under no. 1063/25.11.2008 were revoked.