Communicated on 23 October 2014

THIRD SECTION

Application no. 8968/14
BRD - GROUPE SOCIĖTĖ GĖNĖRALE S.A.
against Romania
lodged on 17 January 2014

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant company, BRD - Groupe Société Générale S.A., is a Romanian legal person, which was established on 2 November 1990. Its main office is located in Bucharest. It is represented before the Court by the Law Practice of Stoica & Associates, located in Bucharest.

A. The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

The applicant company is one of the largest banks in Romania.

On 19 October 2006 the applicant company awarded a bank loan to a third party. The loan was guaranteed by a cash collateral bank account covered by a security mortgage. The guarantee deposited in the cash collateral bank account was more than four and a half million euros.

On 23 July 2012, after a criminal investigation for fraud and money laundering had been opened against the third party, the Department for Investigation of Terrorism and Organised Crime Offences (DIICOT) ordered the seizure (sechestru asigurator) of the third party’s assets and of the cash collateral bank account guaranteeing the loan, pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.

On the same date the applicant company confirmed that the seizing measure had been enforced and informed DIICOT about the bank loan awarded to the third party and the guarantee set up in the cash collateral bank account.

On 28 September 2012, after the third party had defaulted on the payments owed to the applicant company, the latter had taken the money from the cash collateral bank account to compensate for its loss.

On 7 November 2012 DIICOT had informed the applicant company that it had taken the money from the cash collateral bank account without its consent and in spite of the seizing measure which had not been lifted or suspended. Consequently, it notified the applicant company to either return the money to the account or face criminal charges.

On an unspecified date the applicant company notified DIICOT that it had returned the money taken from the cash collateral bank account.

By an order of 7 January 2013, on the basis of Article 10 of Law no. 241/2005 on preventing financial fraud, DIICOT decided to lift the measure to seize the cash collateral bank account and ordered that the funds available in the bank account be transferred in a bank account belonging to the Romanian Ministry of Finance. In addition, it notified the applicant company that failure to transfer the money as ordered would result in criminal charges being brought against it.

On an unspecified date the applicant company transferred the money to the bank account belonging to the Romanian Ministry of Finance. Subsequently, it challenged DIICOT’s order