Law on Markets in Financial Instruments

LAW on Markets in Financial Instruments
Publ. - State Gazette, No. 15 of 16.02.2018, in force from 16.02.2018; corr., No. 16 of 20.02.2018; am. and supp., No. 24 of 16.03.2018, in force from 16.02.2018; am., No. 98 of 27.11.2018, in force from 07.01.2019; am., No. 17 of 26.02.2019; am. and supp., No. 83 of 22.10.2019, in force from 22.10.2019; am., No. 94 of 29.11.2019; am. and supp., No. 102 of 31.12.2019; supp., No. 26 of 22.03.2020; affected by the Law on Measures and Actions during the State of Emergency, No. 28 of 24.03.2020, in force from 13.03.2020; supp., No. 34 of 09.04.2020, in force from 09.04.2020; affected by the Supplementary Amendment to the Health Act, No. 44 of 13.05.2020, in force from 14.05.2020; am. and supp., No. 64 of 18.07.2020, in force from 21.08.2020; am. and supp., No. 12 of 12.02.2021, in force from 12.02.2021; am., No. 21 of 12.03.2021; am. and supp., No. 16 of 25.02.2022; am. and supp., No. 25 of 29.03.2022, as the amendments with the Supplementary Amendment to the LMFI enter into force from 29.03.2022, and the amendments with the LPO enter into force from 08.07.2022; am. and supp., No. 51 of 01.07.2022; am. and supp., No. 8 of 25.01.2023; am. and supp., No. 65 of 28.07.2023; am. and supp., No. 66 of 01.08.2023, in force from 05.08.2023; am. and supp., No. 84 of 06.10.2023, as the amendments with the LPC enter into force from 06.10.2023; am. and supp., No. 85 of 10.10.2023, in force from 10.10.2023; am., No. 70 of 20.08.2024, in force from the date determined in the Decision of the Council of the European Union on the adoption of the euro by the Republic of Bulgaria, adopted in accordance with Article 140(2) TFEU, and the Council Regulation of the European Union, adopted in accordance with Article 140(3) TFEU; am., No. 79 of 17.09.2024; am. and supp., No. 49 of 17.06.2025; am. and supp., No. 54 of 04.07.2025; am. and supp., No. 99 of 21.11.2025; am., No. 16 of 10.02.2026; am. and supp., No. 25 of 10.03.2026; am., No. 51 of 05.06.2026, in force from 05.06.2026; am., No. 62 of 07.07.2026, in force from 07.07.2026.

PART ONE
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Chapter One
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Subject Matter
Art. 1. (Am. and supp. - SG, No. 83 of 2019, in force from 22.10.2019; am., No. 25 of 2022, in force from 29.03.2022; am. and supp., No. 8 of 2023; am., No. 99 of 2025.) This Law regulates:

1. the licensing and activities of investment intermediaries and regulated markets for financial instruments;
2. the provision of investment services or activities by third-country companies through the establishment of a branch;
3. (am. - SG, No. 25 of 2022, in force from 29.03.2022) the licensing and activities of approved reporting mechanisms and approved publication mechanisms, which benefit from the derogation in accordance with Article 2(3) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 (OJ, L 173/84 of 12 June 2014), hereinafter referred to as "Regulation (EU) No 600/2014".
4. (am. - SG, No. 99 of 2025) the requirements for persons who manage and control the persons referred to in items 1, 3 and 5, as well as for persons who hold a qualifying holding in the persons referred to in items 1 and 5;
5. (new - SG, No. 83 of 2019, in force from 22.10.2019) the activities of central securities depositories;
6. (new - SG, No. 83 of 2019, in force from 22.10.2019) requirements for central counterparties;
7. (new - SG, No. 8 of 2023) requirements for benchmark administrators within the meaning of Article 3(1)(6) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on indices used as benchmarks for the purposes of financial instruments and financial contracts or for measuring the performance of investment funds, and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2014/17/EU and Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (OJ, L 171/1 of 29 June 2016), hereinafter referred to as "Regulation (EU) 2016/1011", licensed or registered under this Law;
8. (previous item 5 - SG, No. 83 of 2019, in force from 22.10.2019; previous item 7, No. 8 of 2023) state supervision to ensure compliance with this Law.

Objective
Art. 2. The objective of this Law is:

1. to ensure protection of investors in financial instruments, including by creating conditions for increasing their awareness of the financial instruments market;
2. to create conditions for the development of a fair, open and efficient financial instruments market;
3. to maintain stability and public confidence in the financial instruments market.

Regulation and Supervision
Art. 3. (Supp. - SG, No. 24 of 2018, in force from 16.02.2018; supp., No. 83 of 2019, in force from 22.10.2019; am. and supp., No. 25 of 2022, in force from 29.03.2022; supp., No. 54 of 2025; am. and supp., No. 99 of 2025; am. and supp., No. 25 of 2026.) (1) Regulation and supervision over the activities and persons referred to in Art. 1 shall be carried out by the Financial Supervision Commission ("the Commission") and by the Deputy Chairman of the Commission, heading the "Investment Activity Supervision" Directorate ("the Deputy Chairman"). (2) (New - SG, No. 25 of 2022, in force from 29.03.2022) The Financial Supervision Commission exercises the powers of the competent authority under Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on prudential requirements for investment firms and amending Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010, (EU) No 575/2013, (EU) No 600/2014 and (EU) No 806/2014 (OJ, L 314/1 of 5 December 2019), hereinafter referred to as "Regulation (EU) 2019/2033", with regard to investment intermediaries under Art. 9a(1) or entities subject to supervision under Chapter Twenty-Two, with the exception of the powers under Article 50(b) of Regulation (EU) 2019/2033, which are exercised by the Deputy Chairman with regard to investment intermediaries under Art. 9a(1). (3) (Previous para. 2, am. - SG, No. 25 of 2022, in force from 29.03.2022) The Financial Supervision Commission exercises the powers of the competent authority under Article 6(4), Article 7(1)-(3), Article 8(1), (2) and (4), Article 9, Article 11(3) and (5), Article 14(3), Article 15, Article 18(2), (3), (5) and (6), Article 19(2), Article 20, Article 21, Article 24(2), Article 26(2) and (3), Article 27(1), Article 31, Article 36(1)(j), Article 41(1)(b), Article 49(1) and (3), Article 52(1)(k), Article 56(b), Article 66(b), Article 73, Article 76, Article 77, Article 79, Article 80, Article 83(1), para. 2, Article 84(5), Article 89(3), Article 93(6), Article 94(3), Article 95(2), para. 3, Article 97(2) and (3), Article 99(6) and (7), Article 100, first sentence, Article 101(1)-(3), Article 107(4), Article 113(6) and (7), Article 124(2), Articles 143-151, Article 152(2), Article 154(4), Article 157, Article 161(2) and (3), Article 162(2), letters (z) and (i), Article 163(3), Article 164(2) and Article 166(8)(d), Article 170(4)(v), Article 175(5), Article 178(2)(g), Article 17