Ordinance No. 27 of the BNB

Ordinance No. 27 of the BNB of 13 March 2014 on the statistics of the balance of payments, the international investment position and the statistics of securities

(Published in the "State Gazette", No. 27 of 25 March 2014; amended and supplemented, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016; amended and supplemented, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021; amended and supplemented, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025; amended and supplemented, No. 108 of 2024; amended and supplemented, No. 30 of 2026, effective from 1 April 2026)

Chapter One

Subject Matter

Art. 1. This Ordinance determines the procedure for reporting and statistical declaration of transactions between local and foreign persons and the provision of information for the needs of the statistics of the balance of payments, the international investment position and the statistics of securities.

Chapter Two

Registers

Art. 2. (Repealed – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016.)

Art. 3. (Repealed – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016.)

Art. 4. (Amended – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016.) Payment service providers execute payment orders in connection with a transaction that is subject to declaration under the procedure of Art. 7, para. 5 of the Currency Act, after verifying the declaration of the transaction by the local legal entity or sole trader.

Art. 5. (Amended – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016.) The Bulgarian National Bank may collect aggregated data or other relevant directly accessible information, provided that this process does not affect the direct processing of payments and can be fully automated by payment service providers. The information is provided in accordance with written instructions of the Deputy Governor of the BNB, heading the "Banking" Directorate.

Chapter Three

Statistical Declaration

Art. 6. (1) Every local legal entity or sole trader, having concluded a transaction under Art. 7, para. 5 of the Currency Act, submits a declaration to the BNB within 15 working days after the conclusion of the transaction, as follows:

1. (Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from the date specified in the Decision of the Council of the European Union for the adoption of the euro by the Republic of Bulgaria) for transactions regarding the provision or receipt of financial credits in an amount equal to or exceeding 25,000 euros or their equivalent in foreign currency – by filling out a declaration form;
2. (Supplemented – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021; Supplemented – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025) upon opening an account abroad, including at payment institutions and electronic money institutions – by filling out a declaration form;
3. upon making an initial direct investment abroad – by filling out a declaration form;
4. upon issuing debt securities – by filling out a declaration form;
5. upon acquiring securities without the intermediation of a local person – investment intermediary – by filling out a declaration form.

(2) State and state-guaranteed credits, as well as bank accounts abroad, are not subject to declaration under para. 1, items 1 and 2.

(3) (Supplemented – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021.) The declarations under para. 1 may be submitted in person or through an authorized representative on paper or electronically. Paper declarations are provided in two identical copies.

(4) For declarations under para. 1 sent electronically, the requirements of the Law on Electronic Document and Electronic Signature and the Law on Electronic Management shall be observed.

(5) (New – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016.) Transactions under para. 1, item 5 regarding the acquisition of securities without the intermediation of a local person – investment intermediary, carried out by local legal entities belonging to the institutional sector "financial corporations", are not subject to declaration.

Art. 7. (1) The Bulgarian National Bank certifies the declaration of transactions under Art. 6 with a signature and seal on the paper declaration and/or with an electronic signature for electronically submitted declarations. The certification is carried out within 5 working days after the submission of a fully and correctly completed declaration.

(2) (Amended – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021.) Upon establishing incompleteness or incorrect completion in a submitted declaration, the BNB gives instructions for their removal. If the declarations are received by mail or electronically, the BNB gives instructions for the removal of incompleteness within 5 working days.

(3) Upon receipt of the declaration under Art. 6, the BNB checks whether the local legal entity or sole trader has submitted reports under Art. 10 of the Currency Act, if they had such an obligation. If reports are not submitted, the BNB gives written instructions for their submission.

(4) The acceptance and certification of declarations sent electronically by the BNB is carried out in the manner determined in the instructions of the Deputy Governor of the BNB, heading the "Banking" Directorate, in compliance with the Law on Electronic Document and Electronic Signature and the Law on Electronic Management.

Art. 8. (1) In the event of a change in the data of a declared transaction under the procedure of Art. 6, local legal entities and sole traders notify the BNB in writing, on paper or electronically, of the changes within 15 working days after their occurrence.

(2) (Supplemented – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016.) Local legal entities and sole traders notify the BNB in writing, on paper or electronically, upon termination of a transaction regarding the provision or receipt of a financial credit, upon closing declared accounts abroad, upon termination of a declared direct investment abroad, or upon sale of declared real estate abroad within 15 working days from the occurrence of the change.

(3) (New – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021.) In the event of transformation, local legal entities and sole traders notify the BNB in writing within 5 days after taking the decision on transformation.

(4) (New – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021.) The Bulgarian National Bank notifies the persons under para. 3 of the actions envisaged to fulfill the requirements for statistical reporting specified in this Ordinance.

Chapter Four

Statistical Reporting and Provision of Information

Art. 9. (1) Local legal entities or sole traders, with the exception of banks, report quarterly with statistical forms to the BNB:

1. (Supplemented – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016; Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from the date specified in the Decision of the Council of the European Union for the adoption of the euro by the Republic of Bulgaria) the operations, balances and other changes in the amount of financial credits received from or provided to a foreign person, if at the time of declaration the amount is equal to or exceeds 250,000 euros or their equivalent in foreign currency. Operations, balances and other changes in the amount of financial credits are also subject to reporting under this item in cases where, as of 31 December of the previous year, the registered amount is equal to or exceeds 500,000 BGN or their equivalent in foreign currency;
2. (Supplemented – State Gazette, No. 30 of 2026, effective from 1 April 2026) the operations and balances of accounts opened abroad under an asset management agreement;
3. (Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from the date specified in the Decision of the Council of the European Union for the adoption of the euro by the Republic of Bulgaria) their claims from foreign persons under commercial credits and other transactions that are not financial credits, if the total sum of these claims is equal to or exceeds 100,000 euros or their equivalent in foreign currency;
4. (Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from the date specified in the Decision of the Council of the European Union for the adoption of the euro by the Republic of Bulgaria) their obligations to foreign persons under commercial credits and other transactions that are not financial credits or bond loans, if the total sum of these obligations is equal to or exceeds 100,000 euros or their equivalent in foreign currency;
5. (Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025) their operations with foreign persons related to services, remuneration and grants and payments. The statistical forms for these operations are provided upon written request from the Deputy Governor of the BNB, heading the "Banking" Directorate or from a person authorized by him;
6. (New – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025) their direct foreign investments in the country; the statistical forms are provided upon written request from the Deputy Governor of the BNB, heading the "Banking" Directorate, or from a person authorized by him.

(2) Ministries and state agencies report their claims from and obligations to foreign persons under commercial transactions under the procedure of para. 1, items 2, 3 and 4.

(3) Banks report their claims from and obligations to foreign persons, as well as their operations with foreign persons related to services, remuneration and grants and payments in the manner determined by instructions of the Deputy Governor of the BNB, heading the "Banking" Directorate or from a person authorized by him.

(4) Local legal entities or sole traders, with the exception of banks, report annually with statistical forms to the BNB:

1. (Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from the date specified in the Decision of the Council of the European Union for the adoption of the euro by the Republic of Bulgaria) the operations, balances and other changes in the amount of financial credits received from or provided to foreign persons, if the financial credit is in the amount of 25,000 to 250,000 euros or their equivalent in foreign currency;
2. their direct investments in real estate abroad;
3. (New – State Gazette, No. 30 of 2026, effective from 1 April 2026) the operations and balances of accounts opened abroad at banks, payment institutions and electronic money institutions, other than accounts under an asset management agreement, if the total sum of these account balances is equal to or exceeds 25,000 euros or their equivalent in foreign currency at the end of the reporting year.

(5) Notaries, respectively judges of the land registry, report monthly with statistical forms to the BNB transactions regarding real estate between local and foreign persons.

(6) Persons who have declared transactions under Art. 6, para. 1, item 4 report quarterly with statistical forms to the BNB the sale of additional quantities of the issue, amortization payments and interest payments made on the issues.

(7) Local legal entities, issuers of debt securities abroad, report once with a statistical form to the BNB the transactions carried out with the securities on the primary market within 15 working days after the issue.

(8) The Central Depository provides monthly information for each transaction of the capital market with securities issued by a local or foreign person and registered with it, as well as for positions in these securities, on the principle of "security by security".

(9) (Supplemented – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016; Amended – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021; Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025.) Local legal entities belonging to the institutional sectors "general government" and "financial corporations" report monthly with statistical forms to the BNB data on the securities they own on the principle of "security by security" for their positions and operations during the reporting month.

(10) (Supplemented – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from the date specified in the Decision of the Council of the European Union for the adoption of the euro by the Republic of Bulgaria.) Banks and investment intermediaries, other than banks, report monthly with statistical forms to the BNB the positions and operations for the owned securities on the principle of "security by security" and "investor by investor" from the following of their clients:

1. (Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025) local persons belonging to institutional sectors, other than sectors "general government" and "financial corporations";
2. foreign persons.

(11) (Amended – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021; Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025.) Local legal entities or sole traders, with the exception of the persons under para. 9, having concluded transactions with securities without the intermediation of a local person – investment intermediary, report with a statistical form to the BNB:

1. monthly – the positions and operations for these securities on the principle of "security by security";
2. quarterly – investments in foreign equity funds.

(12) (New – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021; Repealed – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025.)

Art. 10. Local legal entities and sole traders report quarterly with statistical forms to the BNB their direct investments abroad, with the exception of investments in real estate, which are reported once a year.

Art. 11. The Bulgarian National Bank may conduct regular periodic statistical surveys for the purpose of collecting additional statistical information in the manner determined by the Deputy Governor of the BNB, heading the "Banking" Directorate.

Art. 12. (1) (Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025.) Reports under Art. 9, para. 6 are submitted to the BNB by the 15th day of the month following the reporting quarter.

(2) (Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025.) Reports under Art. 9, para. 1, para. 3 and Art. 10 are submitted to the BNB by the 20th day of the month following the reporting quarter.

(3) Reports under Art. 9, para. 1 and 3 and Art. 10 for the fourth quarter of the year are submitted to the BNB by 25 January of the year following the reporting year.

(4) (Supplemented – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016; Amended – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021.) Reports under Art. 9, para. 2 and 4 are submitted to the BNB by 25 January of the year following the reporting year.

(5) (Supplemented – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021; Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025.) Reports under Art. 9, para. 5 and para. 8 are submitted to the BNB by the 10th day of the month following the reporting month.

(6) (New – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021.) Reports under Art. 9, para. 11, item 2 are submitted to the BNB within 55 calendar days after the end of the reporting quarter.

(7) (New – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021; Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025.) Reports under Art. 9, para. 9–11, with the exception of reports under Art. 9, para. 1, item 2, are submitted to the BNB by the end of the seventh working day of the month following the end of the reporting month.

Art. 13. (1) Local natural persons report via statistical forms to the BNB annually, by 31 March of the year following the reporting year, their claims from and obligations to foreign persons under financial credits, their claims under accounts opened abroad, as well as their investments in securities, which were carried out without the intermediation of a local person – investment intermediary.

(2) The statistical forms under para. 1 are submitted if:

1. (Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from the date specified in the Decision of the Council of the European Union for the adoption of the euro by the Republic of Bulgaria) the sum of all claims under financial credits, accounts abroad and investments in securities, which were carried out without the intermediation of a local person – investment intermediary, is equal to or exceeds 25,000 euros or their equivalent in foreign currency at the end of the reporting year;
2. (Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from the date specified in the Decision of the Council of the European Union for the adoption of the euro by the Republic of Bulgaria) the sum of all obligations under financial credits is equal to or exceeds 25,000 euros or their equivalent in foreign currency at the end of the reporting year.

(3) Reports under this article may be submitted in person or through an authorized representative on paper or electronically.

Art. 14. (1) (Amended – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016; Supplemented – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025; Amended – State Gazette, No. 30 of 2026, effective from 1 April 2026.) Reports under Art. 9, para. 1, items 1–5, para. 2, para. 4, items 1 and 3 and para. 5 and Art. 11 may be submitted in person or through an authorized representative, on paper or electronically.

(2) (Amended – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016; Amended – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025; Amended – State Gazette, No. 30 of 2026, effective from 1 April 2026.) Reports under Art. 9, para. 1, item 6, para. 3, para. 4, item 2, para. 6–11 and Art. 10 may be submitted in person or through an authorized representative only electronically.

(3) Upon receipt of the reports, the BNB checks for their completeness and accuracy. If omissions are found, the BNB gives instructions for their removal.

(4) The submission of reports under this chapter electronically to the BNB is carried out in the manner determined in the instructions of the Deputy Governor of the BNB, heading the "Banking" Directorate, in compliance with the requirements of the Law on Electronic Document and Electronic Signature and the Law on Electronic Management.

(5) (Supplemented – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016; Amended and supplemented – State Gazette, No. 108 of 2024, effective from 1 April 2025; Amended – State Gazette, No. 30 of 2026, effective from 1 April 2026.) When declaring and reporting more than five identical transactions declared under Art. 6 or more than five entries in the reports under Art. 9, para. 1, items 1 and 3–5, para. 2, para. 4, para. 5 and Art. 13, the statistical forms are submitted only electronically.

Art. 15. (1) Information collected under this Ordinance is used by the BNB only for statistical purposes.

(2) The Bulgarian National Bank may provide other persons and institutions only with aggregated data that do not allow the identification of the persons who provided statistical information.

(3) (Amended – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016.) The Bulgarian National Bank provides persons with access to the statistical information stored for them upon receipt of an application for this purpose. The application is submitted in person, and for legal entities – through their legal representatives. If the application is submitted by mail, it must be notarized. When the application is submitted through a representative, the power of attorney must be notarized. The application must specify a unique identifier of the person – EGN or LNC for natural persons, respectively EIK or BULSTAT code for legal entities and traders.

Art. 16. (1) The Deputy Governor of the BNB, heading the "Banking" Directorate, determines by instructions the forms of statistical forms and declarations under this Ordinance.

(2) The instructions issued under this Ordinance are published on the website of the BNB. The forms of statistical forms and declarations are provided on paper and on site at the BNB.

(3) (New – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021.) Providing access to the system for submitting declarations and reports under this Ordinance electronically is carried out within 5 working days from the receipt of all required documents at the BNB.

Chapter Five

CONTROL OVER INFORMATION

(New – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021.)

Art. 17. (New – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021.) (1) The Bulgarian National Bank carries out control over the provided information, as follows:

1. formal control – automated control for mandatory completion of the fields required in the statistical forms, compliance with formats and correspondence with nomenclatures for classification by instruments, institutional sectors, country or international organization, economic activity of the counterparty, currency and maturity;
2. logical control – control for the economic meaning of the provided statistical information, which represents expert evaluation and analysis of the sent forms.

(2) The Deputy Governor, heading the "Banking" Directorate, or a person authorized by him, may require persons, senders of statistical information, to remove inconsistencies related to the statistical forms and declarations provided under this Ordinance, as well as to require other explanatory information (including data) or documents of significance for the statistical reporting under this Ordinance.

Art. 18. (New – State Gazette, No. 105 of 2020, effective from 1 January 2021.) Local legal entities and sole traders create the necessary internal organization to ensure the provision of timely, complete, accurate and reliable information, meeting the requirements of the BNB, for the preparation and provision of reports for the needs of the statistics of the balance of payments, the international investment position and the statistics of securities.

Additional Provisions

§ 1. For the purposes of this Ordinance:

1. (Repealed – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016.)
2. Institutional sector "financial corporations" includes units according to items 2.55 – 2.110 of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the European System of National and Regional Accounts in the European Union (ESA 2010), as follows: a) banks (credit institutions) within the meaning of Art. 2 of the Credit Institutions Act; b) Money Market Funds (MMFs) within the meaning of the single European definition laid down in CESR Guidelines/10-049 on a common definition for European money market funds by the Committee of European Securities Regulators – CESR (now ESMA) and the Instructions of the Financial Supervision Commission for the implementation of the CESR Guidelines for funds investing in money market instruments (Ref.: CESR/10-049) regarding the names of funds containing phrases referring to "money market" of 22 August 2012; c) investment companies and contractual funds (collective investment schemes) within the meaning of Art. 4 of the Law on Collective Investment Schemes and Other Collective Investment Undertakings; d) investment intermediaries, other than banks, within the meaning of Art. 5, para. 1 of the Law on Markets in Financial Instruments; e) financial institutions within the meaning of Art. 3 of the Credit Institutions Act; f) special purpose vehicles within the meaning of Art. 3 of the Law on Special Purpose Vehicles; g) management companies within the meaning of Art. 86 of the Law on Collective Investment Schemes and Other Collective Investment Undertakings; h) pension insurance companies within the meaning of Art. 121 of the Social Security Code; i) insurers and reinsurers within the meaning of Art. 8, para. 1 and 2 of the Insurance Code; j) supplementary pension funds within the meaning of Art. 133 of the Social Security Code; k) guarantee funds created by special law; l) other financial enterprises outside those listed in letters "a" – "k".
3. Institutional sectors, other than the sector "financial corporations", include units according to items 2.45 – 2.54 and items 2.111 – 2.130 of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the European System of National and Regional Accounts in the European Union (ESA 2010).
4. (New – State Gazette, No. 53 of 2016, effective from 1 August 2016.) Institutional sector "general government" includes units according to items 2.111 – 2.117 of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the European System of National and Regional Accounts in the European Union (ESA 2010).