Romania’s Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) offered severance payments totaling some EUR 3.6 million to 278 people, according to a press release of the Romanian MP Andreea Paul.

She claims that the payments have been made from the taxpayers’ money, although ASF is a self-financing institution that answers to the Parliament but gets no money from the state budget, reports local Mediafax.

ASF finances itself from the fees paid by insurance companies, pension funds, and entities active on the local capital market, which it supervises.

In 2013, ASF paid a gross amount of almost EUR 13,000 to 30 employees who left the institution. In 2014, it paid over EUR 2.7 million to 162 employees who left voluntarily. The severance pay reached over EUR 482,000, in 2015, for 62 employees who left ASF following the reorganization plan. This year, ASF paid almost EUR 320,000 to 24 employees.

“Who in education, health, and the private sector leave their job with about EUR 13,000 each?” said Andreea Paul.

The institution’s collective agreement for 2015-2016 provided that the ASF president, the board members as well as the employees had the right to severance payments equal to eight monthly salaries. Andreea Paul said that the new collective agreement of ASF has removed the provision granting eight severance payments to the ASF board members, but has kept it for the rest of the employees.

editor@romania-insider.com