Integration of financial market supervision – practical information

Act No. 57/2006 Coll., on the amendment of acts in connection with the integration of financial market supervision, published in the Collection of Laws on 8 March 2006, will come into effect on 1 April 2006. As of that date, financial market supervision in the Czech Republic will be integrated into the Czech National Bank (CNB), which will take over the activities of the Finance Ministry's Office of State Supervision of Insurance Companies and Private Pension Schemes, the Czech Securities Commission and the Office for Supervision of Credit Unions.

The CNB's organisational structure will be extended to include two new sections (an Insurance Companies Regulation and Supervision Department and a Capital Market Regulation and Supervision Department), reporting directly to the Bank Board. The Insurance Companies Regulation and Supervision Department will perform supervision that was previously performed by the Office of State Supervision of Insurance Companies and Private Pension Schemes, except for the pension funds area, which will be transferred, along with the activities of the Czech Securities Commission, to the Capital Market Regulation and Supervision Department (pension funds were previously supervised by the Office of State Supervision of Insurance Companies and Private Pension Schemes and the Czech Securities Commission). Supervision of credit unions will be performed within the existing Banking Regulation and Supervision Department as from 1 April 2006.

As of Monday, 3 April 2006, the staff of the Czech Securities Commission, the Office of State Supervision of Insurance Companies and Private Pension Schemes and the Office for Supervision of Credit Unions will be available at the CNB's headquarters. Provision of information to the public will not be limited in any way by the integration of supervisors. Information on the supervision of insurance companies, pension funds and credit unions will be available on the CNB website under Financial market supervision/Capital market supervision. In the initial phase, the website of the Czech Securities Commission will be accessible via a link from the CNB website. The Commission's direct address ( www.sec.cz ) will also be in operation for a limited time. The CNB will also take over and operate the Commission's Green Line on 800 160 170. For other contact information, please see the end of this press release.

Banking supervision

The integration will not affect the performance of CNB banking supervision in any way. As of 1 April 2006, the existing Banking Regulation and Supervision Department will be reinforced by several experts from the dissolving Office for Supervision of Credit Unions and will be newly responsible for supervision of credit unions. Information on banking supervision is available on the CNB website under Financial market supervision/Banking supervision.

Capital market supervision

As of 1 April 2006, the activities of the Czech Securities Commission, which will be dissolved on 31 March 2006, will be taken over by the newly established CNB Capital Market Regulation and Supervision Department. Up-to-date information on capital market supervision can be found on the CNB website under Financial market supervision/Capital market supervision. For reasons of continuity, the website of the Czech Securities Commission ( www.sec.cz) will continue to be operated under its original domain name with an almost unchanged structure. The section concerning legal regulations will be moved to the CNB website. Media releases will be published in Media service - Press releases of the CNB.

Dates of broker examinations will be published in the CNB Bulletin and on the CNB website. The earliest possible dates for broker examinations, published in the March issue of the Bulletin of the Czech Securities Commission, are as follows:

April: 21 April 2006 (Fri) - all categories

May: 5 May 2006 (Fri) - all categories

The broker examinations will be held at the CNB headquarters, entrance from Senovážné nám. 30, Prague 1. 30, Prague 1. The maximum number of applicants for each date is 10 persons. The dates may change in the event of a low number of applications or technical problems.

Payments relating to the examination can be sent to account no. 19-2827001/0710 (this account number is only good until 31 March 2006!) or to account 35 - 69193891. As the variable code, applicants should give their birth number without the slash or their date of birth in the form YYMMDD if they have not been allocated a birth number.

Payments relating to the broker examination:

Category I CZK 4,000

Category II CZK 4,000

Category III CZK 2,000

Category IV CZK 4,000

Supervision of insurance companies

The Finance Ministry's Office of State Supervision of Insurance Companies and Private Pension Schemes will terminate its activities on 31 March 2006. The responsibilities of the Ministry of Finance as set out in Act No. 363/1999 Coll., on Insurance and the Amendment of Certain Related Acts, in the wording effective up to 1 April 2006, will be transferred to the Czech National Bank. Insurance company supervision will fall under the responsibilities of the newly established CNB Insurance Companies Regulation and Supervision Department. Information on insurance company supervision will be available on the CNB website under Financial market supervision/Supervision of insurance companies. Lists kept by the Office under the legal regulations currently in force will be kept by the CNB from 1 April.

Please send written versions of required statements, other documents and reports by domestic insurance corporations, signed by the author and approved by the person specified in the statement, which have to be submitted after 1 April 2006, to the following address:

Česká národní banka
Na Příkopě 28
115 03 Praha 1

Electronic versions of required documents can be sent by e-mail to: pojistovny@cnb.cz or submitted on a floppy disk in Excel format to the CNB mail room, entrance from Senovážná 3, Prague 1.

The content and form of required statements, other documents and reports by domestic insurance corporations and branches of insurance corporations from third countries, as promulgated in the Financial Bulletin of the Ministry of Finance No. 12/3/2005 of 30 December 2005, remain valid.

The information published by the Ministry of Finance up to 31 March 2006 in the Financial Bulletin in accordance with Article 13(7), Article 26(3)(a), Article 31(2), Article 33(6) and Article 39a(4) of the current wording of the Act on Insurance, remain valid. The CNB is entitled to repeal such information by CNB official information documents promulgated in the CNB Bulletin.

Decisions in administrative proceedings issued by the Office before 1 April 2006 will be regarded as decisions issued by the CNB. The rights and obligations arising from these decisions remain unaffected. Proceedings conducted by the Office and opened before this date will also be completed by the CNB in accordance with the regulations currently in force. Where the Office issued a decision against which an appeal has been made, the CNB Bank Board will rule on that appeal.

E-mail address for collection of data from insurance companies: pojistovny@cnb.cz

Supervision of pension funds

The responsibilities of the Ministry of Finance concerning pension funds, as set out in laws and other regulations, will be transferred to the Czech National Bank as from 1 April 2006. Pension funds will be supervised by the CNB Capital Market Regulation and Supervision Department. Information on supervision of pension funds will be available on the CNB website under Financial market supervision/Supervision of pension funds.

Note: Inspection of state contributions to pension schemes remains within the competence of the Ministry of Finance (pursuant to Act No. 42/1994 Coll., on Private Pension Insurance).

E-mail address for collection of data from pension funds: penzijnifondy@cnb.cz

Supervision of credit unions

The Office for Supervision of Credit Unions will terminate its activities on 31 March 2006. The responsibilities of the Office will be transferred to the Czech National Bank's Banking Regulation and Supervision Department as from 1 April 2006. Information concerning supervision of credit unions can be found on the CNB website under Financial market supervision/Supervision of credit unions.

Issues concerning deposit-claims insurance which arise after 31 March 2006 will be dealt with pursuant to Act No. 21/1995 Coll., on Banks, as amended (Deposit Insurance Fund). For details, call the CNB's switchboard number 224 411 111 and ask to be put through to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Department.

Credit Union Guarantee Fund

Between 24 March and 2 April 2006, the Credit Union Guarantee Fund is moving to
Bartolomějská 11, Praha 1, 110 00, tel.: 226 211 984. The Fund will continue to deal with the Office's payables and receivables vis-à-vis the state and with compensation claims that originated up to 31 March 2006.

Contact information:

Postal address:

Česká národní banka
Na Příkopě 28
115 03 Praha 1

Tel: +420 224 411 111
Fax: +420 224 412 404

E-mail: info@cnb.cz

URL: www.cnb.cz

E-mail address for collection of data from insurance companies: pojistovny@cnb.cz
E-mail address for collection of data from pension funds: penzijnifondy@cnb.cz

Toll-free Green Line for enquiries: 800 160 170

Electronic mail room:

podatelna@cnb.cz
podatelna@sec.cz

Mail room:

entrance to the CNB headquarters from Senovážná 3, Prague 1.

opening hours of the CNB mail room:
Mon - Thu: 8.00 a.m. - 4.15 p.m.
Fri: 8.00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m.

Press releases - Integration of financial market supervision as of 21.3.2006