Prime Minister Marin Raykov, BNB Governor Ivan Iskrov and the President of the Bulgarian National Audit Office, Valeri Dimitrov, delivered speeches on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the FSC 

Last week the FSC officially celebrated its 10th Anniversary in the presence of Prime Minister Marin Raykov, the Minister of Finance Kalin Hristov, the Bulgarian National Bank Governor Ivan Iskrov, the President of the Bulgarian National Audit Office Valeri Dimitrov, ambassadors, representatives of the financial community in the country and partners.

In his opening speech the Chairman of the FSC Stoyan Mavrodiev stressed that it is the good work and responsible behavior of the institution that have contributed to keeping Bulgaria financially stable without serious disruptions and without the need of loans. As a Member of the Financial Stability Council, the FSC works together with all the institutions concerned for making sound policy and averting experiments in the financial field. “Despite all the difficulties that the country and its citizens face, Bulgaria has been relatively stable throughout the global crisis”, he added. Stoyan Mavrodiev focused on the successful international performance of the Commission, which is actively involved in the new European supervisory architecture.

In his speech Prime Minister Marin Raykov said that the creation of strong, independent, effective and accountable regulators is a prerequisite for the proper functioning of any economy. The purpose of the 2003 reform was to create a regulator to consolidate and ensure effective supervision of the non-banking financial sector. According to the Prime Minister, the effects of the banking and non-banking sector regulation are visible in various aspects of the economy. He stressed that the example of the well structured regulators in the financial sector should be applied in the reform process of all regulatory bodies in the country. Prime Minister Raykov reported that as a result of the activities of the FSC and the BNB, the financial sector in the country has sailed smoothly through the global financial crisis, which is a clear indicator of the regulators’ quality. “From the standpoint of the experience accumulated over the past decade and the supervisory capacity within the FSC, it can be safely stated that the creation of a unified regulatory authority in 2003 was a modern and effective solution helping to build a stable non-banking financial sector”, concluded the Prime Minister.

The Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank Ivan Iskrov, who was involved in the introduction of the FSC Act, presented a brief history and the reasons for the establishment of the Commission. “We strove to create a strong, united, independent regulator of the financial markets similar to the banking supervision through the merger of the three agencies dependent on the executive power – the State Securities Commission, the Insurance Supervision Agency and the Agency for Social Insurance Supervision”, said the Governor. According to him, the strong personal and financial independence of the FSC, which should be accountable to the National Assembly and the public, is the key to a good operation. “Over the past few years, the Financial Supervision Commission went through a very difficult period of intense audit and check-ups including attempts to subordinate the regulator and experiments, such as budget cuts, etc., but it resisted, which means that its mechanism has been correctly set”. Mr. Iskrov recalled that the previous Minister of Finance was trying to take BGN 2 bil. from the Silver Fund, but the idea was undermined by the BNB and the FSC with the support of the ECB and the IMF, allowing today’s fiscal reserve of the country to be nearly BGN 5 bil. In his speech, the Governor of the Bank also said: “Today, the Financial Supervision Commission works very successfully with its Bulgarian and European partners. The Commission has a good reputation on an European level, which is very important for our country”.

The President of the Bulgarian National Audit Office, Prof. Valeri Dimitrov, who was also one of the architects of the Commission 10 years ago, said that the FSC is a stable institution which has proved to be very efficient. Along with the National Bank, the Commission is a modern authority that follows the best practices. Prof. Dimitrov wished Mr. Mavrodiev to continue his successful mission for effective regulation and supervision of non-banking sector, and the good interaction with the BNB and MoF.