Financial license in Bulgaria can be obtained quickly and at quite reasonable costs. Bulgarian financial institutions are governed by the Credit Institutions Act and in accordance with its Art. 3, a financial institution is a legal entity different from a credit institution or an investment intermediary. Main activity of licensed financial institutions in Bulgaria is performing one or more of the following:
- Providing payment services under the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act;
- Issuing and administering other means of payment (travellers checks and letters of credit) as far as this activity is not covered by item 1;
- Financial leasing;
- Guarantee transactions;
- Trading on your own account or for account of customers in foreign currencies and precious metals with the exception of derivative financial instruments on foreign currency and precious metals;
- Provision of services and / or activities under Art. 5 para. 2 and 3 of Markets in Financial Instruments Directive;
- Currency brokerage;
- Acquisition of credit claims and other forms of financing (factoring, forfeiting, etc.);
- Issuing electronic money;
- Acquisition of shares in a credit institution or other financial institution;
- Lending funds, that are not raised through public deposits or other repayable funds.
Financial institutions are subject to registration with BNB (Bulgarian National Bank) public register. A very important detail in this regard is that if there is a specific activity under a special law – the arrangements for licensing a Bulgarian financial institution are different. For example, a financial institution that issues electronic money should be registered and licensed under the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act.