Newsletter July 2017
As of June 2017, several significant changes were made to the Ordinance No. 16 of 2009 on the Licensing of Payment Institutions, Electronic Money Institutions and Payment Systems Operators (Ordinance No 16), adopted by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). The first category of these important changes is related to the powers of the Deputy Governor heading the Banking Department. In this respect, several provisions have been changed of Ordinance No 16. The new versions of Art. 7, para. 4 and Art. 39, para. 6 of Ordinance No 16 provide the issuing of a special order by the Deputy Governor heading the Banking Department with regard to entering, refusing to enter or deleting a representative or a branch of a payment institution, respectively of electronicmoney institutions, in a special register, which is kept by BNB. This register is public and the obligation for keeping such a special register is provided for in article 17 of the Law on Payment Services and Payment Systems (LPSPS).
The second category concerns the introduction of a new obligation for the BNB to maintain a list of payment institutions, respectively of electronic money institutions licensed in other Member States, which carry out on payment services on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria included in their license through a branch, representative office or directly. The list includes only payment institutions, respectively electronic money institutions, which meet the requirements of the LPSPS.
A third category of amendments to the Ordinance № 16 is related to the obligation of the operators of payment systems, payment institutions and electronic money institutions for immediate notification as well as their accountability. The provision of Art. 45, para. 2 is essential in introducing the obligation for payment systems and electronic money institutions to immediately notify the BNB in the following cases:
- If their solvency is jeopardized;
- If the own funds of the payment institution or of the electronic money institution respectively have fallen below the higher of the values established in the LPSPS.
Another important obligation of the operators of payment systems and the participants in the payment systems is the accountability for reporting of their operations every quarter. The reports are filed with the Banking Department of the BNB by the end of the month following the reported quarterly period.