The Financial Supervisory Commission of Bulgaria (FSC) plans to start monitoring and analyzing crypto currencies and ICO launched in the country to combat money laundering and crypto currency fraud. This is reported by local mass media.
According to the document “Strategy for monitoring financial technologies in the non-banking financial sector (2018 - 2020)”, published on the FSC website, the regulator plans to pay special attention to 4 main areas:
1. setting requirements for the possible licensing or registration of companies offering financially innovative products and / or services and technologies in a non-bank financial sector;
2. analysis of the need for a regulatory framework in relation to outsourcing services, including cloud services;
3. creation of innovative hubs;
4. management of risks in the field of cyber security.
“The challenge for the non-banking financial sector is to balance the benefits of the introduction of cutting-edge technology and preserve financial stability and safety for consumers and investors in the sector,” the FSC strategy reads.
According to data from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), investments in the fintech sector from January to September of 2016 reached US$19 billion globally, which is 5 times more than in 2013. However, Bulgarian regulators are still lagging behind in creating rules and preventing crimes in the field of crypto currencies.
It is worth mentioning that, Bulgarian government is the 2nd richest bitcoin owner in the globe. Recently, the police operations in the country seized 213,519 bitcoins of suspected criminals.
Source: fsc.bg
