Ordinance No. 22 of the BNB

Ordinance No. 22 of the BNB of 16 July 2009 on the Central Credit Register

(Published in "State Gazette", No. 62 of 4 August 2009; in force from 1 October 2009; amended and supplemented, No. 31 of 2012; amended and supplemented, No. 93 of 2015; amended and supplemented, No. 81 and 103 of 2016; amended and supplemented, No. 21 of 2017; amended and supplemented, No. 37 of 2018; amended and supplemented, No. 42 of 2019, in force from 5 June 2019, amended and supplemented, No. 100 of 2019, in force from 1 January 2020; amended and supplemented, No. 18 of 2020; supplemented, No. 101 of 2020, in force from 1 December 2020; amended and supplemented, No. 110 of 2020, in force from 1 January 2021; amended and supplemented, No. 91 of 2021; amended and supplemented, No. 101 of 2022, in force from 1 January 2023; amended and supplemented; No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024; amended and supplemented; No. 97 of 2025, in force from 14 November 2025; amended and supplemented – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026)

Chapter One

General Provisions

Art. 1. (Amended – SG, No. 81 of 2016, in force from 1 January 2017.) This Ordinance regulates the functioning, scope, procedure and deadlines for submitting and obtaining information from the Central Credit Register.

Art. 2. (Supplemented – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; amended – SG, No. 37 of 2018; amended and supplemented, No. 101 of 2022, in force from 1 January 2023; amended and supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) The Central Credit Register is part of an organized and maintained by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) Integrated Information System, which contains information on the credit liabilities of clients to:

1. banks and branches of banks operating within the country;
2. financial institutions registered under Art. 3a of the Credit Institutions Act (CIA), excluding foreign financial institutions that operate directly within the Republic of Bulgaria;
3. payment institutions and e-money institutions granting loans under Art. 21 of the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act (PSPSA), which operate within the Republic of Bulgaria;
4. investors who have provided a loan through a crowdfunding service provider, excluding foreign providers that operate directly within the Republic of Bulgaria;
5. buyers of credits under Art. 7 of the Law on Persons Servicing Credits and Buyers of Credits (LPSBC), who acquire claims on non-performing loans provided by credit institutions.

Art. 3. (1) (Previous text of Art. 3 – SG, No. 37 of 2018.) The Register ensures:

1. (supplemented – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; amended – SG, No. 37 of 2018; amended and supplemented, No. 101 of 2022, in force from 1 January 2023; amended – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) centralization of information on the credit liabilities of clients to the institutions and persons under Art. 2, items 1 – 5;
2. (supplemented – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; amended – SG, No. 37 of 2018; amended – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) use of information by the institutions and persons under Art. 2, items 1 – 3 and item 5, by crowdfunding service providers under Art. 2, item 4 and by persons servicing credits licensed under Art. 9 of the LPSBC;
3. summarization of the collected information and its use for the needs of the BNB.

(2) (New – SG, No. 37 of 2018.) The Central Credit Register also maintains information on persons who are co-borrowers and guarantors on loans.

Art. 4. (1) (Amended – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; amended – SG, No. 93 of 2015; previous text of Art. 4 – SG, No. 37 of 2018; supplemented – SG, No. 101 of 2022, in force from 1 January 2023; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) The following institutions and persons submit and obtain information on the credit liabilities of their clients in the Central Credit Register:

1. (amended – SG, No. 81 of 2016, in force from 1 January 2017.) banks and branches of foreign banks operating within the country;
2. (amended – SG, No. 81 of 2016, in force from 1 January 2017.) registered persons under Art. 3a of the Credit Institutions Act (CIA), carrying out activities under Art. 2, para. 2, items 6, 7 or 12 or under Art. 3, para. 1, item 3 of the CIA, excluding foreign financial institutions that operate directly within the Republic of Bulgaria;
3. (amended – SG, No. 37 of 2018.) payment institutions and e-money institutions granting loans under Art. 21 of the PSPSA.
4. (new – SG, No. 101 of 2022, in force from 1 January 2023.) crowdfunding service providers, excluding foreign providers that operate directly within the Republic of Bulgaria.

2 Ordinance No. 22 of the BNB 5. (new – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) buyers of credits under Art. 7 of the LPSBC, who acquire claims on non-performing loans provided by credit institutions; 6. (new – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) persons servicing credits licensed under Art. 9 of the LPSBC.

(2) (New – SG, No. 37 of 2018.) Information from the Register may also be obtained by the bodies under Art. 56, para. 3 of the CIA, as well as other state and judicial bodies under the procedure of Art. 56, paras. 7 and 9 of the CIA.

(3) (New – SG, No. 42 of 2019, in force from 5 June 2019; supplemented – SG, No. 91 of 2021.) Natural and legal persons may obtain information regarding their credit liabilities under the procedure of Art. 21–23, and natural persons – information also under Art. 21a.

Art. 5. (1) (Amended – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; amended – SG, No. 93 of 2015; supplemented – SG, No. 37 of 2018; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) The institutions and persons under Art. 4, para. 1 submit to the Central Credit Register information in accordance with Art. 11 for the loans provided by them regardless of their amount, as well as other information in accordance with the instructions of the Deputy Governor heading the "Banking" Department.

(2) The following are not subject to reporting:

1. loans to the government;
2. loans of the Bulgarian National Bank;
3. (amended – SG, No. 93 of 2015; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) loans where it is agreed that an allowable overdraft of payments over the balance of payment accounts (overdraft) is less than 1000 euros, on which there is a delay of up to 30 days.

Chapter Two

Procedure for Inclusion in and Exclusion from the Central Credit Register

(Title amended – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026)

Art. 6. (1) (Previous text of Art. 6, amended – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; amended – SG, No. 37 of 2018; supplemented – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) The institutions and persons under Art. 4, para. 1 and the bodies under Art. 4, para. 2 submit a written application by form to the Deputy Governor heading the "Banking" Department of the BNB for inclusion in the Central Credit Register, which contains data on the company, seat and address of management.

(2) (New – SG, No. 37 of 2018; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) To the application, the institutions and persons under Art. 4, para. 1 attach the following documents:

1. (repealed – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024.)
2. (supplemented – SG, No. 100 of 2019, in force from 1 January 2020; amended and supplemented – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024; amended – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) internal rules, which determine the conditions and procedure for submitting and obtaining information from the Central Credit Register, the rights and obligations of the authorized persons who will process, submit and obtain this information, as well as the control over them; these rules also contain the procedure and conditions for control of the accuracy of the information submitted to the BNB and for correcting inaccurate information, as well as measures for creating, maintaining and controlling a special register under Art. 19a, para. 3;
3. (supplemented – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) notification of technical and software readiness for inclusion in the Central Credit Register by form.
4. (new – SG, No. 42 of 2019, in force from 5 June 2019; supplemented – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) registration form for inclusion in the Central Credit Register by form.
5. (new – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) document for paid fee in accordance with the tariff under Art. 28, unless the fee has been paid electronically.

(3) (New – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; previous para. 2; amended – SG, No. 37 of 2018; supplemented – SG, No. 42 of 2019, in force from 5 June 2019 amended – SG, No. 100 of 2019, in force from 1 January 2020; amended – SG, No. 101 of 2022, in force from 1 January 2023.) The application and the necessary documents under para. 2 are submitted by:

1. the institutions under Art. 4, para. 1, items 1 and 2 within a period of three months from the date of registration of the institution in the respective public register at the BNB;
2. the institutions and companies under Art. 4, para. 1, item 3 within a period of three months from the date of submission of a written notification to the BNB under the procedure of Art. 21, para. 2 and Art. 42, para. 2 of the PSPSA;
3. the providers under Art. 4, para. 1, item 4 within a period of three months from the issuance of the license for providing crowdfunding services by the competent authority under Art. 8, para. 3 of the Law on Public Offering of Securities (LPOPS).
4. (new – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) the persons under Art. 4, para. 1, item 5 within a period of three months from the date of conclusion of the contract under Art. 31, para. 1 of the LPSBC;
5. (new – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) the persons under Art. 4, para. 1, item 6 within a period of three months from the date of registration in the register under Art. 15 of the LPSBC.

(4) (New – SG, No. 37 of 2018.) To the application under para. 1, the bodies under Art. 4, para. 2 attach the following documents:

Ordinance No. 22 of the BNB 3

1. (supplemented – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) registration form for inclusion in the Central Credit Register by form;
2. (amended – SG, No. 42 of 2019, in force from 5 June 2019, supplemented – SG, No. 100 of 2019, in force from 1 January 2020 g.; amended and supplemented – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024.) internal rules, which determine the conditions and procedure for obtaining and using information from the register, the rights and obligations of the authorized persons who will obtain information from the register in connection with the performance of their official duties in relation to specific checks, control over them, as well as measures for creating, maintaining and controlling a special register under Art. 19a, para. 2;
3. (supplemented – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) notification of technical and software readiness for inclusion in the Central Credit Register by form.

Art. 7. (1) (Amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) When the applicant provides all documents under Art. 6, the date of his inclusion in the Central Credit Register and the access rights are determined by an order of the Deputy Governor heading the "Banking" Department of the BNB.

(2) If the applicant does not provide the documents under Art. 6 or the provided documents contain incomplete, contradictory or false information, the BNB notifies the applicant in writing, sending a letter containing instructions for eliminating the discrepancies.

(3) (New – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; amended – SG, No. 81 of 2016, in force from 1 January 2017; supplemented – SG, No. 37 of 2018; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) The institutions, persons and bodies under Art. 4 notify the Central Credit Register at the BNB within 15 days of any change in the information and documents that occurred after inclusion in the Central Credit Register, attaching certified copies of the documents confirming the change.

(4) (New – SG, No. 97 of 2025; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) After inclusion in the Central Credit Register, the institutions and persons under Art. 4, para. 1 perform initial data loading into the Central Credit Register within 30 days from the date of their inclusion, determined by an order under para. 1. When the institutions and persons under Art. 4, para. 1 have not started operations by the date of inclusion in the information system, the initial data loading into the Central Credit Register is performed within the regulatory period for starting operations in accordance with the issued license or registration permit.

Art. 8. (1) (Amended and supplemented – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; previous text of Art. 8, amended – SG, No. 21 of 2017; supplemented – SG, No. 37 of 2018; supplemented – SG, No. 101 of 2022, in force from 1 January 2023; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) Exclusion of institutions and persons under Art. 4, para. 1 from the Central Credit Register is carried out in the following cases:

1. (amended – SG, No. 21 of 2017.) upon deletion of a bank or branch of a foreign bank from the Commercial Register;
2. upon deletion of registration of a financial institution on the basis of Art. 9 of Ordinance No. 26 of the BNB on Financial Institutions;
3. (repealed – SG, No. 21 of 2017);
4. (new – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; repealed – SG, No. 93 of 2015.)
5. (new – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012, amended – SG, No. 21 of 2017; amended – SG, No. 37 of 2018; amended and supplemented – SG, No. 42 of 2019, in force from 5 June 2019; supplemented – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024.) upon revocation or invalidation of the issued license of a payment institution or e-money company under the PSPSA, as well as in cases where a payment institution or e-money company does not carry out activities under Art. 21 of the PSPSA for more than 12 months or upon termination of activities as a result of transformation;
6. (new – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; repealed – SG, No. 21 of 2017).
7. (new – SG, No. 101 of 2022, in force from 1 January 2023.) upon revocation of the license of a crowdfunding service provider by the competent authority under Art. 8, para. 3 of the LPOPS.
8. (new – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) upon revocation of the license of a person servicing credits under the procedure of Art. 14 of the LPSBC;
9. (new – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) upon transfer by a buyer of credits under Art. 7 of the LPSBC of all acquired claims on non-performing loans provided by credit institutions to another buyer of credits;

(2) (New – SG, No. 21 of 2017.) A bank with a revoked or invalidated license has limited access to the information in the register.

(3) (New – SG, No. 37 of 2018; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) Exclusion of bodies under Art. 4, para. 2 from the Central Credit Register is carried out upon deletion of the legal entity or termination of activities.

Art. 9. (1) (Supplemented – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012, previous text of Art. 9 – SG, No. 93 of 2015 ; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) Exclusion from the Central Credit Register is carried out by an order of the Deputy Governor heading the "Banking" Department of the BNB, with a specified date of exclusion.

4 Ordinance No. 22 of the BNB (2) (New – SG, No. 93 of 2015; supplemented – SG, No. 37 of 2018; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) The Deputy Governor heading the "Banking" Department of the BNB issues instructions on the procedure for inclusion, rules for work and for exclusion of institutions, persons and bodies under Art. 4 from the Central Credit Register.

Chapter Three

Submission and Correction of Information

in the Central Credit Register

Art. 10. (1) (Amended – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; supplemented – SG, No. 37 of 2018; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025, in force from 1 February 2026.) The institutions and persons under Art. 4, para. 1 are obliged to collect and submit to the Central Credit Register electronic information on all loans of their clients and on changes to these loans until their final repayment.

(2) (Amended – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; supplemented – SG, No. 37 of 2018; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025, in force from 1 February 2026.) Upon conclusion of a new loan contract or upon amendment of an existing loan contract, the institutions and persons under Art. 4, para. 1 submit information to the Central Credit Register within 2 working days, calculated from the date of conclusion of the contract or the amendment.

(3) (Amended – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; supplemented – SG, No. 37 of 2018; amended – SG, No. 42 of 2019, in force from 5 June 2019; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) The institutions and persons under Art. 4, para. 1 submit to the Central Credit Register monthly by the 15th day of the month following the reporting period, information on the status of all active loans of their clients as of the last date of the reporting month. They submit within the same period and information on corrections made to loans of their clients for previous reporting periods.

Art. 11. (1) (Amended – SG, No. 93 of 2015.) The amount of debt for each individual loan is determined as the sum of the principal, accrued interest, fees, commissions and other costs of the loan, as well as the due value-added tax on the leasing contract.

(2) (Amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) When loans are in foreign currency, they are recalculated into euros at the exchange rate announced by the Bulgarian National Bank.

Art. 12. (Amended – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; repealed – SG, No. 93 of 2015.)

Art. 13. (Repealed – SG, No. 93 of 2015.)

Art. 14. For syndicated loans, each bank or financial institution – creditor, submits information to the Central Credit Register for its share of the loan.

Art. 15. (Amended – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; amended and supplemented – SG, No. 101 of 2022, in force from 1 January 2023.) (1) (Supplemented – SG, No. 37 of 2018.) When an institution under Art. 4, para. 1, items 1–3 has transferred its claim on a loan to a person who is not a bank or financial institution, payment institution or e-money company, but continues to service and administer the repayments on the loan, information to the Central Credit Register for this loan and for changes to it is submitted by the bank or financial institution, payment institution or e-money company that transferred the claim on the loan.

(2) (Supplemented – SG, No. 37 of 2018.) When an institution under Art. 4, para. 1, items 1–3 has transferred its claim on a loan to another bank or financial institution, payment institution or e-money company, but continues to service and administer the repayments on the loan, information to the Central Credit Register for this loan and for changes to it is submitted by the bank or financial institution, payment institution or e-money company that acquired the claim on the loan.

(3) (New – SG, No. 101 of 2022, in force from 1 January 2023.) When a provider under Art. 4, para. 1, item 4 has transferred an existing contract to another crowdfunding service provider in the cases under Art. 212a2, para. 1, item 9 of the LPOPS, information to the Central Credit Register for this agreement and for changes to it is submitted by the receiving crowdfunding service provider.

Art. 16. (1) The entry and identification of clients in the Central Credit Register is carried out with identification codes, as follows:

1. for clients – natural persons: unique civil number (UCN);
2. (amended – SG, No. 93 of 2015; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) for clients – sole traders and legal entities: EIK, BULSTAT code or PIC (personal identification code), determined by the Registry Agency, for other persons and structures, for which it is provided by law, that they are subject to registration in the Commercial Register and the register of non-profit legal entities, as well as in the BULSTAT register;
3. (amended – SG, No. 100 of 2019, in force from 1 January 2020; amended – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024; amended – SG, No. 113 of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.) for clients – foreign natural persons who have not received a unique civil number by the established procedure by the competent Bulgarian authorities, the identification code in the Central Credit Register is determined based on a personal number (PN), alien personal number (APN), national identifier, concatenated identifier or other data from an identity document – date of birth, country of birth, citizenship and country of residence,

Ordinance No. 22 of the BNB 5 and for foreign legal entities that are not registered in the country – with a tax number for foreign persons from the European Union or with a registration code in the respective country of the seat of the person.

(2) Other individualizing data specified in an instruction on the application of the Ordinance may also be entered into the Central Credit Register.

Art. 17. (1) (Amended – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; supplemented – SG, No. 37 of 2018; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) The Bulgarian National Bank does not correct the information submitted by the institutions and persons under Art. 4, para. 1 to the Central Credit Register.

(2) (Amended – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; supplemented – SG, No. 37 of 2018; supplemented – SG, No. 91 of 2021; supplemented – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) The institutions and persons under Art. 4, para. 1 are responsible for the accuracy, completeness and timely submission of information under this Ordinance, as well as for compliance with the requirements for the protection of personal data.

(3) (New – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024; supplemented – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) The information submitted by the institutions and persons under Art. 4, para. 1 to the register should correspond to the data maintained in their information systems.

Art. 18. (1) (Amended and supplemented – SG, No. 31 of 2012, in force from 30 April 2012; amended – SG, No. 21 of 2017 ; supplemented – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024.) A bank with its seat in the Republic of Bulgaria, declared insolvent or in liquidation, submits information to the Central Credit Register under the procedure of this Ordinance until the date of the court decision for its deletion from the Commercial Register.

(2) (Amended – SG, No. 81 of 2016, in force from 1 January 2017.) Upon declaration of insolvency or liquidation of a bank or financial institution with its seat in a member state or of a bank with its seat in a third country, operating in the Republic of Bulgaria through a branch, as well as upon a decision to close a branch of a bank or financial institution with its seat in a member state or of a bank with its seat in a third country, information in the Central Credit Register is submitted until its deletion from the respective public register in the country where it is registered, respectively until the deletion of the branch.

(3) (New – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024.) A bank in insolvency or liquidation has limited access to the information in the register.

(4) (New – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024.) Upon transformation of a bank under the CIA, information is submitted to the register until the date of completion of the data transfer process in accordance with instructions to the Ordinance.

(5) (New – SG, No. 35 of 2024, in force from 1 May 2024.) Upon transformation of a payment institution or e-money company under Art. 16a of the PSPSA, information is submitted to the register until the date of completion of the data transfer process in accordance with instructions to the Ordinance.

(6) (New – SG, No. 97 of 2025.) Upon transformation of a financial institution under the Commercial Law, information is submitted