Head of Banking Supervisory Agency Confirmed
Parliament confirmed on September 18 Konstantine Sulamanidze as head of the Financial Supervisory Agency, a body which has been established after banking oversight functions have been removed from the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).
Sulamanidze has served as CEO of Tbilisi-based Progress Bank in 2009-2014. The bank was founded by Kakha Kaladze, who is now the Energy Minister; 21.71% of shares in the bank are held by ex-PM Bidzina Ivanishvili, who also controls another Tbilisi-based bank Cartu.
Prior to Progress Bank, Sulamanidze spent three years at various management positions at Bank Republic, part of the Société Générale Group.
Earlier on September 18, the Parliament confirmed four members of seven-seat board of the Financial Supervisory Agency, who have been nominated by the government. The latter has yet to nominate the fifth candidate for the board.
Four members of the board, confirmed by the Parliament, are board chairman Irakli Kovzanadze, who previously served as CEO of the state-owned investment fund Partnership Fund; Ekaterine Galdava, who was director of the internal audit department at former Ivanishvili’s Cartu Bank and served as vice president of NBG in 2005-2007; Sascha Ternes, who previously served as CEO of ProCredit Bank Georgia and deputy CEO of Bank of Georgia, and Efrem Urumashvili, a partner in Tbilisi-based corporate law firm and deputy chief financial officer at the Bank of Georgia in 2007-2010.
Two remaining seats in the seven-member board of the Financial Supervisory Agency are taken by President of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), Giorgi Kadagidze and NBG’s vice president Otar Nadaraia.
Bill, removing banking supervisory functions from NBG and transferring them to a separate agency, was adopted by the Parliament in July, but it drew criticism from international financial institutions, business associations, opposition parties, a group of civil society organizations and from the central bank itself.
President Giorgi Margvelashvili vetoed the bill in late July, but the Parliament overturned it on September 3.