There is just over a year left until the EU transitions to T+1. The readiness of the Bulgarian market will depend on whether all the market participants will be able to work together within this shorter timeframe – said the Chairman of the Financial Supervision Commission, Vasil Golemanski, who opened the third meeting of the National Forum on the Transition to T+1.

The meeting focused on the topics of testing, operational readiness, and coordination among institutions and market participants to ensure that processes can be completed within the significantly shorter timeframes.

The event featured presentations on the updated key dates, the testing schedule, changes to the European regulatory framework, and the progress made by the institutions involved in the preparations. The coordinator of the National Forum, Mira Dobreva-Hilton, emphasized on the need to complete the main part of the analysis, the development of solutions, and their implementation within the current preparation phase by the end of 2026, in accordance with ESMA’s recommendations.

Particular attention was paid to the topic concerning practical testing of the processes. The participants must verify the transaction processing times, the data exchange channels as well as the procedures for handling discrepancies and the interaction between individual systems and institutions. Alongside the technical preparations, the legal framework was also discussed. Petya Hantova, advisor to the Chair of FSC, presented the latest updates at the European level, the mandatory requirements for participants as well as the necessary changes to the national regulatory framework.

The discussion that followed addressed specific technical issues, including partial settlement, corporate events, and the necessary tests, as well as the progress made by individual institutions.

The Executive Director of Central Depository AD, Georgi Karadzhov, presented the key European recommendations regarding the settlement system, the extent to which they have been implemented and the company’s current level of readiness.

Representatives of BSE, ABB, BNB, CD AD, ABIRD, BICA, BASPSC, BALII and BAAMC also presented the actions their institutions have undertaken and planned and discussed the technical issues that need to be resolved before the transition to T+1.

At the end of the meeting, the Chair of FSC put an emphasis on the market’s tasks and challenges, highlighting the need for individual institutions not only to complete their own preparations in the coming months, but also for the entire process to be tested in coordination among the participants – from the processing and confirmation of transactions to settlement and the management of any discrepancies that arise.

The next official meeting of the National Forum on the Transition to T+1 is scheduled for November 2026.