At its meeting held on 17.02.2022, the Financial Supervision Commission decided under Protocol No. 14 of 17.02.2022 to conduct examinations for acquiring the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments and as an investment adviser and set dates for these examinations on 28.05.2022 (Saturday) and 29.05.2022 (Sunday), respectively, approved the Procedure for conducting examinations for acquiring the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments or as an investment adviser, Thematic syllabus for the examination for acquiring the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments and Thematic syllabus for the examination for acquiring the right to exercise activity as an investment adviser. The syllabi and the procedure for conducting examinations for acquiring the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments or as an investment adviser are published on the official website of the Financial Supervision Commission, in the section “Investment Activity”, “Legal capacity examinations”, “Examinations for broker of financial instruments and investment adviser”.

Templates of applications for admission to the examination and of the required declarations have been prepared as appendices to Ordinance No. 7. The persons who wish to acquire the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments and / or as an investment adviser, according to Art. 10, para. 1 of Ordinance No. 7 shall submit applications for admission to an examination according to a template with the content under Art. 10, para. 2 of Ordinance No. 7 in the office of the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) or online at delovodstvo@fsc.bg. The documents according to Art. 10, para. 3 of Ordinance № 7, which are explicitly indicated in the template need to be attached to the application.

Templates of applications for admission to examinations and the required declarations are available on the FSC website.

The documents for the examinations, which will be held on 28 May 2022 (Saturday) and 29 May 2022 (Sunday), are submitted in the period from 21 February 2022 (Monday) to 21 April 2022 (Thursday) inclusive.

The application must indicate the e-mail address to which messages on the open procedure for admission to the examination will be sent.

Applications for admission to the examination for acquiring the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments or as an investment adviser, submitted after the announced deadline for submission of applications for admission to the upcoming examinations will not be considered.

At its meeting held on 17.02.2022, the Financial Supervision Commission decided under Protocol No. 14 of 17.02.2022 to conduct examinations for acquiring the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments and as an investment adviser and set dates for these examinations on 28.05.2022 (Saturday) and 29.05.2022 (Sunday), respectively, approved the Procedure for conducting examinations for acquiring the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments or as an investment adviser, Thematic synopsis for the examination for acquiring the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments and Thematic synopsis for the examination for acquiring the right to exercise activity as an investment adviser.

Following the publication of the thematic syllabi, the FSC received inquiries regarding the scope of certain topics in the thematic syllabi, and in particular regarding the topic related to the regulation of the financial market in Bulgaria. In this regard, for the purpose of clear and unambiguous understanding of the content and scope of the topics included in the thematic syllabus of the examination for acquiring the right to exercise activity as an investment adviser, at its meeting held on 24.02.2022, the Financial Supervision Commission decided on Protocol No. 15 of 24.02.2022 for amendment in the Thematic syllabus of the examination for acquiring the right to exercise activity as an investment adviser, adopted by decision on Protocol No.14 of 17.02.2022 at a meeting of the Financial Supervision Commission. The following changes have been made in the amended thematic syllabus:

– A new topic entitled “Regulation of the financial market in Bulgaria” with a weight of 10% in the examination is added and it is differentiated as part Three of the syllabus;

– In connection with the previous amendment, the numbering of the parts of the syllabus is updated, as well as the weight is reduced from 15% to 10% on two other topics in the thematic syllabus for the examination for acquiring the right to practice as an investment adviser.

The syllabi and the procedure for conducting examinations for acquiring the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments or as an investment adviser are published on the official website of the Financial Supervision Commission, in the section “Investment Activity”, “Legal capacity examinations”, “Examinations for broker of financial instruments and investment adviser”.

The examinations for the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments and as an investment adviser were held on 25 and 26 September 2021.

On September 25, 2021, 17 people took the examination for acquiring the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments, with 21 candidates admitted.

On September 26, 2021, 25 people took the examination for acquiring the right to exercise activity as an investment adviser, with 29 candidates admitted.

The examination papers of the candidates who took the exams will be graded by the examination commission by 8 October 2021. The results of the examinations will be published on the website of the Financial Supervision Commission in compliance with the rules of personal data protection and the names of the successful candidates will be published.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its annual Public Statement setting out European common enforcement priorities for the 2021 Annual Financial Statements of issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market.

* A Bulgarian translation of ESMA’s Guidelines on Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) can be found on the FSC website: www.fsc.bg, section Legislation / Guidelines and recommendations of the European Supervisory Authorities / ESMA.

Issuers and their auditors should take into account the main issues addressed in ESMA’s public statement when preparing and auditing the annual financial statements (AFSs) of issuers and public companies for 2021.

ESMA and national competent regulators will ensure compliance with the specific requirements set out above in the presentation of financial statements by public companies and issuers. Appropriate measures will be taken in case of significant discrepancies.

The statement is published on ESMA’s website and can be accessed here.

A translation into Bulgarian of the text of the public statement can be found on the FSC website www.fsc.bg, section European Affairs / EU News / Notices.

In connection with the application of Art. 73, Art. 75, Art. 76, para. 1, Art. 77, para. 1 and Art. 156, para. 1 of Ordinance No. 44 of 20.10.2011 on the requirements for the activity of collective investment schemes, management companies, national investment funds and alternative investment fund managers, in connection with Art. 64, para. 2 and Art. 92, para. 1 and 2 of the Collective Investment Schemes and Other Undertakings for Collective Investments Act, updated templates of reports to the financial statements of management companies and collective investment schemes have been approved, as well as a table for presenting summary information on the declared issue values and redemption prices of units of collective investment schemes, together with instructions to it.

The current templates of reports and table are published in the section “Administrative documents”, subsection “Forms and templates”, “Investment activity”.

Manner of submitting and explaining an approved report on commercial real estate owned by special purpose vehicles securitizing real estate on a quarterly and annual basis on an individual basis according to a template determined by the Deputy Chairperson of the FSC, head of the Investment Supervision Department.

In connection with an approved report on commercial real estate (CRE) owned by special purpose vehicles (SPVs) securitizing real estate, on a quarterly and annual basis on an individual basis in connection with the implementation of Recommendations C and D of the Recommendation of the European Systemic Risk Board of 21 March 2019 (ESRB / 2019/3) according to the template determined by the Deputy Chairperson of the FSC, Head of the Investment Supervision Department, to the financial statements and public notifications of SPVs it is necessary to take into account the following:

The information in column No. 1 of the report on CRE owned by the SPV is filled in by explicitly individualizing the respective property owned by the SPV (indicating location, type – land, building, etc.), and “owned by CRE 1, CRE2, etc. n.” is described for the purpose of sequentially listing the relevant CREs. Information on the CRE owned by the specialized company should be provided on a quarterly and annual basis, taking into account the requirement to report the type and location of the property by balances and flows specifying direct and indirect ownership of the CRE according to Form B “Indicators for financial system exposures”, respectively“ Exposure indicators” to Annex III “Indicative models for indicators for the commercial real estate sector “of the Recommendation. According to item 5 “Assessment of the exposures of the financial system to commercial real estate” of Annex V “Guidelines on definitions and indicators” of the Recommendation, investments may cover both direct ownership of CREs by SPVs, e.g. by virtue of the right of ownership over the CRE, as well as the indirect ownership of the CRE in the line of property which the SPV owns from the capital of a specialized company established or acquired by it, when these CREs are owned by this specialized company. The column “Book value of those received during the period in BGN thousand” indicates the value of the acquisition of CRE which was acquired after the beginning of the period.

It is necessary to indicate all CREs even if they do not generate rental income, respectively construction has not started, given the requirement for subsequent evaluation of CRE according to Art. 23 of the Law on Special Purpose Vehicles and Securitization Companies, respectively whether there is a change in the value of the property.

The report on the CREs held by a SPV should be disclosed together with the financial statements and notifications of the companies in the respective order.

 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.

 In connection with the frequent inquiries regarding the determination of the amount of pensions from universal pension funds (the so-called “second pension”) and given the high public interest in the adoption and alignment of regulations with amendments to the Social Insurance Code governing the payment of pensions from the universal pension funds, promulgated in the State Gazette, 19 / 5 March 2021, the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) provides the following clarifications:

 The Social Insurance Code (SIC) specifies the types of pension products and the obligations of pension insurance companies in relation to their payment and guarantees. The determination of the amount of the supplementary lifelong old-age pension from the universal pension funds is regulated at the legal level and is determined on the basis of the following 3 components:

1. the funds under the individual account of the insured person

 The information on the accumulations on the individual accounts of the persons insured in the universal pension funds is kept by the pension insurance companies. The insured person has the right to receive at any time information about the current state of the accumulated funds in their individual account. Regardless of the chosen type of payment – one-off, deferred or lifelong, for determining the initial amount of the pension, all funds on the individual account of the person at the time of concluding the pension contract are taken into account.

2. the table of mortality and average life expectancy, published by the National Statistical Institute

 The table for mortality and life expectancy of the National Statistical Institute is publicly available information available on the Institute’s website and is updated according to the statistical information calendar. Using a single table of mortality and calculating the pensions from universal pension funds by single formulas ensures the same way of calculating the pensions of all persons, regardless of the fund in which they are insured.

3. technical interest rate

 When calculating the amount of pensions, a technical interest rate is used, which reflects the expectations for the return on investment of pensioners’ funds. Its specific amount is determined by each pension insurance company in compliance with the regulatory requirements.

 In this regard, the FSC adopted the Ordinance on Technical Interest Rates and Formulas for Calculating Supplementary Lifetime Pensions for Old Age and the Ordinance on Reserves of Pension Insurance Companies for Guaranteeing the Gross Amount of Contributions to Universal Pension Funds Related to Calculating the Supplementary Lifetime Pension for Old Age. As a result, pension insurance companies have the necessary information and can perform forecast calculations and consult their clients.

 With regard to the deadlines for exercising the right of persons to choose social insurance:

 Persons who, up to and including 30 June 2021, have less than 5 years until the retirement age and who have not been granted a pension for length of service and age, may, once, until 30 June 2021, exercise the right to choose to change their insurance from a universal pension fund to the state social insurance.

 From 01 January 2022, other deadlines for exercising this right apply:

 – from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2025 – not later than 1 year before the age under Art. 68, para. 1;

 – from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2030 – not later than 2 years before the age under Art. 68, para. 1;

 – from 1 January 2031 to 31 December 2035 – not later than 3 years before the age under Art. 68, para. 1;

 – from 1 January 2036 to 31 December 2037 – not later than 4 years before the age under Art. 68, para. 1;

 – after 1 January 2038 – not later than 5 years before the age under Art. 68, para. 1

Data on the capital market for 2020 have been uploaded on the FSC website – www.fsc.bg, section “Investment Activity”, “Statistics”, “2020”.