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information about the case with the Romanian insurer Certasig-Insurance and Reinsurance Company AD, whose license was revoked by the Insurance Supervision Authority of the Republic of Romania, and in addition to the already published information from 17.03.2021, the FSC notifies the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).

 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 fourth quarter of 2020 are summarized and published on the FSC website – www.fsc.bg, “Insurance activity“, “Statistics”.

This week the official start of the first and only think tank for sustainable finance and energy in Bulgaria – Green Finance & Energy Centre. The Green Centre was established on the initiative of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX) and is realized with the support of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Energy, the Financial Supervision Commission and the Fund of Funds.

A symbolic start to the activities of the Green Centre was given through the digital signing of the Charter for Sustainable Economic Development of Bulgaria.

Ms. Mariya Filipova, Deputy Chairperson of the Financial Supervision Commission, Head of the Investment Supervision Department, welcomed the partners and participants in the project, saying that “we are all committed to the cause of working actively for the development of the capital market, to strive for sustainable growth and build a climate-neutral economy in the long run.”

In her presentation, Ms. Filipova stressed that “the basis for balanced and fruitful interaction between the regulator, corporate management, shareholders and other stakeholders is respect for the rights and obligations of all market participants.” She called for responsible decision-making and focus on working to ensure favourable conditions for achieving sustainable growth and achieving common long-term goals, as well as establishing transparent and fair relationships between all participants in the capital market.

The Green Centre is a NGO – think tank for sustainable finance and energy. The Centre creates policies in the fields of sustainable finance and energy, leads the public debate and formulates specific solutions on these issues in the country.

Although 83.9% of companies assess the level of their policies above average, over 41% of them lack information and 37.5% of companies report as an important problem the lack of codes and methodological documents with a practical focus. This became evident from the study of the environment from the aspects of ecology, social responsibility and good corporate governance (the so-called ESG practices – Environmental, Social, Governance) – made by VUZF Lab on behalf of the BSE among 56 companies from 7 economic sectors. The study was presented by Prof. Virzhinia Zhelyazkova – Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Quality at the Higher School of Insurance and Finance.

Mr. Manyu Moravenov and Mr. Konstantin Konstantinov, Executive Directors of the BSE and IBEX presented the mission, goals and first initiatives to be taken by the Green Centre. These include raising awareness among businesses, upgrading the code of good corporate governance with aspects of environmental development and social responsibility, creating a stock exchange Green Index to encourage companies to implement ESG practices, and to distinguish those who do so in the best way.

Special guests of the event were Marinela Petrova – Deputy Minister of Finance, Zhecho Stankov – Deputy Minister of Energy, and Aleksandar Georgiev – Executive Director of the Fund of Funds.

The views of Europe and the world on sustainable finance and energy were provided by Eva Maidel, Member of the European Parliament, and Anthony Miller, Chief Coordinator of the UN Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative.

More information about Green Finance & Energy Centre – www.gfecentre.org

Once more “Capital” brought together the financial technology community at the traditional FinTech Summit.

Fintech entrepreneurs and innovators, visionaries, bankers, financial experts, representatives of companies from the country and abroad, as well as the central government and regulators discussed the future of the fintech sector, and how the global economic crises caused by COVID in 2020 turned out to be a stimulus for the development of financial technology.

“Technological advances offer the insurance industry tremendous opportunities to meet growing customer needs and regulatory requirements. More and more, maintaining competitiveness will mean that insurers have to keep up with the latest developments in insurtech, so that companies can ensure that they take advantage of the best possible technological solutions,” said Vladimir Savov – Deputy Chairperson of the FSC, Head of the Insurance Supervision Department in his opening speech at the Innovation in the Insurance Sector panel. He added that he “believes that we, as an insurance regulatory and supervisory body, need to address the following challenges in the near future:

• We need to understand how innovation works and is implemented to ensure an adequate assessment of new product and business models.
• We will also need to balance the risks of innovation with the benefits for policyholders and the insurance sector as a whole, and consider how to create the right environment to foster innovation. In other words, we need to find a balance between fostering innovation and protection against the negative aspects of any potential customer and business disruptions.
• We will need to assess and, where appropriate, adjust the regulatory framework, especially on the part of market behaviour, in order to adequately deal with changing risks and business models.
• We will need to organize the appropriate capacity – technical resources, knowledge and skills – to be able to respond to and monitor FinTech solutions in the future.

In conclusion, Mr. Vladimir Savov assured the conference participants that “The Financial Supervision Commission is fully committed to its strategic goals, namely to protect consumers of financial services, maintain the stability of the non-banking financial sector and promote business development. We will strive to apply the same principles in building and maintaining an adequate understanding of financial innovation. In this way, we intend to strengthen cooperation with stakeholders, first and foremost with the insurance sector.”

The Deputy Chairperson, Head of the Investment Supervision Department, approved an updated template of Report No. 7 Management Company – Portfolio, part of the templates of reports to the financial statements of management companies, determined by Decision No. 1522 – КИС of 08.12.2017. The current templates of reports are available on the website of the Financial Supervision Commission, section “Administrative documents”, “Forms and samples”, “Investment activity”.

The data presented from the reports of insurers in non-life and life insurance at the end of November 2020 are summarized and published on the FSC website – www.fsc.bg, section “Insurance activity”, “Statistics”.