In order to raise the awareness and financial literacy of consumers of non-banking financial services, the Financial Supervision Commission has published two new documents related to the use of a robo adviser. The technology provides automated investment advice at low cost, using portfolio management algorithms.

This is the link where the published documents can be found: https://www.fsc.bg/?page_id=15928

The Financial Supervision Commission makes recommendations to the participants in the capital market for increased vigilance and the implementation of an enhanced risk management policy before proceeding with investments in financial instruments issued by issuers related to the Russian Federation. The scope of the warnings also includes issuers and counterparties whose production, supply chains and end markets are strongly linked to the Russian Federation.

The actions taken by the FSC are in the context of the complicated international situation and the imposition of sanctions and restrictions by the EU, USA, Canada, UK and other countries on the Russian Federation, the Russian Central Bank, credit institutions and companies and individuals.

The international tensions that have led to sanctions and restrictions on the Russian Federation are another challenge for international financial markets. However, the Financial Supervision Commission is confident that all companies in the capital market will be able to successfully deal with the situation, respecting the interests of their customers and working to maintain the stability of the capital market in Bulgaria.

The Financial Supervision Commission draws the issuers’ attention to the fact that the deadline for announcing a public notification on a consolidated basis of financial position for the fourth quarter of 2021 before the FSC and the media expires on 01.03.2022. According to Art. 100 o1, para. 2 of the Public Offering of Securities Act (POSA), the issuer is obliged to submit to the FSC a public notification / report on a consolidated basis on its financial position for the fourth quarter of 2021 within 60 days from the end of the respective quarter. The public notification / report on the financial position of the company shall be submitted to the FSC by the procedure of Art. 100t, para. 4 of the POSA, namely through the unified system for providing information electronically – e-Register. The public notification / report on the financial position of the company for the fourth quarter of 2021 shall be disclosed to the public within the statutory period, namely until 01.03.2022 inclusive, in the manner provided in Art. 100t, para. 3 of the POSA – through an information agency or other media selected by the company.

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”.

Mr. Boyko Atanasov, Chairman of the Financial Supervision Commission, will take part in a round table organized by the Higher School of Insurance and Finance (VUZF) on “Strategic Management and Regulation of Business Processes in the State” on 31 March 2022.

The first panel of the round table focuses on the need for a strategy for economic development of the country and the necessary steps in this regard. Well-known experts and lecturers from prestigious universities in Bulgaria will take part in it.

The second panel focuses on the regulatory function of the state. In it, Mr. Boyko Atanasov will present the regulatory functions of the FSC and the directions for development of the non-banking financial sector in Bulgaria.

The event is organized by VUZF and the Laboratory for Scientific and Applied Research VUZF Lab and will be broadcast live through their online channels.

The Social Insurance Supervision Department of the FSC announced the preliminary results of the supplementary pension insurance activity for 2021. The information was obtained on the basis of the reports and references submitted by the pension insurance companies to the Financial Supervision Commission. The data on distribution of insured persons by sex and age in the pension funds as of 31.21.2021 have also been published.

The total number of insured persons in the four types of pension funds as of 31.21.2021 is 4,849,754 people, increasing compared to 31.21.2020 by 0.64 per cent.

As of 31.12.2021, the net assets of the pension funds amount to BGN 19,557,121 thousand. Compared to the end of 2020, the net assets of pension funds increased by 13.08 percent.

The total revenues of the pension insurance companies for 2021 amount to BGN 311,101 thousand. The net financial result of the companies for 2021 amounts to BGN 75,219 thousand.

By the end of 2021, 7 lifelong pension payment funds (LPPFs) and 9 deferred payment funds (DPFs) have been established. During the period 01.09.2021 – 31.12.2021 a total of 270 pension contracts were concluded for payment of additional lifelong old-age pension and 1 863 contracts for deferred payment of funds with the first persons insured in the universal pension funds who have reached retirement age. . In order to make payments to these persons during the period 01.09.2021 – 31.12.2021, BGN 4,491 thousand were transferred from their individual accounts to the LPPFs and BGN 8,625 thousand to the DPFs. During the same period, BGN 52,000 was paid for pensions by the LPPF, and BGN 596,000 was paid by the DPFs for deferred payments to insured persons and BGN 8,000 once to heirs of insured persons who received deferred payments.

Funds in the amount of BGN 58,000 were once paid from the universal pension funds to insured persons who have reached retirement age.

Information on the preliminary results of the supplementary pension fund and payment fund activity for 2021 and on the insured persons and the accumulated funds as of 31.12.2021 by sex and age are available in the section: Social Insurance activity / Statistics / Statistics and analysis.

The FSC draws the attention of investors to the fact that Arch Capital OOD is not entered in the public register of the FSC as a national investment fund, nor as an alternative investment fund manager and the alternative investment funds managed by them. ARCH Capital OOD is not entitled to offer potential clients investments in real estate, virtual assets, including cryptocurrencies, NFTs, start-ups and other types of alternative investments.

According to data available in the FSC, Arch Capital LTD operates at its address -. Sofia, 23 Tvardishki Prohod Str., Apt. office 24 and at Sofia, 109 Bulgaria Blvd., Vertigo Business Tower.

The FSC draws the attention of investors to be especially vigilant when transferring funds in connection with the offered financial service.

Before transferring money, each investor must check whether the person proposing a transaction has a license from the FSC or the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). Information on the activities subject to licensing is available on the websites of both regulators; it can also be obtained by written inquiry or telephone call.

In the event that the provision of the relevant service requires a license or permit, each investor must ensure that the company with which he is negotiating actually has one. Such information is contained on the websites of the FSC and the BNB.

As an additional guarantee for the security of investments, the FSC recommends each investor to request information from the bank who is the holder of the respective bank account provided for transfer. Very often, persons who engage in illegal financial activities or investment fraud provide their potential investors with a bank account for transfer to a person whose name is similar to that of a licensed entity.

Therefore, after receiving information from the bank about the exact name of the account holder, the potential investor should check whether it completely matches the name of the licensed entity.

The Financial Supervision Commission created the campaign #invest safely (https://investsafely.fsc.bg/) to enable consumers to identify legitimate investment schemes, but also to learn the signs by which to identify irregularities.

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.

A general administrative act was issued – Decision No. 124 of 14.02.2022 for determining the amount of minimum percentages, according to Art. 91, para. 3, item 2 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 (Ordinance No. 53), as well as the period for their application.

The decision is available on the FSC website in the section Administrative Documents (available in BG version).

For January 2022 the FSC received 81 (eighty-one) notifications from the competent authorities of Member States regarding the intention of insurers and insurance intermediaries based in other EU Member States to operate on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria under the terms of the freedom to provide services, including notifications for extension of the scope of the performed activity or provision of information for the change of addresses, representatives and other circumstances.

During the period no notifications were received from the national competent authorities regarding the intention of insurance companies to operate on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria under the terms of freedom to provide services or the right of establishment, but 1 (one) notification was received regarding the withdrawal of an insurer based in Hungary to operate on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria under the conditions of the freedom to provide services.

As of the end of January 2022, the number of insurance companies based in other EU and EEA Member States which have notified the FSC of their intention to operate on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria under the terms of freedom to provide services, decreased to 417 (four hundred and seventeen).

In January 2022, the FSC received 16 (sixteen) notifications from the competent EU supervisory authorities regarding the intention of insurance intermediaries based in EU Member States to carry out insurance intermediation activities in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria under the terms of freedom to provide services.

During the same period, 56 (fifty-six) notifications were received regarding the termination of insurance intermediation activities on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria under the terms of the freedom to provide services. As a result, at then end of January 2022, 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 2,128 (two thousand one hundred and twenty-eight).

In January 2022, the FSC notified the competent authority of the Republic of Portugal the intention of 1 (one) local insurer to extend the classes of insurance it offers in the territory of that Member State. As of the end of January 2022, the total number of local insurance companies which have stated their intention to carry out insurance activities on the territory of other Member States of the EU and the EEA under the terms of freedom to provide services, remains 17.

For the period 01.01.2022 – 31.01.2022 the FSC has not sent notifications to the national competent authorities of the EU Member States regarding the intention or withdrawal of the intention of the insurance intermediaries based in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria to carry out cross-border activity.

At the end of the period, the total number of insurance intermediaries based in the Republic of Bulgaria which declared their intention to carry out insurance intermediation activities in the territory of EU Member States under the terms of freedom to provide services or the right of establishment, remains 55 (fifty five) intermediaries.

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