Romanian investment fund Fondul Proprietatea received the National Securities Commission's ok to invest in securities traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The commission's ok was granted following the application of the Fund's Manager, Franklin Templeton Investment Management. The market in New York is authorized and supervised by the Securities & Exchange Commission.

In March, Fondul Proprietatea made the first capital investment on foreign markets, buying shares worth EUR 63 million on the Austrian stock market. The fund's portfolio already includes most liquid shares listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange companies, bluechips such as BRD, Transelectrica and Transgaz.

Fondul Proprietatea's shares are traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange at a price of RON 0.5a share, down on RON 0.64 in February, when it was listed. See the evolution of shares here.

The Bucharest Stock Exchange saw the trading of 1.6 billion Fondul Proprietatea shares in the first month since its listing. In total, 11.8 percent of the fund was traded on the BSE during this period, according to investment manager Franklin Templeton. The value of the transactions with the fund’s shares exceeded EUR 237 million, in over 27,000 transactions.

Fondul Proprietatea was created in 2005 as a joint stock company with a special purpose to provide compensation to the persons whose real estate assets have been confiscated abusively by the Romanian state during the communist regime and who can no longer receive restitution in kind.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com