The Bulgarian Parliament has elected Maria Filipova as the new Deputy Chair of FSC in charge of the Investment Activities Supervision Division and Iliana Hristova as the new Deputy Chair of FSC in charge of the Insurance Supervision Division
Today, 10th of April 2019 the 44th Bulgarian Parliament has elected Maria Filipova as the new Deputy Chair of FSC in charge of the Investment Activities Supervision Division and Iliana Hristova as the new Deputy Chair of FSC in charge of the Insurance Supervision Division.
The election was supported by 113 members of the Parliament.
During his presentation before the members of the Parliament Mr. Boyko Atanasov, the Chair of FSC introduced the candidatures for deputy chairs by underlining that the main goals he puts forward to the regulatory authority are “to create a strong team of professionals, a transparent and timely communication with the public and, most importantly, a strict supervision of the supervised persons in the three main areas regulated by the Commission – capital markets, insurance and social insurance“.
Mr. Atanasov outlined his reasons for proposing Maria Filipova for the Deputy Chair in charge of the Investment Activities Supervision Division. He stressed that Maria Filipova has over 10 years of experience in the legal field, which is “a prerequisite of having extensive knowledge and experience in analyzing, researching and undertaking activities on newly adopted regulations, optimizing existing laws and improving administrative procedures”. The Chair added that with Mrs. Filipova’s long experience in the state administration in the finance area, she will contribute to the successful international cooperation and exchange of good practices in the context of Bulgaria’s preparations for joining ERM II.
Maria Filipova presented to the members of the Parliament the vision outlining the direction of the Investment Activity Supervision Division for the development of the capital market, namely: increasing the liquidity of the capital market, providing the opportunity to finance new companies through it, accelerating the growth of the economy in the medium term and improving the image of Bulgaria on the international map of regulatory bodies in the non-banking financial sector as well as the better positioning of Bulgaria in the “investment map of Europe“. Her concept has three main areas of development in relation to the aforementioned cases and their importance for the capital market in Bulgaria, such as: regulatory activity and control, reduction of the administrative burden of the capital markets through the process optimization and digitization measures as well as international cooperation and exchange of good practices and international positioning of Bulgaria in order to attract new investors, participation in European programs for the development of capital markets in the EU.
Ms. Filipova stated to the members of the parliament her readiness to work “actively and consistently for the continuous improvement of the regulatory and supervisory activity of the Financial Supervision Commission, responding to the challenges in the investment sector, protection of the consumer’s interests of non-banking financial services. I hereby declare that the Financial Supervision Commission should continue to take active regulatory actions, to carry out effective risk-based supervision of the non-banking financial sector in order to ensure stable financial markets”.
The Chair of the Financial Supervision Commission, Mr. Boyko Atanasov, presented his motives for the nomination of Ms. Iliana Hristova as Deputy Chair in charge of the Insurance Supervision Division. According to him, the experience and ideas of Iliana Hristova are key to tackling the consequences of the bankruptcy of the insurance company “Olympic”, as well as to the promise of limiting and preventing such cases in the future. “In order to tackle the serious challenge with the Bonus-Malus system, the Financial Supervision Commission needs a firmly strong leader, with effective communication skills in discussions with all stakeholders in the process. I am convinced of the capabilities of Iliana Hristova, as she has manifested many times in dealing with crisis situations and timely communication to all interested parties”, added Mr. Atanasov.
In her concept, Ms Hristova has firmly stated that the Commission’s desired result in the field of insurance supervision “must be security for consumers of insurance services and citizens’ confidence in state control”. To achieve these results, Iliana Hristova has developed the details of a formula that will provide a strong and sustainable insurance sector, namely: control, communication, crisis prevention and digitization.
Ms. Iliana Hristova stated that “the direction we are going to follow aims to create a Customer-centric approach in the field of insurance, where the main focus is on the visibility of new ideas, the awareness of the course of action and the opportunities for fast two-way communication with citizens on basic and important topics”.
After the vote, Ms. Maria Filipova and Ms. Iliana Hristova swore to the members of the parliament and thanked the voted confidence.