The Financial Supervision Commission of the Republic of Bulgaria warns all potential investors that Infinitrade, operating through the website www.infinitrade.com, does not have a license for an investment firm and is not entitled to carry out investment activities.

The Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) of the Republic of Bulgaria warns all potential investors that Infinitrade, operating through the website www.infinitrade.com and the companies A&I Products EOOD and A&I Products EOOD do not have a license issued by the FSC or by a competent authority of another Member State to act as an investment firm and are not entitled to provide investment services and / or to carry out investment activities. The listed companies are not entitled to receive money from individuals for the purpose of investing them in financial instruments.

The FSC draws the attention of potential investors to the fact that before transferring funds for trading in financial instruments, they should always check on the FSC website whether the person on whose account they intend to make the transfer has the right to provide investment services and / or perform investment activities.

An up-to-date list of companies that do not have a license to operate as an investment firm or management company in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria is available here.

Information on companies and platforms for which information is available that they are not licensed can also be found on the websites of:

 ESMA – https://www.esma.europa.eu/investor-corner/warning-and-publications-investors/;

 International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) – www.iosco.org/investor_protection/?subsection=investor_alerts_portal.

Pursuant to Art. 86, para. 11 of Ordinance No. 53 of 23.12.2016 on the requirements for reporting, valuation of assets and liabilities and the formation of technical reserves of insurers, reinsurers and the Guarantee Fund, the Financial Supervision Commission published the maximum amount of technical interest for calculating premiums and reserves for the period from 1 October 2021 to 31 December 2021. Data on the maximum amount of technical interest can be found in the section “Insurance Activity”, “Statistics”, “Life Insurance”.

On 05.10.2021 the Financial Supervision Commission was notified by the Financial Supervision Authority of the Republic of Romania (FINANCIAL SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY ROMANIA) of the revocation of the license of the Romanian insurer SOCIETATEA DE ASIGURARE – REASIGURARE CITY INSURANCE S.A. due to insolvency of the insurer. Action has been taken by the Romanian national competent authority before the competent Romanian court to open insolvency proceedings against the insurance company.

SOCIETATEA DE ASIGURARE – REASIGURARE CITY INSURANCE S.A. has the right to operate on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria under the terms of freedom to provide services, but according to the Romanian Financial Supervision Authority the insurer has not issued insurance to cover risks located in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The notice of license revocation is published on the website of the Financial Supervision Authority of the Republic of Romania at: https://asfromania.ro/en/a/2191/press-release.

The Financial Supervision Commission will promptly publish on its website: www.fsc.bg any information in connection with the open insolvency proceedings of SOCIETATEA DE ASIGURARE – REASIGURARE CITY INSURANCE S.A.

Up-to-date information can also be obtained through the Commission Information Centre: 0800 40 444 (toll-free number).

“The implementation of the Solvency II Regulation is expected in the short term to result in the release of up to € 90 billion in capital / financial resources that EU insurers can use to help recover from the current global crisis.” This was said by Mr. Vladimir Savov – Deputy Chairperson of the Financial Supervision Commission, Head of the Insurance Supervision Department in a special interview for dir.bg.

Mr. Savov added that “Those up to € 90 billion would be released in the short term, provided that the full combination of EC options is implemented in their current form. With the introduction of the changes over the next few years, these funds are expected to decline, including due to changes in market conditions.”

Among the other topics that the Deputy Chairperson of the FSC commented on is the accelerated digitalization of the insurance market caused by the pandemic, and his opinion, based on the latest available data in the FSC, is that in the last year the COVID-19 related risk is relatively limited in the insurance sector. The market is in relatively good financial condition and is prepared to meet a possible next wave.

At its meeting on 07.10.2021 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. 716-ИП/28.09.2021 and which by 07.10.2021 have not stopped offering investment services and activities by persons who are not entitled to carry out such services.

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 (14.10.2021) to suspend access from the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria to the four 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, together with the websites to which access should be suspended can be found in the attached file (available in BG version only).

For the period from 01.09.2021 to 30.09.2021 the FSC received notifications from the competent authorities of Member States regarding the intention of 71 (seventy-one) insurers and insurance intermediaries based in other EU Member States to operate (entry or termination of the notification) on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria under the terms of the freedom to provide services.

2 (two) notifications were received regarding the intention of insurance companies based in EU Member States to operate on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria under the terms of freedom to provide services, and by the end of September 2021 the total number of insurance companies based in other EU and EEA Member States which intend to operate in Bulgaria under the terms of freedom to provide services, increased to 413 (four hundred and thirteen).

For the period, the FSC received 13 (thirteen) notifications regarding the intention of insurance intermediaries based in EU Member States to carry out insurance mediation activities in Bulgaria under the terms of freedom to provide services, as well as 51 (fifty-one) notifications for termination of such activity in the country. As a result, as of 30.09.2021, the number of insurance intermediaries based in EU Member States that have stated their intention to carry out cross-border insurance intermediation activities in Bulgaria decreased to 2,227 (two thousand two hundred and twenty-seven).

In September 2021, the FSC sent notifications to the national competent authorities of the EU Member States about the intention of a local insurer to expand the scope of the company’s cross-border activities in their territory for certain classes of insurance.

During the same period, the FSC sent a notification to the competent authorities of EU Member States about the intention of a local insurance broker to expand its insurance intermediation activities by operating under the terms of freedom to provide services in their territory, as well as a notification to the national competent authority of the Republic of France for the intention of another insurance broker to start insurance intermediation activity on its territory.

As of the end of September 2021, the total number of local insurance companies that have stated their intention to carry out insurance activities in the territory of other EU and EEA Member States under the terms of freedom to provide services is 17 (seventeen), and the total number of insurance intermediaries based in the Republic of Bulgaria, which have stated their intention to carry out insurance intermediation activities on the territory of EU Member States under the terms of freedom to provide services or the right of establishment, remains 53 (fifty-three).

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

“The challenges posed by the pandemic to the insurance, supervisory and regulatory sectors have served as a catalyst for processes that have evolved over time but had not been considered a priority,” said the Deputy Chairperson of the Financial Supervision Commission, Head of the Insurance Supervision Department – Vladimir Savov, at the special event of the Tech21 series.

Vladimir Savov also said that in the first and most acute months of the Covid-19 pandemic, the high degree of digitalization is what is observed in the insurance sector and he believes that the process will continue and develop faster. He added that for the Financial Supervision Commission, as a regulator, the priorities that remain foremost are: to protect consumer rights as well as the financial stability of the insurance sector.

In conclusion, Mr. Savov drew attention to the risks that digitalization entails, such as cybersecurity, protection of personal data, non-disclosure of sensitive information, as well as possible digitalization of insurance supervision.

On 25 and 26 September 2021 were held the next exams for the right to practice as a broker of financial instruments and as an investment adviser.

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 and 15 of them passed the examination.

Lists of persons who passed the examination for acquisition of the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments:

1             Aleksandar Sergeev Ivanov

2             Valentina Velichkova Rangelova

3             Galina Stoyanova Ruseva

4             Deyan Lyubenov Ivanov

5             Zhana Kostadinova Hristova

6             Ivaylo Tomov Petrov

7             Ivaylo Tsvetanov Atanasov

8             Katya Ivanova Rangelova

9             Kristiyan Albert Andonov

10           Kristiyana Valentinova Savova

11           Rositsa Lazarinova Rancheva

12           Seniha Sebahtin Yusein

13           Teodor Getov Simeonov

14           Teodora Petrova Popovska

15           Yuliyan Yordanov Arsenov

The results of the grading and the scores are recorded in

Protocol No 1 of 8 October 2021 of the Examination Commission

appointed by the FSC Decision under Protocol No. 70 of 23 September 2021.

On September 26, 2021, 25 people took the examination for acquiring the right to exercise activity as an investment adviser, with 29 candidates admitted and 17 of them passed the examination.

Lists of persons who passed the examination for acquisition of the right to exercise activity as an investment adviser:

1             Albena Ankova Ivanova

2             Aleksandar Sergeev Ivanov

3             Atanaska Nikolova Pahuncheva

4             Velizar Zahariev Furlanski

5             Galina Stoyanova Ruseva

6             Georgi Vasilev Popover

7             Dian Hristov Dimov

8             Dobrin Plamenov Tomov

9             Iliya Dimitrov Patsev

10           Kamen Ognyanov Kanev

11           Kristiyan Albert Andonov

12           Nikolay Zhivkov

13           Nikolay Ivanov Ivanchev

14           Panayot Georgiev Poshtov

15           Tatyana Petrova Koleva

16           Teodora Galinova Antonova

17           Yaroslav Vyacheslavovich Devitsky

The results of the grading and the scores are recorded in

Protocol No 2 of 8 October 2021 of the Examination Commission,

appointed by the FSC Decision under Protocol No. 70 of 23 September 2021.

Pursuant to Art. 9, para. 3 of Ordinance No. 7 of 27.05.2021 on the procedure for acquisition, recognition and revocation of legal capacity of brokers of financial instruments and investment advisers, within 10 working days from the announcement of the results of the examination, the persons who have not passed may request the FSC to get acquainted with the results of the grading of their written work.

To the attentions of those who passed the examinations for the acquisition of the right to exercise activity as a broker of financial instruments and as an investment adviser

The certificates can be received from 18.10.2021 from the office of the FSC within the working hours from 9:00 to 17:30 after presentation of an identity document and a document for paid fee in the amount of BGN 25, according to Section I, item II, item 9, proposal two of the Tariff of Fees Collected by the FSC, which is an appendix to Art. 27, para. 1 of the Financial Supervision Commission Act.

Payment can be made at the cash desk in the FSC building or by bank transfer to the account:

IBAN: BG95 BNBG 9661 3000 1415 01,

BIC: BNBGBGSD, BNB – Central Office

The data presented from the reports of insurers in non-life and life insurance at the end of July 2021 are summarized and published on the FSC website – www.fsc.bg, section “Insurance Activity”, “Statistics”.

The presented reports and statements of insurers and reinsurers in non-life insurance and life insurance, according to Ordinance No. 53 of 23.12.2016 and quarterly quantitative templates, according to Regulation (EU) 2015/2450 under Art. 304, paragraph 1, letter “d” of Regulation (EU) 2015/35 at the end of the second quarter of 2021 are summarized and published on the FSC website – www.fsc.bg, section “Insurance Activity“, “Statistics”.