The Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) presented publicly the project:

“Establishment of a Single Information System (UIS) for the Financial Supervision Commission”.

The project is implemented under administrative contract No. BG05SFOP001-1.011-0001-C01 / 23.07.2020 for the provision of grants under the Operational Program “Good Governance” (OPGG), co-financed by the European Union through the European Social Fund under the procedure BG05SFOP001-1.011 by directly providing a grant concluded between the OPGG Managing Authority and the Financial Supervision Commission.

The UIS was presented by Ms. Denitsa Kirova – Secretary General of the FSC and contracting authority of the project, who shared with the participants that “It is a priority for the Commission to reduce administrative burden by fully digitalizing the administrative services it offers. One of our key goals is to provide timely, good and transparent supervision activities. We live in two working worlds – real and virtual. We are aware of the need to be fully present where business and consumers are. I believe that building a unified information system will allow us to meet this need, and we will have the opportunity not only to improve the process of administrative services to citizens and businesses, but also to integrate the activities and processes of the FSC with the systems of European supervisors.

The main goals of the project “Establishment of a Single Information System (UIS) for the Financial Supervision Commission are:

Improving the process of administrative services to citizens and businesses by upgrading all administrative services that the FSC offers and are part of the state administration system (IISSA or Administrative Register).

Redesign, upgrade and improvement of at least 18 public registers of the FSC, through which information is provided to citizens and businesses.

Integration with the relevant horizontal components of e-government in the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as with the Single Portal for access to e-services.

Real-time integration of information exchange with EU regulators – the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) .

Improving the mechanism for risk-based supervision applied by the FSC.

Refining and development of automation of the process of determining fees due by businesses and citizens.

Organizing and conducting trainings with the widest range of users, both by system administrators and end users.

The project will contribute to achieving the main objectives arising from the Updated e-Government Strategy in the Republic of Bulgaria for the period 2019 – 2023. It will finance activities necessary for the implementation of one of the priority measures in the Updated Roadmap for the implementation of the Updated Strategy for the development of e-government in the Republic of Bulgaria for the period 2019-2023, namely: design, development, implementation and maintenance of the Unified Information System of the Financial Supervision Commission.

The total value of the project is BGN 4,999,980.50. (four million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and eighty BGN and fifty stotinki), of which BGN 4,249,983.42 are European and BGN 749,997.08 are national co-financing.

The deadline for the establishment of the Unified Information System for the needs of the Financial Supervision Commission is set for the autumn of 2023.

The event itself took place online through the MS Teams platform, which was introduced as part of the Commission’s telecommuting measures at the beginning of last year’s epidemic.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) is conducting a survey on the attitudes of potential European suppliers towards the supply of savings products. The aim is to collect the maximum amount of data and information available on the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP).

Regulation (EU) 2019/1238 on a pan-European personal pension product (PERP Regulation) was adopted in July 2019 and has been effective since August 2020. The publication in the Official Journal of the EU on 22.03.2021 of a Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/473 to supplement the PEPP Regulation also sets a date of 22.03.2022 from which it will apply. With this decision, the European Commission provides an opportunity for EU citizens to save for their future retirement through a safe, transparent and high-quality pension product.

The link where the survey can be found is:

https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/PEPP_survey, the latter being active until 31 May 2021.

The presented final data on the value and number of paid and filed claims under Motor Third Party Liability Insurance, including by risk groups, as of 31.03.2021 are published on the FSC website – www.fsc.bg, section “Insurance activity”, “Statistics”, “Non-life Insurance”, “2020”. The data do not include insurance contracts that are concluded by insurers under the right of establishment or under the terms of freedom to provide services.

On 15 and 16 April 2021, the next module of the FIN-TECH project of the University of Economics – Varna was launched, funded by the Horizon 2020 program of the European Commission. The online session was attended by experts from the Financial Supervision Commission, the University of Economics – Varna, the Bulgarian Fintech Association and representatives of fintech companies in Bulgaria.

Within the two days of the training, the Bulgarian fintech ecosystem was discussed, as well as real cases of using blockchain in fintech, cyber risk management through models based on rank scale and explicable artificial intelligence, smart contracts – management, opportunities and risks , the cryptocurrency market and methods for its analysis by applying various cluster techniques based on prototypes, etc.

The event is held within the project FIN-TECH “A FINancial supervision and TECHnology compliance training program”, funded by HORIZON 2020, in which the University of Economics – Varna and the Financial Supervision Commission represent Bulgaria in a consortium of 24 countries. Each of them is presented by an educational institution in the field of higher education and a regulatory body for the non-banking sector.

Since the start of the project, in early 2019, the experts of the FSC and the University of Economics – Varna participated in two more sessions for knowledge exchange in the fields of big data and artificial intelligence. The University of Economics – Varna and the FSC jointly organized and held an International Round Table “Peer to peer lending in Europe and the Balkan Peninsula”.

The Financial Supervision Commission is actively continuing to study the implementation of financial innovations in the non-banking financial sector.

 In order to communicate information about the case with the Romanian insurer Certasig-Insurance and Reinsurance Company AD, whose license was revoked by the Insurance Supervision Authority of the Republic of Romania, and in addition to the already published information from 17.03.2021, the FSC notifies the creditors of Certasig – Insurance and Reinsurance Company AD that they fall within the scope of the Romanian Law 213/2015 on the Guarantee Fund for the Insured, whose purpose, according to Art. 2, para. 1, is to protect the creditors of the insurer from the consequences of its insolvency. The FSC recalls the information provided by the Insurance Supervision Authority of the Republic of Romania that any person who has an insurance claim against Certasig – Insurance and Reinsurance Company AD may submit a justified request to the Guarantee Fund of the Republic of Romania as of the date of the decision of the Insurance Supervision Authority of the Republic of Romania for revocation of the license of Certasig – Insurance and Reinsurance Company AD, but not later than 90 days from the decision to open insolvency proceedings becoming effective (15.04.2021), and in case this right has occurred after the opening of the insolvency proceedings – within 90 days from its occurrence.

 In addition, the Insurance Supervision Authority of the Republic of Romania provides information that according to Art. 75, para. 1 of Romanian Law No. 85/2014 on insolvency prevention and insolvency proceedings, as of the date of the decision to open insolvency proceedings of Certasig – Insurance and Reinsurance Company AD becoming effective (14.01.2021), all judicial and extrajudicial proceedings instituted on the basis of individual claims of its creditors, as well as proceedings for the recovery of claims against them, shall be terminated. The presentation and collection of claims against Certasig – Insurance and Reinsurance Company AD can be carried out only in the open insolvency proceedings.

The FSC is conducting a study on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by entities under the Commission’s supervision. According to the Chairman of the FSC, Mr. Boyko Atanasov, the survey is very suitable in order to clarify the priorities and identify actions that may be necessary for the safe adoption of artificial intelligence in financial services. The study is part of the strategy for achieving the objectives of the Financial Supervision Commission for the period 2019 – 2021.

This is another in a series of studies conducted by the Financial Supervision Commission for the second year, related to trends in the use of financial innovations by supervised entities.

“Innovation in the field of artificial intelligence is the future. The financial sector is the one that has a serious need for tools for audit, control and options for early detection of risks affecting consumers,” said during the information campaign Mr. Boyko Atanasov, Chairman of the FSC.

The online survey was sent to representatives of the three branches of the non-banking financial sector – insurance, investment and pension insurance market. The study also focuses on the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the pace of automation and the adoption of AI in financial services. Therefore, proper control and sustainability of AI systems in the short term are crucial. There may be a need for further work on the audit of artificial intelligence algorithms in the future, which was already a key area of interest before Covid-19. In the long run, companies will need to think about AI and data management in a more holistic way, and in the context of their broader technology infrastructures, and adjust risk management processes accordingly. After the questionnaire is filled in, the FSC will compile a discussion document that will provide information on statistical results in quantitative and qualitative terms, as well as presenting the attitudes of supervised entities towards their answers.

The survey will be conducted online until 29 April 2021.

 For the period 01.03.2021 – 31.03.2021 the FSC received 1 (one) notification from the competent national authority of an EU Member State regarding the intention of an insurer based in its territory to operate on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria under the terms of the freedom to provide services.

 During the same period, the FSC received notifications from the competent EU supervisory authorities regarding the intention of 26 (twenty-six) insurance intermediaries based in EU Member States to carry out insurance intermediation activities on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria under the terms of freedom to provide services, as well as 1 (one) notification for termination of the activity of insurance mediation on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria under the terms of the freedom to provide services.

 As of 31.03.2021, the number of insurers based in other EU Member States which have notified the FSC of their intention to operate on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria amounts to 428 (four hundred and twenty-eight). At the same date, the insurance intermediaries which intend to carry out insurance intermediation activities on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria are 2,251 (two thousand two hundred and fifty-one).

 For the period 01.03.2021 – 31.03.2021, the FSC did not send notifications to the competent authorities of EU Member States about the intention of local insurance companies to operate on their territory. As of 31.03. 2021, the total number of insurance companies based in the Republic of Bulgaria which have stated their intention to carry out insurance activities on the territory of other EU Member States under the terms of freedom to provide services, remains 18.

 For the period 01.03.2021 – 31.03.2021 the FSC has not sent notifications to the competent supervisory authorities of the EU Member States about the intention of local insurance intermediaries to carry out insurance intermediation activities on their territory under the terms of freedom to provide services or the right of establishment. As of 31.03.2021, the total number of insurance intermediaries based in the Republic of Bulgaria which have declared their intention to carry out insurance intermediation activities on the territory of EU Member States, remains 52.

 The updated lists of notifications are available on the FSC website in the section “Supervised entities” – “Notifications”.

The Bulgarian Association of Licensed Investment Intermediaries (BALII) in partnership with the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC), the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), the Central Depository (CS) and the Investor Compensation Fund (FCI) reiterate that only licensed investment intermediaries may offer investment services.

Given the actions of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office and the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime in recent days to detect financial fraud schemes by unlicensed brokers, investment institutions remind citizens that they should always check whether the company that offers them financial services is licensed.

The license can be verified on the website of the Financial Supervision Commission.

The initiative for conducting the awareness campaign “Recognize the licensed investment firm” is also under the auspices of Boyko Atanasov, Chairman of the FSC. “In the Commission’s Development Strategy for the period 2019-2021 we set the main goal of public awareness and fraud prevention as a step of the strategy to achieve these results is to increase the financial literacy of citizens,” said Boyko Atanasov on the occasion of the campaign. The information materials indicate 10 features by which everyone can find out whether a company offering investment services is licensed or not.

The 10 signs for recognizing the licensed investment firm are published on the websites of the FSC and BALII.

At its meeting on 23.03.2021 the FSC decided to send a request to the Chairperson of the Sofia Regional Court to order all enterprises providing public electronic communications networks and / or services to suspend access to websites duly described in the FSC Decision No. 128-ИП/ 11.03.2021. According to the cited decision, the sites should have stopped offering investment services by 15.03.2021, because they belong to persons who are not entitled to carry out investment activities.

 The Chairperson of the Sofia Regional Court ordered all enterprises providing electronic communications networks and / or services within 24 hours from the publication of the order on the FSC website (05.04.2021) to suspend access from the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria to 8 the websites explicitly mentioned in the FSC’s request.

 The suspension of access to the described websites is necessitated by the fact that investment services are provided through them by persons who are not entitled to provide such services on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.

 The order of the Chairperson of the Sofia Regional Court which lists the websites to which access should be suspended can be found in the attached file (available in BG version).