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2006-12-22

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB on Licenses, Approvals and Permissions Granted by the Bulgarian National Bank

The Bulgarian National Bank issues this Ordinance to establish the specific requirements and procedures for granting licenses, approvals, and permissions to credit institutions under the Law on Credit Institutions and EU Regulation 575/2013. It mandates detailed documentation for bank license applications, including rigorous disclosure of shareholder information, financial standing, and management suitability based on ownership thresholds. The regulation further defines the submission protocols for branches of third-country banks and outlines the BNB's role in joint decisions with other Member State authorities.

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Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 1 Ordinance No 2* of the BNB of 22 December 2006 on the Licenses, Approvals and Permissions Granted by the Bulgarian National Bank According to the Law on Credit Institutions (title amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) (Published in the Darjaven Vestnik, issue 6 of 19 January 2007; amended, issue 36 of 2009; amended, issue 48 of 2011; amended, issue 40 of 2014; amended, issue 63 of 2017; amended, issue 40 of 2021; amended, issue 12 of 2024) amended, Darjaven Vestnik, issue 97 of 2024, effective as of 15 November 2024; amended, issue 4 of 2026) Chapter One General Provisions Article 1. (1) (previous wording of Article 1; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) This Ordinance shall govern:

  1. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 48 of 2011) requirements to documents and procedures for issuance by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) of licenses to conduct bank activities on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria;
  2. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) issuance of approvals and per￾missions under Chapter Three and Chapter Twelve of the Law on Credit Institutions.
  3. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) issuance of permissions and approvals under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Coun￾cil of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 (OJ L 176/1 of 27 June 2013), hereinafter referred to as ‘Regulation (EU) No 575/2013’. (2) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017; amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021, effective as of 1 August 2021; amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) The provisions of this Ordinance shall accordingly apply also in the cases where the BNB participates in the preparation of joint decisions with competent authorities of other Member States on granting permissions and approvals under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and its implementing instruments. Article 2. (1) The Bulgarian National Bank shall grant the following:
  • Unofficial translation provided for information purposes only. The Bulgarian National Bank bears no responsibility whatsoever as to the accuracy of the translation and is not bound by its contents.

2 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB

  1. a license for a bank with a seat on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria (here￾after referred to as ‘bank’);
  2. a license for a bank with a seat in a third country to conduct bank activities on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria through a branch;
  3. (repealed; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 48 of 2011). (2) A license for a bank shall be granted to a joint-stock company in the process of incorporation which meets the requirements provided for in the Law on Credit Insti￾tutions and this Ordinance. (3) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) A license for a bank with a seat in a third country to conduct bank activities on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria through a branch shall be granted to a bank which meets the requirements provided for in the Law on Credit Institutions and in this Ordinance and has, at the time of granting the license, no less than the required paid-up capital under Article 7, paragraph 2 of the Law on Credit Institutions. (4) (repealed; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 48 of 2011). Article 3. (1) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 48 of 2011) A license for a bank confers the right to conduct only the activities, specified in the license, on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and on the other Member-States’ territories. (2) A license for a bank with a seat in a third country to conduct bank activities through a branch confers the right to carry out the specified activities only on the ter￾ritory of the Republic of Bulgaria. (3) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) Unless otherwise agreed upon, the license shall give the right to the bank to act as an intermediary in providing services the bank is licensed to, as well as insurance agency and intermediation activities. Article 4. (1) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) Prior to filing an application for a license, permission or approval under this Ordinance, the applicant shall hold preliminary consultations with the Deputy Governor in charge of the Bank￾ing Supervision Department. (2) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) Unless the fees required under Article 35 are duly paid in, the Bulgarian National Bank shall not consider the docu￾ments on issuance of a license, permission or approval. Article 4a. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 4 of 2026) (1) Applicants in the proce￾dures under the competence of the European Central Bank according to Articles 5, 18, 25 and 33f shall be provided with a file number by submitting an application to the BNB, after which the application and its attachments shall be submitted electronically through the IMAS Portal.

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 3 Chapter Two Licenses Section I License for a Bank Article 5. (1) The application for a bank license shall be filed with the Govern￾ing Council of the Bulgarian National Bank through the Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank and Deputy Governor heading the Banking Supervision Department. It shall contain the name, registered office and head office address of the bank, the amount of capital and the part of it which shall be paid in with the bank incorporation, and specify exhaustively the transactions and activities under Article 2 of the Law on Credit Institutions which the bank will carry out. (2) The documents enclosed to the application under Article 13, paragraph 2 of the Law on Credit Institutions shall satisfy the following additional requirements:

  1. an applicant’s Articles of Association providing for the activities that the bank will carry out, authorization to sign and represent the bank, and information concern￾ing the internal control system;
  2. besides other constitutive documents under Article 13, paragraph 2, item 1 of the Law on Credit institutions, the applicant shall enclose certified transcripts of the bank’s Minutes of the Constituent containing decisions made thereof and the Minutes of Meetings of the elected management bodies of the bank;
  3. documents containing data on the paid-in and subscribed shares under Arti￾cle 13, paragraph 2, item 2 of the Law on Credit Institutions shall include a list of bank shareholders, data on the amount of subscribed capital that each shareholder has paid and documents certifying that each subscribing shareholder has paid into the bank account of the incorporated company at least 25 per cent of the total nominal value or issuing value of the subscribed shares provided for in the Articles of Association. (3) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2014; amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) Where the applicant will conduct the activities under Article 2, paragraph 2, item 9 of the Law on Credit Institutions, he shall also submit the documents required by the Financial Supervision Commission for the issuance of a license to conduct activi￾ties as an investment intermediary in accordance with the Law on Markets in Financial Instruments, the ordinances on its enactment and the applicable European Union acts. (4) The documents under Articles 6–10 shall be enclosed to the application. Article 6. (1) Any natural person, having subscribed for three per cent or over three per cent of the voting shares, shall submit the following documents:
  4. full name of the person;
  5. place of birth and unified registration number (URN);
  6. nationality;
  7. number of the ID card, including date and place of issue;
  8. permanent home address and residence of the person;

4 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 6. the person’s profession or occupation; 7. description of the professional activity of the person for the last five years; 8. data on the amount of the income received by the person and taxes paid for the last five years; 9. a declaration that certifies the circumstances under Article 13, paragraph 2, item 7, letters ‘а’, ‘b’ and ‘c’ of the Law on Credit Institutions and information weather the person has any outstanding taxes, or has been penalized for tax evasion; 10. a declaration that certifies the existence or absence of relatedness with other persons within the meaning of § 1, item 4 of the Law on Credit Institutions with the indication of the names and addresses of related persons; 11. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) an official document on the presence or absence of previous conviction in the cases where the person is not a Bul￾garian citizen; 12. documents about the available funds in the banks, where the person has ac￾counts, as of no longer than 30 days preceding the date of filing the application; 13. a declaration about the type and size of person’s obligations, valid as of no longer than 30 days preceding the date of filing the application and a certificate for the presence of any outstanding taxes or other public obligations; 14. a list of the banks where the person has opened accounts. (2) Any legal entity having subscribed for three per cent or over three per cent of the voting shares shall submit, in addition to the documents under Article 13, para￾graph 2, items 7 and 8 of the Law on Credit Institutions, the following:

  1. structure of the legal entity capital and its allocation between the shareholders (partners);
  2. Articles of Association or other similar documents;
  3. a certified transcript of the decision of the competent management body accord￾ing to the law, a certificate from a commercial or other public register that the entity is registered therein, Articles of Association, or Memorandum of Association concerning the person’s interest in the bank’s capital;
  4. auditor’s reports and financial statements for the last three years;
  5. a declaration that certifies the relatedness with other persons within the mean￾ing of § 1, item 4 of the Law on Credit Institutions, with the indication of the names and addresses of related persons, undersigned by the persons who manage and rep￾resent the legal entity according to a law, Articles of Association, or Memorandum of Association;
  6. a list of the banks where the legal entity has opened accounts;
  7. balance sheets, income statements as of no longer than 30 days preceding the date of filing the application;
  8. documents about the available funds in the banks, where the person has accounts, which are as of no longer than 30 days preceding the date of filing the application;
  9. a certificate for the presence of any outstanding taxes or other public obligations as of no longer than 30 days preceding the date of filing the application.

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 5 Article 7. (1) Any natural person having subscribed for ten per cent or over ten per cent of the voting shares shall submit, in addition to the data required under Article 6, paragraph 1, the following:

  1. an employment record of the person for the last ten years;
  2. a statement certifying the following circumstances: а) whether the person has been a member of a management or control body or a general partner in a company which has been wound up due to bankruptcy, if creditors have not been paid; b) whether any related person has been declared insolvent, respectively bankrupt, or has been under a forced liquidation procedure for the last ten years; c) whether any civil litigations or enforcement proceedings have been instituted against him or against a person related to him for outstanding loans for the last ten years.
  3. (new, Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a declaration by the applicant containing: а) (amended;  Darjaven Vestnik, issue 97 of 2024; effective as of 15 Novem￾ber 2024) identification details of his close associates within the meaning of § 1, para￾graph 1, item 4b, letters ‘a’, ‘b’ and ‘c’ of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions; b) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 97 of 2024; effective as of 15 November 2024) identification details of his close associates within the meaning of § 1, para￾graph 1, item 4b, letter ‘d’ of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institu￾tions, with whom the applicant has a close business relationship; c) a description of applicant’s relationship (financial and non-financial) with the persons under letters ‘a’ and ‘b’, including information on holdings and voting rights in legal entities, where applicable; d) information as to whether, to the best of his knowledge, data are available con￾cerning his close associates within the meaning of item 4b of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions, which give rise to doubts as to his reliability and suit￾ability; if available, additional information should be provided, including an indication of the persons and a description of their links with the applicant. (2) Any legal entity having subscribed for ten per cent or over ten per cent of the voting shares, shall submit, in addition to the data required under Article 6, paragraph 2, the following:
  4. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) a description of the activity of the enterprise for the last ten years;
  5. a letter of reference certifying good-faith performance of obligations issued by a bank servicing the business of the said person signed by the persons authorized to manage and represent the bank;
  6. a declaration certifying compliance with the requirements under paragraph 1, item 2, undersigned by the persons who manage and represent the legal entity accord￾ing to a law, Articles of Association, or Memorandum of Association;

6 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 4. detailed information about the structure of the group where the applicant participates; 5. information on the enterprises’ financial position the applicant maintains close relations with. 6. (new, Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a declaration by the applicant containing: a) identification details of his close associates within the meaning of § 1, paragraph 1, item 4b, letters ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’ and ‘d’, second alternative of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions; b) a description of applicant’s relationship (financial and non-financial) with the persons under letter ‘a’, including information on holdings and voting rights in legal entities, where applicable; c) information as to whether, to the best of his knowledge, data are available con￾cerning his close associates within the meaning of item 4b of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions, which give rise to doubts as to his reliability and suit￾ability; if available, additional information should be provided, including an indication of the persons and a description of their links with the applicant. (3) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) Any legal entity with a seat in a third country, having subscribed for 10 per cent or over 10 per cent of the voting shares, in addition to the documents under paragraph 2, shall submit a document on the credit rating issued by a credit rating agency registered in accordance with Regula￾tion (EC) No 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2009 on credit rating agencies (OJ L 302/1 of 17 November 2009). The corresponding credit rating step shall be added to this document where this agency has mapped the ratings in line with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1799 of 2016 laying down implementing technical standards with regard to the allocation of credit as￾sessments of external credit assessment institutions for credit risk in line with Article 136, paragraph 1 and Article 136, paragraph 3 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 74/8 of 14 March 2014). Article 8. (1) Where a person having subscribed for 25 per cent or over 25 per cent of the voting shares is a foreign bank with a seat in a third country, or a company which has a foreign bank as a subsidiary with a seat in a third country, or is controlled by a person that also controls a foreign bank with a seat in a third country, the Bulgarian National Bank shall:

  1. carry on preliminary consultations with the competent supervisory authority of the bank, where the seat of this bank is in a third country; and
  2. require submission of an appropriate authorization for making the investment in relation to the incorporation of a bank in the Republic of Bulgaria, where this is required under the home country’s legislation. (2) In the cases where a person having subscribed for 25 per cent or over 25 per cent of the voting shares is a foreign bank with a seat in a third country, the applicant shall provide a statement of opinion of this bank as regards the envisaged contribu-

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 7 tion to the development of competition in the bank services market in the Republic of Bulgaria. Article 9. Where the applicant shareholder is a foreign person, the Bulgarian Na￾tional Bank shall require information on the effective laws and bylaws applicable in the foreign bank’s country of domicile, regulating the shareholder’s legal status and its activities and information regarding functions and powers of the competent banking supervisory authority, if there is such authority. Article 10. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik issue 36 of 2009) Any natural person elect￾ed as a member of the management board, the board of directors or the supervisory board shall submit the information and documents required for issuance of an ap￾proval under Article 11, paragraph 3 of the Law on Credit Institutions. Article 11. (repealed; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) Section II License for an Electronic Money Institution (repealed; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 48 of 2011) Section III License to a Bank with a Seat in a Third Country for Conducting Bank Activity on the Territory of the Republic of Bulgaria through a Branch Article 13. (1) A bank with a seat in a third country, wishing to obtain a license to conduct bank activity on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria through a branch, shall file a written application with the Governing Council of the Bulgarian National Bank through the Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank and the Deputy Governor heading the Banking Supervision Department. The application shall contain the fol￾lowing information:

  1. a motivated statement of the reasons to establish a branch of the bank on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria;
  2. a detailed description of the types of bank transactions and activities, the for￾eign bank intends to conduct through its branch on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria;
  3. the legal form, the name, registered office, head office address of the bank and branch company; the address of the bank’s head office shall be in the country where the competent supervisory authority has granted license to the bank and where the said bank actually conducts bank activity;
  4. a register and the registration number of the bank, if required by the applicable law;
  5. the national law that the bank applies. (2) The following shall be attached to the application:
  6. a certified transcript of the registration certificate of the bank with current in￾formation concerning the registered office and head office address, subject of activi￾ties, amount of capital, management system, and the persons who represent and man-

8 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB age the bank according to the register, if any, where the certificate is entered, the way of representation and data on the authorization of the persons; 2. a certified transcript of the bank license issued by the competent home supervi￾sory authority, including a detailed description of the permitted types of bank transac￾tions and activities; 3. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) a list of the persons related to the bank within the meaning of § 1, item 4, letters ‘b’ – ‘i’ of the Law on Credit Institutions; 4. a certified transcript of the Articles of Association, respectively Memorandum of Association, and other Acts of Association of the bank; 5. a certified transcript of the decision for establishment of a branch in the Republic of Bulgaria issued by the competent management body of the bank with a seat in a third country; 6. (corrected; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) a business plan of the branch which, in addition to the data under Article 5, paragraph 2, items 6 and 7 of this Ordi￾nance and Article 13, paragraph 2, items 3, 4 and 5 of the Law on Credit Institutions, shall also contain a detailed description of the functions of the branch, as well as its relations with the bank’s head office in respect of decision-making on its operations on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria; 7. audited financial statements of the bank for the last three years; 8. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) a certified transcript of the act of the competent management body of the bank on the election (appointment) of at least two persons who will manage and represent the branch of the bank on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, along with documents for issuance of an approval to these persons in accordance with Article 11, paragraph 3 of the Law on Credit Institutions; 9. a written approval for the establishment of the branch issued by the competent home supervisory authority, if required; 10. a written statement by the competent management body of the bank to submit the annual financial statements, as well as semiannual information on the capital ad￾equacy of the bank. (3) In addition to the application, a written statement by the bank’s home supervi￾sory authority shall be submitted, containing the following:

  1. an updated evaluation of the financial position of the bank, including the amount of the bank’s own capital, capital adequacy ratios of the bank, on a consolidated basis inclusive, and the supervisory measures and sanctions taken in respect of the bank;
  2. a statement that the bank is subject to supervision on a consolidated basis;
  3. a commitment to duly notify the Bulgarian National Bank of: а) any supervisory measures taken in respect of the bank; b) any changes in the capital adequacy, liquidity or other indicators which could have a negative effect on the stability of the bank and its branch in the Republic of Bulgaria;

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 9 c) any amendments to prudential banking supervision regulations and any other conditions that could significantly affect the operations of the bank and its branch in the Republic of Bulgaria; d) any changes in the scope of bank secrecy and requirements in relation to its se￾curity and disclosure in the bank’s home country in connection with the transactions of its branches abroad; e) any changes in the deposit insurance scheme in the bank’s home country; f) any sudden occurrence of insolvency or overindebtedness of the bank; g) the deposit insurance scheme which will be applied to the branch depositors; 4. a commitment to cooperation with the Bulgarian National Bank in conducting on-site examinations on the premises of the branch, as well as submission of informa￾tion upon request. (4) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2014) Where the applicant wishes to conduct the activities under Article 2, paragraph 2, item 9 of the Law on Credit In￾stitutions, he shall also submit the documents required by the Financial Supervision Commission for the issuance of a permission to conduct activity as an investment intermediary, in accordance with the Law on Markets in Financial Instruments and the ordinances on its enactment. (5) The applicant shall submit updated copies, in Bulgarian language, of the cur￾rent legislation regulating bank activity in the country of domicile, including pruden￾tial regulations and the functions and powers of the respective competent supervisory authority. (6) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) Any person elected, respectively appointed, to manage and represent the branch of the bank with a seat in a third coun￾try shall submit the documents under Article 10, paragraph 1. Section IV Procedure for the Bulgarian National Bank to Come up with a Decision on an Application for a License Article 14. (1) Within three months after receipt of the application and all required documents, the Bulgarian National Bank shall come up with a decision for license issuing, provided the conditions under Article 15, paragraph 1 of the Law on Credit Institutions are met, or will refuse to grant a license. (2) To certify that the provisions of Article 15, paragraph 1 of the Law on Credit Institutions are met, the applicant shall submit the following:

  1. information on the paid in contributions, no less than the minimum required capital to conduct bank activities;
  2. documents certifying that payments for subscribed shares have been deposited on a cumulative account opened with a domestic bank as agreed with the Bulgarian National Bank;

10 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 3. a curriculum vitae and documents of the appointed administrators certifying their qualifications and professional experience required in the field of activities they will perform; 3а. (new, Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) documents certifying the good repu￾tation of the persons under Articles 10 to 11a of the Law on Credit Institutions; 4. information on the buildings and premises suitable for performing bank activi￾ties, and the necessary technical equipment; 5. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) a decision on the establishment of risk management service, compliance function and internal audit service, as well as approved rules for their activity; 6. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) information on: a) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) the persons who will be in charge of the risk management service, compliance function and internal audit service: cur￾riculum vitae, a copy of the diploma and other documents certifying good reputation, knowledge, skills, experience and ability to commit sufficient time for assessing their suitability; b) appointed employees in each of the offices under letter ‘a’: curriculum vitae and documents certifying required qualification and professional experience; 7. administrative and accounting procedures ensuring the reliable conducting of activity and control over it; 8. internal terms and procedures for: а) credit activity (lending operations); b) liquidity management; c) risk management and control. Article 15. The issued license is printed on a special type of paper, carrying a wa￾termark bearing the Bulgarian National Bank logo, with the colours of the Republic of Bulgaria and a wax seal of the Bulgarian National Bank, and shall contain the following requisites:

  1. the heading ‘License’;
  2. the name of the body issuing the license;
  3. the person to whom the license is issued;
  4. the legal grounds for issuing the license;
  5. the scope of activities covered by the license, respectively transactions restricted by the Bulgarian National Bank;
  6. the signature of the Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank. Section V Conditions for Commencement of Bank Activity Article 16. (1) The applicant who has been granted a bank license may commence conducting bank activity after he has received confirmation from the Deputy Gover￾nor of the Bulgarian National Bank heading the Banking Supervision Department and after submission of the following documents and information:

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 11

  1. a certified transcript of the court decision proving that the bank, respectively the branch of the bank with a seat in a third country, has been entered in the Commercial Register;
  2. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) a document certifying that the bank has paid in its initial contribution to the Deposit Insurance Fund; branches of banks with a seat in a third country shall submit a document under the preceding sentence, provided that the provisions of Article 1, paragraph 3 of the Law on Bank Deposit Guaranty apply to them;
  3. a certified copy of a document verifying the ownership right on the premises where bank activity will be conducted, or a lease contract;
  4. a document certifying that the premises under item 3 comply with security and protection requirements;
  5. a certificate of fire protection compliance of the bank premises, issued by the specialized regional fire protection authorities;
  6. a detailed description of the information support system of the bank, including measures for protection and transfer of information, as well as hardware and software tools and technologies for in-house use. (2) The funds deposited on a cumulative account may be used by the licensed person after submitting to the servicing bank a written confirmation under paragraph 1, or may be withdrawn by the applicant after entry into force of the decision for the refusal to grant a license. Chapter Three Approvals and Permissions (Title amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) Section I General Provisions Regarding Approvals and Permissions Issued by the Bulgarian National Bank (Title amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) Article 17. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) (1) This Chapter shall govern:
  7. the major requirements to the applicant that are needed for the assessment of compliance with the criteria under Article 28a, paragraph 3 of the Law on Credit In￾stitutions, as well as the form and the content of the documents indispensable for granting an approval under Article 28 or Article 31 of the Law on Credit Institutions;
  8. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) the terms and procedure for granting or refusal of a permission under Article 29, Article 39, paragraph 4 and Arti￾cle 122 of the Law on Credit Institutions;

12 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 3. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) the requirements and documents nec￾essary for granting a permission under Article 39, paragraph 5 of the Law on Credit Institutions; 4. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) the procedure and documents required for issuing approvals under Article 39, paragraph 6 of the Law on Credit Institutions; 5. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) the procedure for issuing other per￾missions and approvals under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, where it has not been laid down in this Ordinance or in its implementing instruments. 6. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) the procedure for issuing approvals to financial holding companies and mixed financial holding companies. (2) The Bulgarian National Bank shall grant approvals and permissions under paragraph 1 where:

  1. it has established that in respect of the applicant, all requirements for the issu￾ance provided for in the Law on Credit Institutions and in this Chapter are met;
  2. it has considered that the grounds for refusal are not available. (3) At applicant’s request, the Bulgarian National Bank may exempt the applicant from submission of particular documents provided for in this Chapter where:
  3. a year after submission of these documents related to granting a license, an ap￾proval or a permission under the Law on Credit Institutions or this Ordinance to the applicant has not yet passed, and
  4. the applicant has submitted a confirmation, verified by a notary public, that no changes have occurred in the circumstances ascertained by these documents. (4) The Bulgarian National Bank may discharge the applicant to submit certain documents provided for in Chapter III, Section II, if it will not prevent the assess￾ment on the basis of the criteria under Article 28a, paragraph 3 of the Law on Credit Institutions. (5) In making the assessment under paragraph 4, the Bulgarian National Bank shall apply the proportionality principle, taking into account whether the applicant:
  5. does not intend to exercise a significant influence over the bank;
  6. has been subject to a corresponding previous assessment by a Member State supervisory authority, or a third country authority applying an adequate supervision;
  7. is involved in the management of a credit/financial institution which is subject of regulation by a competent authority of a Member State or a third country applying an adequate supervision;
  8. is regulated by a Member State competent authority or by a third country regula￾tor applying the adequate supervision. (6) During the procedure of considering an application, the Bulgarian National Bank may request from the applicant to submit within the set term additional infor￾mation with the purpose of ascertaining all circumstances required for assessment of available conditions for granting the respective act. (7) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017; amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) Where a request for a permission or approval under Articles 29, 39

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 13 or 122 of the Law on Credit Institutions is applied, the Bulgarian National Bank shall come up with a decision on the application for granting a permission or approval within a three-month period after the submission of all required documents. (8) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) Besides the grounds specified for respective permissions and approvals, the Bulgarian National Bank may also refuse to grant a permission and approval where it has established that:

  1. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) all documents required for the respective permission or approval are not attached to the application, and no later than 14 days after its receipt these documents are not presented, or
  2. the applicant has not submitted within the set term all additional information and documents under Article 6, or
  3. the documents submitted by the applicant contain incomplete, inconsistent, im￾proper or untrustworthy information, or
  4. the applicant bank violates requirements under Chapter Four of the Law on Credit Institutions or the ordinances on enactment of these requirements. (9) Paragraph 8, item 4 shall not apply to the permissions under Article 29, para￾graph 1, item 2 of the Law on Credit Institutions. Section II Approval for Acquisition of Bank Shares (Title amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) Article 18. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) (1) Any person that intends to acquire holding in the capital of a bank licensed by the Bulgarian National Bank, and an approval under Article 28 or Article 31 of the Law on Credit Institutions is required for such a person, shall notify the BNB thereof by submitting an application which shall specify whether the planned acquisition is:
  5. primary acquisition or an increase of the holding in the share capital, also which of the thresholds is achieved and/or exceeded;
  6. direct or indirect;
  7. on his own, or with other persons acting in concert. (2) In addition to the information under paragraph 1, item 1, natural persons and legal entities shall include in their applications data on bank shares owned by them, the number of shares planned to be acquired, and the size of the bank capital on the basis of which the threshold is calculated. (3) In case of indirect acquisition, in addition to the information under paragraph 1, item 2, data on the manner of implementing the planned acquisition shall be in￾cluded, as follows:
  8. by acquiring qualifying holding or its increase in the capital of a shareholder who exercises control over the bank, or
  9. by acquiring control over a shareholder owning qualifying holding in the bank.

14 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB (4) In case the acquisition or part of it is implemented in concert with other per￾sons, the application shall contain detailed information about legal and actual grounds of the actions taken in concert with other persons, and shall be filed by:

  1. any person that will directly acquire qualifying holding or higher than that;
  2. the person acquiring the largest qualifying holding unless any of the persons act￾ing in concert acquires qualifying or larger holding;
  3. any of the persons beyond the cases under item 1, if their shares are equal. Article 19. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) The Bulgarian National Bank shall issue an approval for acquisition on the grounds of the submitted appli￾cation, presented documents under Article 19a – 19c and the available information, when in the course of the assessment based upon the criteria under Article 28a, para￾graph 3 of the Law on Credit Institutions decided on the following:
  4. the applicant/acquirer is in possession of good reputation (integrity) and profes￾sional competence in accordance with the criterion under Article 28a, paragraph 3, item 1 of the Law on Credit Institutions;
  5. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2014; amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) in accordance with the criterion under Article 28a, paragraph 3, item 2 of the Law on Credit Institutions, the reputation, knowledge, skills and experience of any person who, as a result of the acquisition, will be elected a member of the manage￾ment board (board of directors) or the supervisory board meet the requirements; the persons under Article 18, paragraph 1 shall declare what changes they intend to make in the management bodies of the bank and in its senior management, if any, after the acquisition;
  6. in accordance with the criterion under Article 28a, paragraph 3, item 3 of the Law on Credit Institutions, the applicant is in position of funding the acquisition, financially sound and can keep such a financial soundness providing for the planned development of the bank in a period of not less than three years, including a financial support to the bank if such is needed;
  7. in accordance with the criterion under Article 28a, paragraph 3, item 4 of the Law on Credit Institutions all of the following conditions are available: a) proceeding the acquisition the bank shall not break any of the supervisory regu￾lations and in the planning development of the bank the possibility of such violation is not expected to happen; b) if the bank becomes a part of a group, the structure of this group shall not im￾pede the prosecution of prudential banking supervision; c) there is no obstacle for exchanging information between the supervisory au￾thorities and there is clear distribution of the responsibilities amongst them;
  8. in accordance with the criterion under Article 28a, paragraph 3, item 5 of the Law on Credit Institutions all the collected data and documents caused no reasonable grounds for suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing. Article 19a. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) (1) The documents and information about the applicant/acquirer shall be attached to the application.

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 15 (2) In case the applicant/acquirer is a natural person, the following information shall be submitted:

  1. the full name of the applicant, unified identity number/personal identification number of a non-resident, place of birth, nationality, identity card number, date and place of issuance, permanent and present address;
  2. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) an official document on the pres￾ence or absence of previous conviction in the cases where the person is not a Bulgarian citizen, issued not later than one month before filing the application;
  3. data on qualifications and professional experience of the applicant, including: a) relevant education and training, qualifications acquired and profession or activi￾ties currently performed; b) a detailed description of the professional activity of the person for the last ten years;
  4. a statement certifying whether: a) the applicant has been a member of a management or control body of an entity whose activity has been terminated by a court decision due to pursuing illegal or un￾lawful goals; b) the applicant has been a member of a management or control body or a general partner in a company which has been terminated by bankruptcy, if creditors have not been paid; c) a person, over which the applicant has exercised control, was declared insolvent, respectively bankrupt or in compulsory liquidation in the last ten years; d) a person, over which the applicant has exercised control, has been defendant/ debtor in claim or execution proceedings for unpaid loans in the last ten years; e) a company, over which the applicant has exercised control, or a company in whose management or control body the applicant has been a member or a procurator: aa) has been subjected to administrative sanctions and/or compulsory administra￾tive measures for violation of legislative acts in the field of banking and non-banking financial sectors; bb) has been refused issuance of a license or entry in a register kept by the BNB, Financial Supervision Commission or relevant authorities of other countries, as well as membership in commercial or professional organisations, respectively the granted license has been revoked, or the performed entry has been deleted; f) as a result of an applied compulsory administrative measure, the applicant has been dismissed from the position as a member of a management or control body of a credit or financial institution whose activity is subject to licensing; g) the applicant has been defendant in criminal proceedings, as well as for the outcome of such proceedings; h) a disciplinary penalty for violation of the labour legislation has been imposed on the applicant; i) the applicant has been deprived of the right to hold positions of financial responsibilities;

16 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 4а. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a declaration by the applicant containing: а) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 97 of 2024; effective as of 15 November 2024) identification details of his close associates within the meaning of § 1, para￾graph 1, item 4b, letters ‘a’, ‘b’ and ‘c’ of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions; b) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 97 of 2024; effective as of 15 November 2024) identification details of his close associates within the meaning of § 1, para￾graph 1, item 4b, letter ‘d’ of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institu￾tions, with whom the applicant has a close business relationship; c) a description of applicant’s relationship (financial and non-financial) with the persons under letters ‘a’ and ‘b’, including information on holdings and voting rights in legal entities, where applicable; d) information as to whether, to the best of his knowledge, data are available con￾cerning his close associates within the meaning of item 4b of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions, which give rise to doubts as to his reliability and suit￾ability; if available, additional information should be provided, including an indication of the persons and a description of their links with the applicant; 5. references from a competent supervisory authority in the financial sector on the grounds of a previous identical assessment on the reputation of the applicant (finan￾cial institution), or of a person that controls the applicant, as well as the result of this assessment; 6. a reference from a competent supervisory authority, other than that under item 5, based on a previous assessment of the applicant or of a person that controls the ap￾plicant, as well as the result of this assessment; 7. a declaration of the applicant on: a) the financial status, the property possessed, the type and size of the earnings for the last three years and their sources; b) the type and size of obligations, established pledges, mortgages in favour of third parties, issued guarantees and other commitments; c) the existence of financial or other interests or connections of the applicant with the bank or the group the bank belongs to; with bank shareholders or with other per￾sons having voting rights in the general meeting of shareholders of the bank; with members of bank management or control bodies, or the existence of another interest which may cause conflict of interest with the bank, respectively a plan to overcome it; d) the names, registered offices and head office addresses of the persons that are connected with the applicant; 8. a list of the banks where the applicant has opened accounts; 9. a document certifying ratings assigned and public reports of the applicant and of the companies controlled by the applicant, if any. (3) In case the applicant is a legal entity, the following information shall be submitted:

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 17

  1. data on the name, registered office and head office address, contact persons;
  2. a certified transcript of the Articles of Association, respectively Memorandum of Association, or a similar document;
  3. an actual certificate from a commercial register that the entity is registered therein and the identity code of the applicant;
  4. a certified transcript of the decision by the competent body according to the law, the statute or the articles of association concerning the acquisition of shares in the bank capital by the applicant;
  5. a list of the shareholders (associates/partners) of the applicant up to the ultimate owner; the structure and allocation of its capital among the shareholders (associates/ partners);
  6. a list containing the names and addresses of the persons who manage or rep￾resent the applicant, together with detailed written data on their qualifications and professional experience;
  7. a statement by the applicant certifying the circumstances under paragraph 2, item 4, letters ‘a’ to ‘f’; 7a. (new, Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a declaration by the applicant containing: a) identification details of his close associates within the meaning of § 1, paragraph 1, item 4b, letters ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’ and ‘d’, second alternative of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions; b) a description of applicant’s relationship (financial and non-financial) with the persons under letter ‘a’, including information on holdings and voting rights in legal entities, where applicable; c) information as to whether, to the best of his knowledge, data are available con￾cerning his close associates within the meaning of item 4b of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions, which give rise to doubts as to his reliability and suit￾ability; if available, additional information should be provided, including an indication of the persons and a description of their links with the applicant;
  8. references under paragraph 2, items 5 and 6 by the competent supervisory au￾thority, if any;
  9. a statement certifying the circumstances under paragraph 2, item 7, letters ‘c’ and ‘d’;
  10. a list of banks where the applicant has opened accounts, in case the applicant is not a bank;
  11. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) a description of the group struc￾ture if the applicant participates in a group as a subsidiary or as a parent entity, includ￾ing its organisational and corporate structure, specifying relevant participation shares of the other persons in the group (based on what capital, shareholding is calculated), as well as a description of the activities performed by the group;
  12. information on the persons in the group over whom supervision is exercised along with the home supervisory body of the respective persons;

18 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 13. annual financial statements of the applicant for the last three years after an audit, if such is obligatory, including balance sheets and income statements for the same period; 14. a document certifying credit ratings assigned to the applicant and the group he belongs to, if such ratings are assigned. (4) In case the applicant is a trust that already exists or will be established after the acquisition, the following documents and information shall be submitted:

  1. the names and addresses of the persons who will manage the assets of the trust under the terms and procedure of the contract establishing the trust and their respec￾tive shares in distribution of the asset management income;
  2. the names and addresses of the persons up to the ultimate owner who are ben￾eficial owners of the legal entity. 3. (new, Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a declaration by the applicant containing: a) identification details of his close associates within the meaning of § 1, paragraph 1, item 4b, letters ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’ and ‘d’, second alternative of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions; b) a description of applicant’s relationship (financial and non-financial) with the persons under letter ‘a’, including information on holdings and voting rights in legal entities, where applicable; c) information as to whether, to the best of his knowledge, data are available con￾cerning his close associates within the meaning of item 4b of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions, which give rise to doubts as to his reliability and suit￾ability; if available, additional information should be provided, including an indication of the persons and a description of their links with the applicant. Article 19b. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) (1) The following docu￾ments and information concerning the target bank shall be attached to the acquisition application:
  3. data on the overall aim of the acquisition, the total number of shares acquired; the nominal and total value of the shares, the single and total acquisition price of the shares and their amount in the total capital, in percentage;
  4. a written declaration concerning the origin of the financial funds for the acquisition;
  5. a declaration and documents on the financing of the acquisition specifying: a) the source of the funds which will be used for the acquisition; b) the means used to provide (transfer) funds for the acquisition (the respective documents to be attached) in case it is financed: aa) as a result of access to and transactions on capital and financial markets; bb) as a result of use of borrowed funds contracted with banks, including issuance of financial instruments (terms under the agreements/issues, pledges constituted for this purpose, guarantees, other commitments, security), other fundings;

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 19 cc) due to agreements with other shareholders (terms, deadlines under the agree￾ments, pledges constituted for the purpose, guarantees, other commitments, security), other business transactions or a network of transactions for financing the acquisition; dd) sale of the applicant’s personal property, shares and other liquid assets (condi￾tions of sale, terms); ee) other means of funding. (2) In case of qualifying shareholding acquisition – individually or in concert with other persons – of less than 20 per cent of the voting shares of the bank capital, in ad￾dition to the information and documents under paragraph 1, the applicant/acquirer shall also submit:

  1. data on the intentions of the acquirer regarding the acquisition and the period for which the applicant/acquirer intends to: a) hold his shareholding after the acquisition; b) increase, reduce the level of his shareholding in the period of three years ahead;
  2. a description of the intentions of the applicant/acquirer towards the target bank, especially whether or not he intends to act as an active minority shareholder, and the rationale for this action;
  3. information on the financial position and ability, as well the willingness of the applicant/acquirer to support the target bank with additional own funds if needed for the development of its activities or in case of financial difficulties. (3) In case of qualifying shareholding acquisition – individually or in concert with other persons – between 20 and 50 per cent of the voting shares of the bank capital, but without exercising control over it, in addition to the information and documents under paragraphs 1 and 2, the applicant/acquirer shall submit the following additional information on:
  4. details on the influence that the applicant/acquirer intends to exercise on the financial position (including dividend policy), the strategic development, and the al￾location of resources of the bank;
  5. intentions and expectations of the applicant/acquirer in respect to the target bank in the medium-term, covering all the elements under paragraph 4, item 1. (4) Where as a result of the acquisition, the applicant/acquirer shall individually or in concert with other persons exercise control over the bank, in addition to the infor￾mation and documents under paragraphs 1–3, the applicant/acquirer shall submit the following additional information:
  6. a strategic development plan indicating, in general terms, the main goals of the acquisition and the main ways for reaching them, including: a) the rationale/arguments of the acquisition; b) medium-term financial goals; c) the possible redirection of activities, products, targeted customer groups and the possible reallocation of funds within the target bank; d) the main synergies to be pursued within the target bank;

20 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB e) the general modalities for including and integrating the bank in the group struc￾ture of the applicant/acquirer, including a description of the main synergies to be pur￾sued with other companies in the group, as well as a description of the policies govern￾ing intra-group relations; 2. estimated financial statements of the target bank, on both a solo and consoli￾dated basis, for a period of three years, including: a) a forecast balance sheet and profit and loss account; b) a forecast of prudential ratios; c) information on the level of risk exposures (credit, operational, market, etc.); d) a forecast of provisional intra-group transactions; 3. the impact of the acquisition on the corporate governance and general organisa￾tional structure of the bank, including the impact on: a) the composition and duties of the corporate governance board and the main committees created by the decision-taking body (an audit committee, etc.); b) administrative and accounting procedures and internal controls as: planned principal changes in procedures and systems related to accounting, audit, internal con￾trol, anti-money laundering measures, including the appointment of key staff mem￾bers as an auditor, an internal controller; c) the overall IT systems architecture of the bank which includes any changes con￾cerning the sub-contracting policy, the in-house and external software used and the essential data and systems security procedures and tools; d) the policies governing sub-contracting and outsourcing. Article 19c. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) The requirements for the applicant/acquirer, the application and the attached documents and information un￾der Articles 18–19b shall also apply in the cases under Article 31 of the Law on Credit Institution. Section III Permission of a Bank for Opening a Branch in a Third Country Article 20. (1) A bank wishing to obtain a permission to establish a branch in a third country shall file a written application with the Bulgarian National Bank which shall contain:

  1. the name of the country where the bank intends to open a branch, and the reg￾istered office thereof;
  2. the names of at least two persons appointed to manage the branch and represent the bank abroad. (2) The following documents shall be submitted with the application under para￾graph 1:
  3. a certified transcript of the decision of the bank’s competent management body for the establishment of the overseas branch in the respective country;

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 21 2. a certified transcript of the decision of the bank’s competent management body for the appointment of the persons who will manage the branch and represent the bank abroad; 3. (corrected; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) a business plan, which shall, in addition to the information under Article 13, paragraph 2, items 3, 4 and 5 of the Law on Credit Institutions, contain economic substantiation of the need to open a branch of the bank in the respective country. (3) Any person appointed to manage the branch of the bank abroad shall submit:

  1. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) in the cases where the person is not a Bulgarian citizen: a document certifying that the person has not been convicted of a premeditated crime of general character;
  2. information on: а) full name, URN, date and place of birth, permanent address; b) education, including the names of educational institutions where it was ac￾quired, and length of study; c) attended qualification training courses and seminars stating place and years of training; d) command of foreign languages (both written and spoken) stating the profi￾ciency level; e) professional experience with details on the occupied positions by year; f) current employment and a detailed job description of the present position; g) a certified transcript of a diploma, or any other similar document of completed higher education;
  3. a statement certifying the following circumstances: a) that the person is not and has not been deprived of the right to hold a position of material liability; b) that the person has not been a member of a management or control body, or a general partner in a company which has been wound up due to bankruptcy, if creditors have not been paid; c) that the person is not a spouse or a relative, in direct or lateral lineage up to the third degree, of another person who manages and represents the branch, or of a mem￾ber of an internal control office of the branch; d) that the person has not been a member of a management or control body of a bank in the last five years prior to the date of the ruling on declaring the bank bankrupt; e) the amount of taxes paid for the last three years, containing information whether the person has been penalized for tax evasion, and whether the person has any out￾standing taxes. (4) The Bulgarian National Bank shall refuse to grant a permission where:
  4. there is a risk that the financial position of the bank may deteriorate as a result of opening a branch abroad;

22 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 2. (corrected; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) the business plan submitted in￾cludes bank transactions or activities beyond the scope of the license granted to the bank; 3. the proposed organisational structure of the branch does not ensure its reliable and stable management; 4. the bank supervision exercised in the host country is not sufficiently effective; 5. an agreement of supervisory cooperation between the Bulgarian National Bank and the respective host supervisory authority of the branch has not been concluded and there are some legal or administrative impediments to the bank supervision exer￾cised over the branch by the Bulgarian National Bank. Article 21. Having received the permission by the competent supervisory authority in the host country, the bank shall send within ten days a copy of the permission to the Bulgarian National Bank. Section IV Permission for a Change in the Name Specified in the License Article 22. (1) A bank wishing to obtain a permission to change its name as speci￾fied in the license shall file a written application with the Bulgarian National Bank, attaching the following documents thereto:

  1. a certified transcript of the decision of the bank’s competent body;
  2. a statement of motivated reasons for changing the present name of the bank. (2) A foreign bank wishing to change the name specified in its license for conduct￾ing bank activity through a branch on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria shall file a written application with the Bulgarian National Bank, attaching the documents certifying the change in the bank’s name in its home country. (3) Where necessary, the Bulgarian National Bank shall request a statement of opinion of the Competition Protection Commission. (4) The Bulgarian National Bank shall refuse to grant a permission for changing the name specified in the license, if the requirement stipulated in Article 6, paragraph 3 of the Law on Credit Institutions is not met. Section V Permission for Transformation Article 23. (1) A permission for transformation of a bank through takeover or merger can be granted only if corporations participating in transformation are banks. (2) A permission for transformation of a bank, licensed by the Bulgarian National Bank, is not granted by means of legal form change or through assignment of the entire property to the sole proprietor. (3) A permission for transformation through merger of banks is granted only if the new established company has already obtained a bank license.

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 23 (4) In case of bank takeover, the right to conduct activities for which the acquiring bank has not been licensed, does not pass over the acquiring bank. (5) For granting a permission for splitting or spinning off through acquisition, acquiring companies shall possess the respective license, if as a consequence of the suc￾cession, they acquire the rights and the obligations raised in conducting their activities, for which the license is requested. (6) For granting a permission for splitting or spinning off through establishment or in case of spinning off the sole commercial company, the new established companies shall have received the license, if as a consequence of the succession, they acquire the rights and the obligations raised in conducting their activities for which the license is requested. (7) In the cases under paragraphs 3, 5 and 6, the application for granting a license, for which the Bulgarian National Bank is competent, shall be considered simultane￾ously with this permission. (8) Where as a consequence of the transformation there are circumstances, which demand granting other permission under this Ordinance, the application for granting this permission shall be considered simultaneously with the permission for transformation. (9) In the cases under paragraph 5, prior to come up with a decision, the Bulgarian National Bank shall take into consideration the statement of opinion of the Financial Supervision Commission regarding the company participating in the transformation and supervised by the Commission. Article 24. (1) To obtain a permission for transformation, the bank shall submit:

  1. a statement of motivated reasons substantiating the need of transformation and the respective form of transformation;
  2. a certified transcript of the decision by the competent bodies of the banks par￾ticipating in the transformation;
  3. a certified transcript of the contract or the plan for transformation;
  4. detailed information on rights and obligations passing over acquiring and/or new established companies;
  5. forecasted reports of the banks participating in the transformation, including balance sheet, income statement, capital adequacy, liquidity, large exposures, holdings and investments reports under Article 47, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Law on Credit Institutions, where the effect of transformation has been reflected;
  6. reports by the management bodies of the transformed and acquiring companies;
  7. reports by the examiners (specialized auditing companies under Article 76 of the Law on Credit Institutions) under Article 262m of the Commercial Code which consist of conclusion related to the following: а) authenticity of the presentation of financial and property position of the banks participating in the transformation and their financial result; b) the reliability of internal control systems of the acquiring bank;

24 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB c) the compliance of the forecasted supervisory reports, completed by the banks, participating in the transformation, with the requirements of the Law on Credit Insti￾tutions and the bylaws of its enactment; 8. an opinion by the examiner under Article 76 of the Law on Credit Institutions whether there are circumstances under Article 77, paragraph 1 of the Law on Credit Institutions during the audit; 9. a certified transcript of the licenses granted by other bodies outside the Bulgar￾ian National Bank, if there is such requirement under Article 23; 10. (corrected; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) a business plan of the acquiring bank in the cases of takeover, splitting or spinning off through acquisition; 11. a draft announcement to the creditors of the banks, participating in the trans￾formation, which will be published in two central daily newspapers after granting of the permission; 12. any other documents necessary for conducting the assessment whether the per￾mission shall be granted. (2) The Bulgarian National Bank shall grant the permission for transformation where it has established that:

  1. the interests of the depositors and other creditors of the bank, participating in the transformation, should not be threatened or impaired;
  2. the passing assets and liabilities should not bring to the violation of the Law on Credit Institutions or the bylaws on its enactment by the bank, participating in the transformation;
  3. the respective licenses and permissions have already been granted or will be granted simultaneously with the permission, provided such licenses and permissions are required under Article 23;
  4. the positive statement of opinion by the Financial Supervision Commission has been received, provided such statement is required under Article 23. (3) Besides non-compliance with the requirements under paragraph 1, the Bulgar￾ian National Bank shall refuse to grant the requested permission:
  5. for takeover, splitting through acquisition or spinning off through acquisition: а) if there is a risk for deterioration of the financial position of the bank participat￾ing in the transformation; b) if in Bulgarian National Bank’s judgment, a bank participating in the transfor￾mation may not continue to reliably and steadily exercise its bank activities after the transformation; c) if in Bulgarian National Bank’s judgment, a bank participating in the transfor￾mation can not be able to continue performance of all its current and/or acquired after the transformation obligations without delay;
  6. if the applicant has not submitted all necessary information and documents in a due term or if submitted documents contain incomplete, inconsistent, improper or untrustworthy information.

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 25 Section VI Permission for Changing the Scope of a Granted License Article 25. (1) A bank wishing to obtain a permission for changing the scope of a granted license by adding activities under Article 2, paragraph 2 of the Law on Credit Institutions, shall file an application with the Bulgarian National Bank, attaching the following thereto:

  1. the modified Articles of Association, including the new form of bank transac￾tions or activities, together with a copy of the decision of the General Meeting on amending the Articles;
  2. substantiation of the reasons for expanding the bank’s scope of activities;
  3. information on the professional experience and qualification of the staff that will directly make the new form of bank transactions;
  4. information on the availability of appropriate hardware and software for the execution of the new form of bank transactions. (2) A bank with a seat in a third country wishing to make a new form of bank transactions or activities through its branch on the territory of the Republic of Bul￾garia shall file a written application with the Bulgarian National Bank, attaching the following thereto:
  5. documents certifying authorization to make such transactions in its country of domicile;
  6. the information under paragraph 1, items 3 and 4. (3) The Bulgarian National Bank shall refuse to grant a permission where:
  7. it has established that the professional qualification and experience of the per￾sons under paragraph 1, item 3, as well as the financial position of the applicant does not ensure a reliable conduct of the new form of bank transactions or activities;
  8. it has established that the foreign bank is not authorized to carry out the transac￾tions or activities specified in the application in its home country. (4) A bank may start making the allowed bank transactions or activities after it has submitted to the Deputy Governor heading the Banking Supervision Department a certified transcript of the said changes as entered in the Commercial Register. Section VII Permission to Increase the Capital through Non-cash Contributions Article 26. (1) A bank wishing to obtain a permission to increase its capital through non-cash contributions shall file a written application with the Bulgarian National Bank, attaching the following thereto:
  9. a certified transcript of the decision of the competent body of the bank to in￾crease its capital through non-cash contributions and respective amendment to its Articles of Association, the decision describing in detail the property provided as non￾cash contributions, the persons making them, and the nominal value of the new shares issued against these contributions;

26 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 2. a valuation made by experts in accordance with Article 72 of the Commercial Code; 3. the modified Articles of Association containing full description and valuation of the property provided as non-cash contributions. (2) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) The Bulgarian National Bank shall refuse to grant a permission where:

  1. the provisions of the Commercial Code have not been complied with;
  2. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) the approval under Article 28 or Article 31 of the Law on Credit Institutions has not been issued, provided that such approval is required;
  3. the bank violates or by a contribution will violate the requirements of the Law on Credit Institutions or the bylaws on its enactment;
  4. (repealed, Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017);
  5. rights which are not directly related to the bank’s activity are the subject of the contribution. (3) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) The Bulgarian National Bank may also refuse to grant a permission if it considers that where a quick sale is necessary, there is a risk for the bank not to receive the price for the assets that are the subject of the contribution matching the price as set forth in the Statute. (4) (previous paragraph 3; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) After obtaining the permission, the bank shall submit to the Deputy Governor heading the Banking Supervision Department a certified transcript of the said changes entered in the Com￾mercial Register. Section VIII Permission for Buyback of Shares Issued by a Bank Article 27. (1) A bank wishing to obtain a permission to buy back shares issued by the bank itself shall file a written application with the Bulgarian National Bank attach￾ing the following:
  6. a certified transcript of the decision of the bank’s General Meeting of Sharehold￾ers for the buyback of shares issued by the bank, indicating the purpose of the buyback;
  7. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) data and documents under Articles 29 and 30 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 of 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards for own funds requirements for institutions (OJ L 74/8, 14.3.2014) hereinafter referred to as Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014. (2) The Bulgarian National Bank shall refuse to grant a permission where:
  8. the provisions of Article 187a of the Commercial Code have not been complied with;
  9. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) the buyback of the bank’s shares would result in incompliance with the provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 27 and the ordinances on its enactment, Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 or Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014. (3) After obtaining the permission, the bank shall submit to the Deputy Governor heading the Banking Supervision Department a certified transcript of the said changes as entered in the Commercial Register. Section IX Permission to Reduce the Capital of a Bank Article 28. (1) A bank wishing to obtain a permission to reduce its capital shall file with the Bulgarian National Bank a written application attaching the following:

  1. a certified transcript of the decision of the bank’s General Meeting of Sharehold￾ers on the capital reduction, indicating the purpose of the reduction;
  2. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) data and documents under Arti￾cles 29 and 30 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014. (2) The Bulgarian National Bank shall refuse to grant a permission under this Article where:
  3. the capital reduction is in violation of the provisions of Articles 199–203 of the Commercial Code;
  4. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) the capital reduction would result in incompliance with the provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions and the ordi￾nances on its enactment, Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 or Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014. (3) After obtaining the permission, the bank shall submit to the Deputy Governor heading the Banking Supervision Department a certified transcript of the said changes as entered in the Commercial Register. (4) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply also to share premium accounts related to capital instruments. Section X Permission for Establishing or Acquiring a Control over a Bank with a Seat Abroad Article 29. (1) For granting a permission for establishing or acquiring control over a foreign bank, the bank shall submit an application to the Bulgarian National Bank. (2) In the cases of a bank’s establishment, an application shall be attached by the following:
  5. a certified transcript of the bank’s Minutes of the Constituent Meeting or an￾other document to the same effect;
  6. a bank’s Articles of Association (Act of Association);
  7. information on the capital of the established bank, on the type, number, nomi￾nal value and issuing value of the subscribed shares and a document of the paid-in contributions;

28 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 4. data about the persons who shall manage the bank; 5. information on the relatedness of the applicant with the members of manage￾ment bodies; 6. a detailed information on the conditions and provisions for licensing and con￾ducting of bank activity in the country where the bank is established, address and name of the licensing and supervisory authority, specific supervisory requirements and applicable regulations; 7. an economic substantiation of the reasons for a bank’s establishment; 8. (corrected; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) a business plan of the bank (a description) containing information about the managerial structure, including the activity of individual organisational units, segregation of responsibilities among man￾aging directors and other administrators, organisation and management of the bank’s information system, including the information security mechanism. (3) In the cases of acquiring control over a bank with residence abroad, the applica￾tion shall be attached by the following:

  1. data about the type, number, single and total nominal value of the shares that will be acquired, their portion in the bank’s capital and acquisition price;
  2. data about the type, number, single and total nominal value of the shares, al￾ready possessed, their portion in the bank’s capital and acquisition price;
  3. documents and data about the bank in which the control is taken: а) a certified transcript issued by the respective Commercial Register with current information concerning the name, registered office and head office address of the bank, its legal organisational structure and the persons who represent and manage the bank; b) audited financial statements of the foreign bank for the last two years; c) a certified transcript of the Articles of Association (Act of Association) of the bank; d) information about bank’s related persons; e) information about applicant’s relatedness with other shareholders and with the persons participating in the management bodies; f) a certified transcript of the bank license, including detailed information about permitted transactions and activities of the foreign bank; g) an economic substantiation of the reasons to acquire a bank with residence abroad; h) information under paragraph 2, items 6 and 8. Article 30. (1) The Bulgarian National Bank may permit the acquisitions under Article 29, only when the investment’s size is fully covered by own funds of the appli￾cant bank and if these funds shall not reduce the bank’s capital base under the required minimum. (2) The Bulgarian National Bank shall refuse to grant a permission where:

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 29

  1. acquired participation in the bank with residence abroad would result in viola￾tion of the requirements of the Law on Credit Institutions and the bylaws on its enact￾ment by the acquiring bank or may lead to deterioration of the bank’s assets quality;
  2. there is a possibility for a significant increase in the risk of loss for the applicant bank due to the subject of activity, financial position or persons related to the bank in which the shares will be acquired;
  3. the applicant doesn’t have funds necessary for the planned acquisition in a for￾eign bank;
  4. the applicable law and regime for conducting bank activity in the residence of the bank shall not enable the Bulgarian National Bank to exercise effective consolidated supervision. Section XI Permission for Voluntary Liquidation Article 31. For granting a permission for voluntary liquidation, the bank shall sub￾mit to the Bulgarian National Bank a liquidation plan approved by the bank’s manage￾ment body and comprised of:
  5. a starting date and deadline for completing the liquidation;
  6. a balance sheet as of no longer than 30 days preceding the date for submission of the application certified by the auditors;
  7. a detailed report on assets, subject to cashing, and planned terms for their cashing;
  8. terms and way of settlement of the monetary and non-monetary applicant’s liabilities;
  9. a list of the persons who will be appointed for liquidators and their substitutes with identification for segregation of responsibilities, detailed information about their education, qualification and professional experience, related party declaration and declaration for existence of business interests with the bank;
  10. a draft announcement to the creditors, which will be published in at least two central daily newspapers. Article 32. In the case of sale of a bank enterprise, in addition to the documents under Article 131, paragraph 4 of the Law on Credit Institutions, the documents under Article 31, items 1, 2, 4–7 necessary for granting a permission for voluntary liquidation shall also be attached. Section XII Issuing a Certificate under Article 25 of the Law on Credit Institutions (repealed; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) Article 33. (repealed; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) Section XIII (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2014)

30 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB Permission for Performing Activities under Article 2, paragraph 6 of the Law on Credit Institutions Article 33a. (1) Any bank seeking a permission to perform activities under Arti￾cle 2, paragraph 6 of the Law on Credit Institutions shall submit to the BNB a written application which shall be accompanied by the following documents:

  1. a bank’s programme of activities including a detailed description of the activities which the bank intends to perform and of the bank’s internal organisation;
  2. general terms and conditions applicable to contracts with customers;
  3. other information and documents certifying compliance with the requirements of Article 59 of Regulation (EU) No 1031/2010 of the Commission of 12 November 2010 on the timing, administration and other aspects of auctioning of greenhouse gas emission allowances pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowances trad￾ing within the Community (OJ, L 302/1, 18 November 2010), hereinafter Regulation (ЕU) No 1031/2010. (2) The Bulgarian National Bank shall examine the application and the documents appended thereto and shall issue or refuse to issue a permission within one month of submission of the application and all relevant documents. (3) The Bulgarian National Bank shall refuse to issue a permission under para￾graph 2 if not all relevant documents have been submitted, if these documents are incorrect or their content is contradictory or if other requirements under Regulation (EU) No 1031/2010 have not been met. Section XIV Permission for Inclusion of Capital Instruments in Common Equity Tier 1 Instruments (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) Article 33b (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) (1) A bank wishing to obtain a permission to include capital instruments under Article 26, paragraph 1, point ‘a’ of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 in Common Equity Tier 1 instruments shall submit a written application to the BNB, enclosing thereto:
  4. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a verified copy of the resolu￾tion issued by the competent body of the bank on issuance of capital instruments and amendment of the Statute, as well as other documents governing the terms and condi￾tions and the issuance of capital instruments, if applicable;
  5. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a list of persons who have ac￾quired capital instruments, details of the amount of instruments acquired by each person and documents certifying that the instruments have been paid in full and that their acquisition is not related to direct or indirect funding by the bank;
  6. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a declaration by the bank that it has not directly or indirectly funded the acquisition of the instruments , and that none

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 31 of the forms of direct or indirect funding are available pursuant to Articles 8 and 9 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 as set out in Annex 1; 4. (repealed; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) 5. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a document for the registration of the issue of capital instruments issued by a central securities depository for the reg￾istration of the issue of capital instruments; 6. the amended Statute stating the new amount of the capital; 7. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 97 of 2024, effective as of 15 November 2024) a table on assessment of compliance of the capital instruments with the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014, accord￾ing to Appendix No 2; the table shall be prepared by the bank to provide information on compliance of the capital instruments with relevant requirements of the Regula￾tions under the previous sentence in view of their classification as Common Equity Tier 1; 8. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a declaration signed by the per￾sons managing and representing the bank that: a) there are no additional agreements, rules or arrangements that may affect the combined economic effects of the instrument pursuant to Article 79a of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013; b) the instruments are of the type of instruments in the Republic of Bulgaria that are included in the list of the European Banking Authority (EBA) under Article 26(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013; c) the information provided is accurate and complete and that the capital instru￾ments qualify as Common Equity Tier 1 instruments; 9. (repealed, Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024). (2) The Bulgarian National Bank shall refuse to issue a permission to include capi￾tal instruments in Common Equity Tier 1 where the conditions under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 and this Ordinance are not met. (3) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) A bank intending to make use of the possibility to include a subsequent issue of capital instruments in Common Equity Tier 1 capital pursuant to second subparagraph of Article 26(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 shall submit a notification to which it shall enclose:

  1. the documents referred to in points 1 to 6 concerning the subsequent issuance of Common Equity Tier 1 capital instruments;
  2. a declaration signed by the persons managing and representing the bank that: a) there are no substantial changes to the provisions governing the issue that are relevant to the assessment of compliance with the conditions of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014; b) the information provided is accurate and complete;

32 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB c) there are no other additional agreements, rules or arrangements that would change the economic characteristics of the instrument pursuant to Article 79a of Regu￾lation (EU) No 575/2013; 3. a description of the changes in the provisions governing the subsequent issue compared to the provisions governing the previous issue and a self-assessment as to why those changes are not relevant to the assessment of compliance with the condi￾tions of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014; 4. a comparison between the terms governing the subsequent and the previous is￾sue of the capital instrument in a way that allows their tracing. (4) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) For the purposes of the second sub￾paragraph of Article 26(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, the provisions govern￾ing the subsequent issue shall be deemed to be essentially the same as the provisions governing the issues for which the bank has already received a permission, if there are no changes to the provisions governing the previous issues or other commitments that would substantially affect the provisions that were relevant to the assessment of the inclusion of the capital instruments in Common Equity Tier 1 capital and to the granting of the permission. (5) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) The notification and documents under paragraph 3 shall be submitted no later than 20 days before the expected date of inclusion of the capital instruments in Common Equity Tier 1. The provision of Article 17, paragraph 6 shall apply accordingly. (6) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) If the BNB considers that the condi￾tions under the second subparagraph of Article 26(3) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 are not met, it shall notify the bank within the period under paragraph 5 that the bank shall submit an application under paragraph 1 for the inclusion of the subsequent issue of capital instruments in Common Equity Tier 1. (7) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) If within 20 days of receiving the notification and all necessary documents that are required according to paragraph 3 or may be requested by the BNB pursuant to Article 17, paragraph 6 the bank does not receive a notice from the BNB that it is required to submit an application under para￾graph 1, the bank may include the subsequent issue of capital instruments in Common Equity Tier 1 from the day following the date on which this term expires, or from the date of receipt of a notice from the BNB of no objections. (8) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) The bank shall notify the BNB of the circumstances that may affect the qualification of capital instruments as Common Equity Tier 1 instruments. (9) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) Paragraph 3 shall not apply to a subsequent issuance of capital instruments as a result of a capital increase through non-cash contributions or as a result of a capital increase for conversion purposes.

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 33 (10) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) Regardless of the fact that the condi￾tions under paragraph 3 for the inclusion of a subsequent issue of capital instruments in Common Equity Tier 1 exist, a bank may request an issuance of a permission under the first subparagraph of Article 26(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 pursuant to the procedure of paragraph 1. Section XV Permission for Inclusion of the Interim or Year-end Profit in Common Equity Tier 1 (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) Article 33c. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) (1) A bank wishing to obtain a permission to include the interim or year-end profit in Common Equity Tier 1 shall submit a written application to the BNB, enclosing thereto:

  1. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a document verified by the au￾ditors of the bank under Article 76, paragraph 4 of the Law on Credit Institutions confirming the profit: a) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) regarding the year-end profit, an audit report or a certifying letter shall be submitted to indicate that the audit has not yet been completed, and audit entities have not identified anything giving reasons to believe that the final report would contain a modified opinion; b) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) regarding the interim profit, an audit report shall be submitted (if an audit was carried out), a review report within the meaning of the International Standard on Review Engagements (ISRE) 2410 issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) or a certifying letter in line with the conditions of letter ‘a’ if the confirmation submitted by the bank is an audit report;
  2. a declaration signed by the persons managing and representing the bank that the profit is reported in line with the principles provided for in the applicable accounting framework, and the scope of prudential consolidation is not significantly broader than the scope of confirmation contained in the auditor’s document under item 1;
  3. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 97 of 2024, effective as of 15 November 2024) a declaration signed by the persons managing and representing the bank to indicate the main elements of the interim or year-end profit, including deductions of foreseeable charges under Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 or dividends in accordance with Appendix No 3;
  4. a certified copy of the decision/proposal of the bank’s competent body for inclu￾sion of the interim or year-end profit in Common Equity Tier 1. (2) In the cases where the interim or year-end profit is included on a consolidated or sub-consolidated basis, the requirements under paragraph 1, items 2 and 3 shall apply by the consolidating authority.

34 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB (3) The amount of dividends to be deducted shall be based on an official decision/ proposal by the competent body of the bank, and in cases where there is no such deci￾sion/proposal, on the highest of the following:

  1. the maximum amount of dividends calculated in accordance with the dividend policy;
  2. the amount of dividends calculated on the basis of the average dividend pay-out ratio over the last three years;
  3. the amount of dividends calculated on the basis of the dividend pay-out ratio of the previous year. (4) The Bulgarian National Bank shall refuse to issue a permission to include the interim or year-end profit in Common Equity Tier 1 where the conditions under Regu￾lation (EU) No 575/2013, Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 and this Ordinance are not met. Section ХVI Approval for Inclusion of Capital Instruments in Additional Tier 1 Capital or in Tier 2 Capital (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017; title amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) Article 33d. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) (1) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) A bank wishing to obtain an approval to include capital instruments in Additional Tier 1 Capital or in Tier 2 Capital shall submit a written application to the BNB, enclosing thereto:
  4. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a contract or another document on issuance of a capital instrument and a verified copy of the resolution issued by the competent body on issuance of the instrument;
  5. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) regarding capital instruments with new or complex characteristics: a reasoned independent legal opinion confirm￾ing that capital instruments meet the criteria for qualifying them as Additional Tier 1 or Tier 2 capital;
  6. regarding capital instruments for which an approval is requested in order to include them in Additional Tier 1 capital: indication of the minimum amount of Com￾mon Equity Tier 1 that would be generated if the principal amount of the instruments were fully written down or converted into Common Equity Tier 1 instruments (Arti￾cle 54, paragraph 3 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013) after deducting any foreseeable tax liabilities or payments resulting from the conversion or write-down or stemming from and related to the instrument at the moment of its conversion or write-down, and the bank shall assess and explain this amount on the basis of the tax treatment ap￾plicable as of the date of assessment and structure of the group;
  7. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024; amended; Darjaven Vestnik, is￾sue 97 of 2024, effective as of 15 November 2024) a table on an assessment of compli￾ance of the capital instrument with the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 35 and Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014, according to Appendix No 4; the table shall be prepared by the bank to provide information on compliance of the capital in￾strument with the requirements of the regulations under the previous sentence in view of their classification as Additional Tier 1 or Tier 2 capital, taking into account EBA’s questions and answers (Q&A) and the EBA Report on the Monitoring of Additional Tier 1 instruments; 5. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) a declaration by the bank that it has not directly or indirectly funded the acquisition of instruments, as none of the forms of direct or indirect funding are available in compliance with Articles 8 and 9 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 according to Appendix No 1; 6. a declaration that information supplied is accurate and complete, the capital instruments meet the conditions qualifying them as Additional Tier 1 or Tier 2 capital and that there are no implicit agreements which would influence their eligibility; 7. a bank document for receiving funds on a bank’s account; 8. other documents necessary for assessment whether to issue or not the requested approval. (2) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) The application under para￾graph 1 shall specify the reasons for issuing the capital instrument, as well as its com￾pliance with the capital plan (on an individual and consolidated basis). It shall also include a description of the impact on own funds (Common Equity Tier 1 capital, Additional Tier 1 capital and total capital) and the leverage ratio/leverage (for the Ad￾ditional Tier 1 capital) for all application levels in accordance with Part One, Title II of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 for a three-year period based on a capital plan projec￾tion and paragraph 1, item 3 shall be taken into account. 3) Banks may use EBA standard templates on the terms and conditions of issuing capital instruments, as well as the EBA Report on the Monitoring of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments. (4) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) The bank shall inform the BNB of any change in a contract or document for issuing the instrument, or of any circum￾stances that may have an impact on qualifying them as Additional Tier 1 or Tier 2 capital. (5) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) The Bulgarian National Bank shall refuse to issue an approval to include capital instruments in Additional Tier 1 capital and Tier 2 capital accordingly, where the conditions under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 or this Ordinance have not been met. Section ХVII Other Permissions and Approvals under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) Article 33e. (new Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) (1) A bank wishing to obtain a permission or approval under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013, other than those in

36 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB cases under Articles 33b–33d, shall file a written application to the BNB, enclosing data and documents certifying the compliance with the relevant requirements of Regu￾lation (EU) No 575/2013 and the acts on its implementation. (2) (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) The Bulgarian National Bank shall rule on the application for the issuance of a permission or approval within three months of the submission of all required documents, unless a different period is provided for in Regulation (EU) No 575/2013. (3) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 от 2021; previous paragraph 2, amended, issue 12 of 2024) The Bulgarian National Bank shall refuse to issue a permission or approval under paragraph 1, if all the necessary documents are not submitted, if they are incorrect or with contradictory content, or if other requirements of the Law on Credit Institutions, of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 or its implementing acts are not met. Section XVIII Approval Issued to a Financial Holding Company and Mixed Financial Holding Company (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) Article 33f. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) (1) For issuing an approval under Article 35, paragraph 1 of the Law on Credit Institutions, a financial holding company or mixed financial holding company shall submit a written application to the BNB, with the following documents enclosed:

  1. a description of the organisational structure of the group, of which the financial holding company or the mixed financial holding company is part, indicating: a) subsidiaries and, where applicable, parent undertakings; b) the location and the type of activity undertaken by each entity of the group;
  2. identification data of at least two persons who manage and represent the finan￾cial holding company or the mixed financial holding company;
  3. documents required for issuing an approval under Ordinance No 20 of 2019 to the members of the management and control bodies of a financial holding company or a mixed financial holding company and the persons managing its activities;
  4. documents under Articles19a and 19b applicable to shareholders and partners with qualifying holdings in a financial holding company or mixed financial holding company, and where there are none, to the 20 largest shareholders or partners;
  5. a description of the internal organisation and distribution of tasks within the group, including strategies and policies of assuming, managing, monitoring and re￾ducing risks;
  6. other documents needed for the assessment whether to grant the approval sought. (2) The Bulgarian National Bank may request, within a period specified by it, sub￾mission of additional information which is necessary in order to assess whether the

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 37 conditions for granting an approval under Article 35a, paragraph 5 of the Law on Credit Institutions have been fulfilled. Chapter Three ‘A’ Verification of the Information Provided in Accordance with this Ordinance (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) Article 33g. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) In the cases where there is information about a close associate within the meaning of § 1, paragraph 1, item 4b of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions, which give reason to doubt the reliability and suitability of the applicant, the BNB shall assess the nature of the links between them and the degree of influence of this associate on the applicant. If, as a result of the assessment, it is judged that the links and the influence under the first sentence are of an essential character, this is a reason to assume that the applicant does not have a good reputation. Article 33h. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) The information collected under this Ordinance about third parties shall be used only for the purposes of the relevant proceedings. When declaring close associates in accordance with Article 7 or Article 19a, the declarant shall notify the relevant persons of this step. Chapter Four Registration of the Granted Licenses and Permissions. Supervisory Fees Article 34. (1) (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 48 of 2011) Licenses issued in accordance with this Ordinance, as well as permissions issued in accordance with Ar￾ticles 20, 22, 23, 25 and 31 shall be entered in a public register maintained by the Bul￾garian National Bank. (2) Entry of a granted license shall be made after submission of the documents under Article 16. Article 35. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) The Bulgarian National Bank shall charge the following fees for administrative expenses connected with con￾sideration of applications and documents for the issuance of licenses, permissions, approvals and notifications pursuant to this Ordinance:

  1. for issuance of a license to a bank – BGN 100,000;
  2. (repealed; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 48 of 2011);
  3. for issuance of a license to a bank with a seat in a third country to conduct bank activity on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria through a branch – BGN 80,000;
  4. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009; amended, issue 4 of 2026) for issuance of an approval to acquire or increase qualifying shareholding in a domestic bank:

38 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB a) from any person who will directly acquire or increase their shareholding – BGN 10,000; b) from any person who will indirectly acquire or increase their shareholding – BGN 5000; 5. for issuance of a permission to open an overseas branch of a domestic bank – BGN 50,000; 6. for issuance of a permission for changing the name specified in the license – BGN 3000; 7. for issuance of a permission for transformation of a bank – BGN 50,000; 8. (amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) for issuance of a permission to change the scope of the issued licence – BGN 10,000; 9. for issuance of a permission to increase the capital of a bank through non-cash contributions – BGN 20,000; 10. for issuance of a permission to reduce the capital of a bank – BGN 20,000; 11. for issuance of a permission to buy back shares issued by a domestic bank – BGN 20,000; 12. for issuance of a permission to acquire control or to establish a bank with resi￾dence abroad – BGN 80,000; 13. for issuance of a permission for voluntary liquidation – BGN 100,000; 14. (deleted; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 2009) 15. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) for issuance of a permission to in￾clude capital instruments in Common Equity Tier 1 capital – BGN 5000; 16. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017; amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) for issuance of a permission to include the interim or year-end profit in Com￾mon Equity Tier 1 capital – BGN 3000; 17. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017; amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) for issuance of an approval to include capital instruments in Additional Tier 1 or Tier 2 capital  – BGN 5000; 18. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) for issuance of other permissions and approvals under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 – BGN 1000. 19. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 2021) for issuance of an approval to a finan￾cial holding company or mixed financial holding company – BGN 20,000. 20. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) for exemption of a financial holding company or a mixed financial holding company from the obligation to obtain an ap￾proval – BGN 15,000. 21. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) for consideration of a notification for inclusion of a subsequent issue of capital instruments under Article 33b, paragraphs 3 – BGN 500.

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 39 Additional Provisions (title amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 53 of 2017) § 1. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) Within the meaning of the Ordinance:

  1. ‘Consolidating authority’ shall be a credit institution which shall observe the re￾quirements laid down in Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 on a consolidated or sub-con￾solidated basis as applicable under Article 11 and 18 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013.
  2. ‘Interim profit’ shall be the profit determined in accordance with the applicable accounting framework calculated for a reference period shorter than the full business year, before the bank has formally taken a decision confirming this profit or loss of the bank;
  3. ‘Year-end profit’ shall be the profit determined in accordance with the applicable accounting framework calculated for a reference period equal to the full business year, before the bank has formally taken a decision confirming this profit or loss of the bank.
  4. ‘Pay-out ratio on a consolidated basis’ shall be the ratio between: а) dividends distributed to owners of the consolidating entity, with the exception of dividends paid in a form that does not reduce the amount of Common Equity Tier 1 capital (e.g dividends in the form of shares); and b) the profit after tax distributed to owners of the consolidating entity. Where the ratio between letters (a) and (b) for a particular year is negative or higher than 100 per cent, the pay-out ratio shall be considered 100 per cent. Where the profit under letter (b) for a particular year is equal to zero, the pay-out ratio shall be considered 0 per cent if dividends under letter (a) are equal to zero, and 100 per cent if dividends under letter (a) are higher than zero.
  5. ‘Pay-out ratio on an individual basis’ shall be the ratio between: а) dividends distributed to owners of the entity, with the exception of dividends paid in a form that does not reduce the amount of Common Equity Tier 1 capital (e.g dividends in the form of shares); and b) the profit after tax. 6. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) In declaring close associates within the meaning of § 1, paragraph 1, item 4b, letter ‘a’ of the Additional Provisions of the Law on credit institutions, when the applicant holds a position with management func￾tions in a legal entity, regardless of its nature, or is its beneficial owner, he shall declare the managers, procurators and members of the board of directors, respectively of the management and supervisory boards. 7. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) In declaring close associates within the meaning of § 1, paragraph 1, item 4b, letter ‘b’ of the Additional Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions, when the applicant holds a position with management func￾tions in a legal entity, regardless of its nature, he shall declare the beneficial owners of the entity.

40 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 8. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) Persons holding positions with man￾agement functions in legal entities from the financial sector who are subject to a licens￾ing regime and supervision by a competent authority, including issuance of a prior or subsequent approval for the acquisition of a qualifying holding and for holding a position as manager, procurator or member of the board of directors, respectively of the management and supervisory boards of the entity, shall not be subject to declara￾tion under the procedure of this Ordinance as close associates. Beneficial owners of the entities referred to in the first sentence, as well as the persons with a qualifying holding in them shall not be subject to declaration. 9. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) ‘Identification details of close associ￾ates’ shall be any data available to the applicant that enable the BNB to uniquely iden￾tify the relevant close associate. 10. (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 4 of 2026) ‘IMAS Portal’ or ‘Information Man￾agement System Portal’ shall be an electronic platform of the Single Supervisory Mechanism for submitting applications, notifications, presenting and exchanging in￾formation between competent authorities, on the one hand, and supervised entities and third parties, on the other, regarding the procedures under Article 4a. § 1а. (former § 1, amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017) The documents and data in a foreign language required under the terms and procedure of this Ordi￾nance shall be submitted to the BNB with a verified Bulgarian language translation, and official documents supplied shall be legalized. In case of inconsistency between texts, data in the Bulgarian translation shall be deemed accurate. The BNB Deputy Governor heading the Banking Supervision Department may request copies of some private documents of essential significance for the assessment of the compliance with the statutory requirements to be provided with notarial verification of the signatures of the persons who issued them.

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 41 Appendix No 1 to Article 33b, paragraph 1, item 3 and Article 33d, paragraph 1, item 5 (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024; title amended; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 97 of 2024, effective as of 15 November 2024) DECLARATION by

  1. ......................................................................................................................................, Identity Number .................................................................................................................,
  2. ......................................................................................................................................, Identity Number ................................................................................................................., We, in our capacity as ........................................................................................................, having our registered office and head office address at ...................................................... ............................................................................................................................................, Unique Identification Code (URN) ..................................................................................... (the ‘Bank’), in relation to an issue .................................................................................... .......................................................................................................... of capital instruments issued by ............................................................................................................................. in the amount of ….............................. (............................................................................) (the ‘instruments’) and an application to the Bulgarian National Bank for approval for ............................................................................................................................................. DECLARE, that the acquisition of the instruments is not funded directly or indirectly by the Bank and there are no forms of direct or indirect funding under Articles 8 and 9(1) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 of 7 January 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards for own funds requirements for institutions, namely:
  3. There is no direct funding of the Instruments, through a loan or any other form of investor funding.
  4. There is no funding of a purchase by an investor, at issuance or thereafter, of the Instruments by a company which the Bank controls directly or indirectly or which is included in any of the following parameters: – the accounting scope or prudential consolidation of the Bank; – the scope of the consolidated balance sheet or the extended aggregated calculation drawn up by the institutional protection scheme or the network of institutions affiliated to a central body that are not organised as a group to which the Bank belongs; – the scope of supplementary supervision of the Bank in line with Directive 2002/87/ EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms in a financial conglomerate (Directive 2002/87/EC).

42 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 3. There is no funding for the purchase by an investor, at issuance or thereafter, of the instruments by external entities protected by a guarantee, or by the use of a credit derivative or are secured in some other way, so that the credit risk is transferred to the Bank or to an entity that it directly or indirectly controls or is included in any of the following parameters: – the accounting scope or prudential consolidation of the Bank; – the scope of the consolidated balance sheet or extended aggregated calculation drawn up by the institutional protection scheme or the network of institutions affiliated to a central body that are not organised as a group to which the Bank belongs; – the scope of supplementary supervision of the Bank in accordance with Directive 2002/87/EC. 4. There is no funding of a borrower that passes the funding on to the ultimate investor for the purchase of the instruments at issue or thereafter. We are aware of the criminal liability under Article 313 of the Penal Code for declaring incorrect circumstances. Signature: Signature: (………….......………….…….) (……….….......……………….) Date: …………………….........

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 43 Appendix No 2 to Article 33b, paragraph 1, item 7 (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017; former Appendix 1; amended, Darjaven Vestnik, 12 of 2024) Table on Assessment of Compliance of the Capital Instruments with the Requirements of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 on Their Qualification as Common Equity Tier 1 Capital Provision of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 describing the conditions for an individual issu￾ance of a capital instrument Circumstances and provi￾sions relevant to establish￾ing compliance with the conditions for the issuance of a capital instrument Self-assessment of com￾pliance with the condi￾tions for the issuance of a capital instrument Article 28

  1. Capital instruments shall qualify as Common Equity Tier 1 instruments only if all of the fol￾lowing conditions are met: a) the instruments are issued directly by the institution with the prior approval of the own￾ers of the institution or, where permitted under applicable national law, the management body of the institution; b) the instruments are fully paid up and the acquisition of ownership of those instruments is not funded directly or indirectly by the institu￾tion, including the relevant provisions of Arti￾cles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EU) No 241/2014; c) the instruments meet all the following condi￾tions as regards their classification: i) they qualify as capital within the meaning of Article 22 of Directive 86/635/EEC (OJ L 176/37, 27.6.2013); ii) they are classified as equity within the mean￾ing of the applicable accounting framework; iii) they are classified as equity capital for the purposes of determining balance sheet insol￾vency, where applicable under national insol￾vency law; d) the instruments are clearly and separately disclosed on the balance sheet in the financial statements of the institution; e) the instruments are perpetual;

44 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB Provision of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 describing the conditions for an individual issu￾ance of a capital instrument Circumstances and provi￾sions relevant to establish￾ing compliance with the conditions for the issuance of a capital instrument Self-assessment of com￾pliance with the condi￾tions for the issuance of a capital instrument f) the principal amount of the instruments may not be reduced or repaid, except in either of the following cases: i) the liquidation of the institution; ii) discretionary repurchases of the instruments or other discretionary means of reducing capi￾tal, where the institution has received the prior permission of the competent authority in ac￾cordance with Article 77; g) the provisions governing the instruments do not indicate expressly or implicitly that the principal amount of the instruments would or might be reduced or repaid other than in the liquidation of the institution, and the institution does not otherwise provide such an indication prior to or at issuance of the instruments, except in the case of instruments referred to in Article 27 where the refusal by the institution to redeem such instruments is prohibited under applicable national law; h) the instruments meet the following condi￾tions as regards distributions: i) there is no preferential distribution treatment regarding the order of distribution payments, including in relation to other Common Equity Tier 1 instruments, and the terms governing the instruments do not provide preferential rights to payment of distributions; ii) distributions to holders of the instruments may be paid only out of distributable items; iii) the conditions governing the instruments do not include a cap or other restriction on the maximum level of distributions, except in the case of the instruments referred to in Article 27; iv) the level of distributions is not determined on the basis of the amount for which the instru￾ments were purchased at issuance, except in the case of the instruments referred to in Article 27; v) the conditions governing the instruments do not include any obligation for the institution to make distributions to their holders and the institution is not otherwise subject to such an obligation;

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 45 Provision of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 describing the conditions for an individual issu￾ance of a capital instrument Circumstances and provi￾sions relevant to establish￾ing compliance with the conditions for the issuance of a capital instrument Self-assessment of com￾pliance with the condi￾tions for the issuance of a capital instrument vi) non-payment of distributions does not con￾stitute an event of default of the institution; vii) the cancellation of distributions imposes no restrictions on the institution; i) compared to all the capital instruments issued by the institution, the instruments absorb the first and proportionately greatest share of losses as they occur, and each instrument absorbs losses to the same degree as all other Common Equity Tier 1 instruments; j) the instruments rank below all other claims in the event of insolvency or liquidation of the institution; k) the instruments entitle their owners to a claim on the residual assets of the institution, which, in the event of its liquidation and after the pay￾ment of all senior claims, is proportionate to the amount of such instruments issued and is not fixed or subject to a cap, except in the case of the capital instruments referred to in Article 27; l) the instruments are not secured, or subject to a guarantee that enhances the seniority of the claim by any of the following: i) the institution or its subsidiaries; ii) the parent undertaking of the institution or its subsidiaries; iii) the parent financial holding company or its subsidiaries; iv) the mixed activity holding company or its subsidiaries; v) the mixed financial holding company and its subsidiaries; vi) any undertaking that has close links with entities referred to in points (i) to (v); m) the instruments are not subject to any ar￾rangement, contractual or otherwise, that en￾hances the seniority of claims under the instru￾ments in insolvency or liquidation.

46 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB Provision of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 describing the conditions for an individual issu￾ance of a capital instrument Circumstances and provi￾sions relevant to establish￾ing compliance with the conditions for the issuance of a capital instrument Self-assessment of com￾pliance with the condi￾tions for the issuance of a capital instrument The condition set out in point (j) of the first sub￾paragraph shall be deemed to be met, notwith￾standing the instruments are included in Ad￾ditional Tier 1 or Tier 2 by virtue of Article 484, paragraph 3, provided that they rank pari passu. For the purposes of point (b) of the first sub￾paragraph, only the part of a capital instrument that is fully paid up shall be eligible to qualify as a Common Equity Tier 1 instrument. 2. The conditions laid down in point (i) of paragraph 1 shall be deemed to be met notwith￾standing a write down on a permanent basis of the principal amount of Additional Tier 1 or Tier 2 instruments. The condition laid down in point (f) of para￾graph 1 shall be deemed to be met notwith￾standing the reduction of the principal amount of the capital instrument within a resolution procedure or as a consequence of a write down of capital instruments required by the resolution authority responsible for the institution. The condition laid down in point (g) of para￾graph 1 shall be deemed to be met notwith￾standing the provisions governing the capital instrument indicating expressly or implicitly that the principal amount of the instrument would or might be reduced within a resolution procedure or as a consequence of a write down of capital instruments required by the resolution authority responsible for the institution. 3. The condition laid down in point (h)(iii) of paragraph 1 shall be deemed to be met not￾withstanding the instrument paying a dividend multiple, provided that such a dividend multiple does not result in a distribution that causes a disproportionate drag on own funds. The condition set out in point (h)(v) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall be considered to be met notwithstanding a subsidiary being subject to a profit and loss transfer agreement with its parent undertaking, according to which the subsidiary is obliged to transfer, following the preparation of its annual financial state￾ments, its annual result to the parent undertak￾ing, where all the following conditions are met:

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 47 Provision of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 describing the conditions for an individual issu￾ance of a capital instrument Circumstances and provi￾sions relevant to establish￾ing compliance with the conditions for the issuance of a capital instrument Self-assessment of com￾pliance with the condi￾tions for the issuance of a capital instrument a) the parent undertaking owns 90 per cent or more of the voting rights and capital of the subsidiary; b) the parent undertaking and the subsidiary are located in the same Member State; c) the agreement was concluded for legitimate taxation purposes; d) in preparing the annual financial statement, the subsidiary has discretion to decrease the amount of distributions by allocating a part or all of its profits to its own reserves or funds for general banking risk before making any payment to its parent undertaking; e) the parent undertaking is obliged under the agreement to fully compensate the subsidiary for all losses of the subsidiary; f) the agreement is subject to a notice period according to which the agreement can be ter￾minated only by the end of an accounting year, with such termination taking effect no earlier than the beginning of the following accounting year, leaving the parent undertaking’s obligation to fully compensate the subsidiary for all losses incurred during the current accounting year unchanged. Where an institution has entered into a profit and loss transfer agreement, it shall notify the competent authority without delay and provide the competent authority with a copy of the agreement. The institution shall also notify the competent authority without delay of any chang￾es to the profit and loss transfer agreement and the termination thereof. An institution shall not enter into more than one profit and loss transfer agreement. 4. For the purposes of point (h)(i) of para￾graph 1, differentiated distributions shall only reflect differentiated voting rights. In this re￾spect, higher distributions shall only apply to Common Equity Tier 1 instruments with fewer or no voting rights.

48 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB Appendix No 3 to Article 33c, paragraph 1, item 3 (new, Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017; former Appendix 2; amended, Darjaven Vestnik, 12 of 2024) DECLARATION by ......................................................................................................................... , URN (BULSTAT code)........................................................................................ , Address for correspondence ............................................................................... , represented by ..................................................................................................... Net profits of (interim/annual) financial statements as at (balance sheet date) of (name of the bank) to be included in the Common Equity Tier 1 capital is calculated as follows: a) retained earnings before tax [BGN 0]; b) taxes [BGN 0]; c) other charges imposed by the supervisory authority [BGN 0]; d) other expected charges not included in the profit and loss account [BGN 0]; e) total amount of charges (b + c + d) [BGN 0]; f) amount of dividend which has been decided upon or proposed [BGN 0/empty field]**; g) maximum dividend amount in accordance with the dividend policy [BGN 0]; h) dividend amount as per the average pay-out ratio (last three years) [BGN 0]; i) dividend amount as per the pay-out ratio for the previous year [BGN 0]; j) dividend amount to be deducted (maximum amount for letters ‘g’, ‘h’ and ‘i’, if no data for letter ‘f’ is available, otherwise the amount for letter ‘f’) [BGN 0.]; k) normative restrictions impact [BGN 0]; l) profit which may be included in Common Equity Tier 1 capital (a – e – j + k) [BGN 0]. With a view to the inclusion of the net profit in the bank’s Common Equity Tier 1 capital and compliance with the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 and this Ordinance we herewith declare that:

  1. To the best of our knowledge, the above figures are correct.
  2. Those profits have been verified by persons independent of the bank that are responsible for the auditing of its accounts in line with the requirements of Article 26, paragraph 2 of Regulation No 575/2013 and this Ordinance;
  3. Those profits have been evaluated in accordance with the principles set out in the applicable accounting framework. ** Where there is a decision or proposal not to distribute dividend this ratio should be equal to zero. Where there is no such decision or proposal, the field shall not be completed.

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 49 4. Any foreseeable charges or dividends have been deducted from the profit amount as specified above. 5. The dividend amount to be deducted is evaluated in accordance with Ordinance No 2 of 2006 on the licenses, approvals and permissions, issued by the Bulgarian Na￾tional Bank under the Law on Credit Institutions. 6. The management body of [name of the bank/bank group] shall be obliged to make a proposal on the dividend distribution which is fully complient with the above calculation of the net profit. We are aware of the responsibility under Article 313 of the Criminal Code for any declaration of false data. SIGNATURES:

50 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB Appendix No 4 to Article 33d, paragraph 1, item 4 (new; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 2017; former Appendix 3; amended, Darjaven Vestnik, 12 of 2024) Table on Assessment of Compliance of the Capital Instruments with the Requirements of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 241/2014 on Their Qualification as Additional Tier 1 or Tier 2 Capital, Respectively Provision of Regulation No 575/2013 Indicating provi￾sions of an agree￾ment or other document on the issuance of the in￾strument or on the receipt of the loan EBA’s questions and answers (Q&A) and EBA Report on the monitoring of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments Self-assess￾ment Article 52

  1. Capital instruments shall qualify as Addi￾tional Tier 1 instruments only if the following conditions are met: a) the instruments are issued and paid up; b) the instruments are not owned by any of the following: i) the institution or its subsidiaries; ii) an undertaking in which the institution has a participation in the form of ownership, direct or by way of control, of 20% or more of the voting rights or capital of that undertaking; c) the acquisition of ownership of the instru￾ments is not funded directly or indirectly by the institution, including the relevant provi￾sions of Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EU) No 241/2014; d) the instruments rank below Tier 2 instru￾ments in the event of the insolvency of the institution; e) the instruments are not secured, or subject to a guarantee that enhances the seniority of the claims by any of the following: i) the institution or its subsidiaries;

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 51 Provision of Regulation No 575/2013 Indicating provi￾sions of an agree￾ment or other document on the issuance of the in￾strument or on the receipt of the loan EBA’s questions and answers (Q&A) and EBA Report on the monitoring of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments Self-assess￾ment ii) the parent undertaking of the institution or its subsidiaries; iii) the parent financial holding company or its subsidiaries; iv) the mixed activity holding company or its subsidiaries; v) the mixed financial holding company and its subsidiaries; vi) any undertaking that has close links with entities referred to in points (i) to (v); f) the instruments are not subject to any arrangement, contractual or otherwise, that enhances the seniority of the claim under the instruments in insolvency or liquidation; g) the instruments are perpetual and the pro￾visions governing them include no incentive for the institution to redeem them, including the relevant provisions of Article 20 of Regula￾tion (EU) No 241/2014; h) where the instruments include one or more early redemption options including call op￾tions, the options are exercisable at the sole discretion of the issuer; i) the instruments may be called, redeemed or repurchased only where the conditions laid down in Article 77 are met, and not before five years after the date of issuance except where the conditions laid down in Arti￾cle 78(4) are met; g) the provisions governing the instruments do not indicate explicitly or implicitly that the instruments would be called, redeemed or repurchased, as applicable, by the institu￾tion other than in the case of the insolvency or liquidation of the institution and the in￾stitution does not otherwise provide such an indication;

52 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB Provision of Regulation No 575/2013 Indicating provi￾sions of an agree￾ment or other document on the issuance of the in￾strument or on the receipt of the loan EBA’s questions and answers (Q&A) and EBA Report on the monitoring of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments Self-assess￾ment k) the institution does not indicate explicitly or implicitly that the competent authority would consent to a request to call, redeem or repurchase the instruments; l) distributions under the instruments meet the following conditions: i) they are paid out of distributable items; ii) the level of distributions made on the instruments will not be amended on the basis of the credit standing of the institution or its parent undertaking; iii) the provisions governing the instruments give the institution full discretion at all times to cancel the distributions on the instruments for an unlimited period and on a non-cumu￾lative basis, and the institution may use such cancelled payments without restriction to meet its obligations as they fall due; iv) cancellation of distributions does not con￾stitute an event of default of the institution; v) the cancellation of distributions imposes no restrictions on the institution; m) the instruments do not contribute to a determination that the liabilities of an institu￾tion exceed its assets, where such a determi￾nation constitutes a test of insolvency under applicable national law; n) the provisions governing the instruments require that, upon the occurrence of a trigger event, the principal amount of the instru￾ments be written down on a permanent or temporary basis or the instruments be con￾verted to Common Equity Tier 1 instruments; o) the provisions governing the instruments include no feature that could hinder the recapitalisation of the institution;

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 53 Provision of Regulation No 575/2013 Indicating provi￾sions of an agree￾ment or other document on the issuance of the in￾strument or on the receipt of the loan EBA’s questions and answers (Q&A) and EBA Report on the monitoring of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments Self-assess￾ment p) where the issuer is established in a third country and has been designated in accord￾ance with Article 12 of Directive 2014/59/EU as part of a resolution group the resolution entity of which is established in the Union or where the issuer is established in a Member State, the law or contractual provisions gov￾erning the instruments require that, upon a decision by the resolution authority to exer￾cise the write-down and conversion powers referred to in Article 59 of that Directive, the principal amount of the instruments is to be written down on a permanent basis or the instruments are to be converted to Common Equity Tier 1 instruments; where the issuer is established in a third country and has not been designated in accordance with Article 12 of Directive 2014/59/EU as part of a resolu￾tion group the resolution entity of which is established in the Union, the law or contrac￾tual provisions governing the instruments require that, upon a decision by the relevant third-country authority, the principal amount of the instruments is to be written down on a permanent basis or the instruments are to be converted into Common Equity Tier 1 instruments;

54 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB Provision of Regulation No 575/2013 Indicating provi￾sions of an agree￾ment or other document on the issuance of the in￾strument or on the receipt of the loan EBA’s questions and answers (Q&A) and EBA Report on the monitoring of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments Self-assess￾ment q) where the issuer is established in a third country and has been designated in accord￾ance with Article 12 of Directive 2014/59/EU as part of a resolution group the resolution entity of which is established in the Union or where the issuer is established in a Member State, the instruments may only be issued under, or be otherwise subject to the laws of a third country where, under those laws, the exercise of the write-down and conversion powers referred to in Article 59 of that Direc￾tive is effective and enforceable on the basis of statutory provisions or legally enforceable contractual provisions that recognise resolu￾tion or other write-down or conversion ac￾tions; r) the instruments are not subject to set-off or netting arrangements that would undermine their capacity to absorb losses. The condition set out in point (d) of the first subparagraph shall be deemed to be met not￾withstanding the instruments are included in Additional Tier 1 or Tier 2 by virtue of Arti￾cle 484(3), provided that they rank pari passu. For the purposes of point (a), only the part of a capital instrument that is fully paid up shall be eligible to qualify as a Common Equity Tier 1 instrument. Article 53 For the purposes of points (l)(v) and (o) of Article 52(1), the provisions governing Addi￾tional Tier 1 instruments shall, in particular, not include the following: a) a requirement for distributions on the instruments to be made in the event of a distribution being made on an instrument is￾sued by the institution that ranks to the same degree as, or more junior than, an Additional Tier 1 instrument, including a Common Equity Tier 1 instrument;

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 55 Provision of Regulation No 575/2013 Indicating provi￾sions of an agree￾ment or other document on the issuance of the in￾strument or on the receipt of the loan EBA’s questions and answers (Q&A) and EBA Report on the monitoring of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments Self-assess￾ment b) a requirement for the payment of distribu￾tions on Common Equity Tier 1, Additional Tier 1 or Tier 2 instruments to be cancelled in the event that distributions are not made on those Additional Tier 1 instruments; c) an obligation to substitute the payment of interest or dividend by a payment in any other form; the institution shall not otherwise be subject to such an obligation, Article 63 Capital instruments shall qualify as Tier 2 instruments provided the following condi￾tions are met: a) the instruments are issued or the subordi￾nated loans are raised, as applicable, and fully paid-up; b) the instruments are not owned by any of the following: i) the institution or its subsidiaries; ii) an undertaking in which the institution has participation in the form of ownership, direct or by way of control, of 20% or more of the voting rights or capital of that undertaking; c) the acquisition of ownership of the instru￾ments is not funded directly or indirectly by the institution, including the relevant provi￾sions of Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EU) No 241/2014; d) the claim on the principal amount of the instruments under the provisions governing the instruments ranks below any claim from eligible liabilities instruments; e) the instruments are not secured or are not subject to a guarantee that enhances the sen￾iority of the claim by any of the following: i) the institution or its subsidiaries; ii) the parent undertaking of the institution or its subsidiaries; iii) the parent financial holding company or its subsidiaries;

56 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB Provision of Regulation No 575/2013 Indicating provi￾sions of an agree￾ment or other document on the issuance of the in￾strument or on the receipt of the loan EBA’s questions and answers (Q&A) and EBA Report on the monitoring of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments Self-assess￾ment iv) the mixed activity holding company or its subsidiaries; v) the mixed financial holding company or its subsidiaries; vi) any undertaking that has close links with entities referred to in points (i) to (v); f) the instruments are not subject to any ar￾rangement that otherwise enhances the sen￾iority of the claim under the instruments; g) the instruments have an original maturity of at least five years; h) the provisions governing the instruments do not include any incentive for their prin￾cipal amount to be redeemed or repaid, as applicable by the institution prior to their maturity; i) where the instruments include one or more early repayment options, including call op￾tions, the options are exercisable at the sole discretion of the issuer; j) the instruments may be called, redeemed, repaid or repurchased early only where the conditions set out in Article 77 are met, and not before five years after the date of issuance, except where the conditions set out in Arti￾cle 78(4) are met;

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 57 Provision of Regulation No 575/2013 Indicating provi￾sions of an agree￾ment or other document on the issuance of the in￾strument or on the receipt of the loan EBA’s questions and answers (Q&A) and EBA Report on the monitoring of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments Self-assess￾ment k) the provisions governing the instruments do not indicate explicitly or implicitly that the instruments would be called, redeemed, repaid or repurchased early, as applicable, by the institution other than in the case of the in￾solvency or liquidation of the institution and the institution does not otherwise provide such an indication; l) the provisions governing the instruments do not give the holder the right to accelerate the future scheduled payment of interest or principal, other than in the case of the insol￾vency or liquidation of the institution; m) the level of interest or dividends payments, as applicable, due on the instruments will not be amended on the basis of the credit standing of the institution or its parent undertaking;

58 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB Provision of Regulation No 575/2013 Indicating provi￾sions of an agree￾ment or other document on the issuance of the in￾strument or on the receipt of the loan EBA’s questions and answers (Q&A) and EBA Report on the monitoring of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments Self-assess￾ment n) where the issuer is established in a third country and has been designated in accord￾ance with Article 12 of Directive 2014/59/EU as part of a resolution group the resolution entity of which is established in the Union or where the issuer is established in a Member State, the law or contractual provisions gov￾erning the instruments require that, upon a decision by the resolution authority to exer￾cise the write-down and conversion powers referred to in Article 59 of that Directive, the principal amount of the instruments is to be written down on a permanent basis or the instruments are to be converted to Common Equity Tier 1 instruments; where the issuer is established in a third country and has not been designated in accordance with Article 12 of Directive 2014/59/EU as a part of a resolu￾tion group the resolution entity of which is established in the Union, the law or contrac￾tual provisions governing the instruments require that, upon a decision by the relevant third-country authority, the principal amount of the instruments is to be written down on a permanent basis or the instruments are to be converted into Common Equity Tier 1 instruments; o) where the issuer is established in a third country and has been designated in accord￾ance with Article 12 of Directive 2014/59/EU as part of a resolution group, the resolution entity of which is established in the Union or where the issuer is established in a Member State, the instruments may only be issued under, or be otherwise subject to the laws of a third country where, under those laws, the exercise of the write-down and conversion powers referred to in Article 59 of that Direc￾tive is effective and enforceable on the basis of statutory provisions or legally enforceable contractual provisions that recognise resolu￾tion or other write-down or conversion ac￾tions;

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 59 Provision of Regulation No 575/2013 Indicating provi￾sions of an agree￾ment or other document on the issuance of the in￾strument or on the receipt of the loan EBA’s questions and answers (Q&A) and EBA Report on the monitoring of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments Self-assess￾ment p) the instruments are not subject to set-off or netting arrangements that would undermine their capacity to absorb losses. For the purposes of point (a) of the first sub￾paragraph, only the part of the capital instru￾ment that is fully paid up shall be eligible to qualify as a Tier 2 instrument.

60 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB Ordinance on Amendment of Ordinance No 2 of 2006 on the Licenses and Permissions Granted by the Bulgarian National Bank According to the Law on Credit Institutions (published; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 36 of 15 May 2009) .......................................................................................................................... Final Provision § 18. This Ordinance is issued on the grounds of § 13 of the Law on Credit Institu￾tions and is adopted by Resolution No 52 of 23 April 2009 of the Governing Council of the Bulgarian National Bank. Ordinance on Amendment of Ordinance No 2 of 2006 on the Licenses and Permissions Granted by the Bulgarian National Bank According to the Law on Credit Institutions (published; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 48 of 24 June 2011) .......................................................................................................................... Final Provision § 18. This Ordinance is issued on the grounds of § 13 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions and is adopted by Resolution No 51 of 9 June 2011 of the BNB Governing Council. Ordinance on Amendment of Ordinance No 2 of 2006 on the Licenses and Permissions Granted by the Bulgarian National Bank According to the Law on Credit Institutions (published; Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 13 May 2014) .......................................................................................................................... Final Provision § 4. This Ordinance is issued on the grounds of § 13 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions and is adopted by Resolution No 45 of 24 April 2014 of the BNB Governing Council.

Ordinance No 2 of the BNB 61 Ordinance on Amendment of Ordinance No 2 of 2006 on the Licenses, Approvals and Permissions Granted by the Bulgarian National Bank According to the Law on Credit Institutions (published in the Darjaven Vestnik, issue 63 of 4 August 2017) .......................................................................................................................... Final Provision § 15. This Ordinance is issued on the grounds of § 13 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions, and is adopted by Resolution No 104 of 20 July 2017 of the Governing Council of the Bulgarian National Bank. Ordinance on Amendment of Ordinance No 2 of 2006 on the Licenses, Approvals and Permissions Granted by the Bulgarian National Bank According to the Law on Credit Institutions (published in the Darjaven Vestnik, issue 40 of 14 May 2021) § 1. In Article 1, paragraph 2, the words ‘and investment firms’ shall be deleted. .......................................................................................................................... Final Provisions § 17. This Ordinance shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Dar￾javen Vestnik, except for § 1 which shall enter into force on 26 June 2021. § 18. This Ordinance is issued on the grounds of § 13 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions and is adopted by Resolution No 126 of 27 April 2021 of the Governing Council of the Bulgarian National Bank. Ordinance on Amendment of Ordinance No 2 of 2006 on the Licenses, Approvals and Permissions Granted by the Bulgarian National Bank According to the Law on Credit Institutions (Published in the Darjaven Vestnik, issue 12 of 2024) ..........................................................................................................................

62 Ordinance No 2 of the BNB Transitional and Final Provisions § 18. Administrative proceedings incumbent upon the entry into force of this Or￾dinance shall be completed under the previously established procedure. § 19. This Ordinance is issued on the grounds of Article 16, paragraph 5 of the Law on the Bulgarian National Bank in connection with § 13 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions, and is adopted by Resolution No 21 of 22 January 2024 of the Governing Council of the Bulgarian National Bank. Ordinance on Amendment of Ordinance No 2 of 2006 on the Licenses, Approvals and Permissions Granted by the Bulgarian National Bank According to the Law on Credit Institutions (published in the Darjaven Vestnik, issue 97 of 15 November 2024; effective as of 15 November 2024) .......................................................................................................................... Transitional and Final Provisions § 7. This Ordinance shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Dar￾javen Vestnik. § 8. Administrative proceedings incumbent upon the entry into force of this Ordi￾nance shall be completed under the previously established procedure. § 9. This Ordinance is issued on the grounds of Article 16, item 5 of the Law on the Bulgarian National Bank in connection with § 13 of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Law on Credit Institutions, and adopted by Resolution No 506 of 31 October 2024 of the Governing Council of the Bulgarian National Bank. Ordinance on Amendment of Ordinance No 2 of 2006 on the Licenses, Approvals and Permissions Granted by the Bulgarian National Bank According to the Law on Credit Institutions ((published in the Darjaven Vestnik, issue 4 of 2026) .......................................................................................................................... Final Provision § 4. This Ordinance is issued on the basis of § 13 of the Transitional and Final Pro￾visions of the Law on Credit Institutions and was adopted by Decision No 634 of 22 December 2025 of the Governing Council of the Bulgarian National Bank.

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