Bulgarian authority probes FinTech use and impact in its market with questionnaire

On 30 August 2019, the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) published a questionnaire for entities subject to oversight by the regulator in relation to the financial-innovation technologies they may be using. According to the FSC, this questionnaire is part of an on-going initiative to monitor the use of FinTech on a national level and adapt regulations accordingly.

Purpose of the questionnaire

The regulator issued the questionnaire to evaluate the interest of companies (subject to its regulations) in their use of FinTech products, and to identify any associated risks. The FSC states that it is also determined to gain a better understanding of the effect of FinTech innovations on business models, and how to best protect consumers. Once the questionnaire's results are compiled and evaluated, the FSC will publish a consultation paper addressed to FinTech companies operating or intending to operate in the Bulgarian market. The paper will outline the FSC's views on FinTech development in Bulgaria.

Contents

The Questionnaire is made up of 27 questions, which cover a wide range of topics. Primarily, the FSC wants to determine the type of technology each company is using, and whether it relates to blockchain, big data, AI, customer identification, ICOs, or distributed ledger technology. Specifically, the FSC is examining:

• if FinTech solutions have resulted in reduced costs;
• how new technologies have improved services;
• what FinTech systems the companies expect to implement in the upcoming year;
• the effects of cybersecurity and cloud technologies; and
• the impact of regulations on the use of FinTech.

Next Steps

The questionnaires should be completed and submitted no later than 15 October 2019. Further to its strategy to conduct oversight of FinTech in the non-banking financial sector for the period 2018-2020, the FSC has already established an Innovation Hub as an informal sandbox mechanism for communication between the regulator and the respective market participants. For more information on the FSC FinTech questionnaire, please go to: https://www.fsc.bg/bg/finansovi-inovacii/konsultatsii/.

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