Boiko Atanassov appointed head of Bulgaria’s Financial Supervision Commission
Bulgaria’s Parliament appointed Boiko Atanassov as chairperson of the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) on March 15, with 134 votes in favour, none opposed or abstained.
Atanassov was previously deputy chairperson of the FSC, in charge of overseeing investment intermediaries. Before joining the regulator, he was deputy Finance Minister for five months in 2017, but he spent the bulk of his career at the country’s National Revenue Agency, rising through the ranks to head the agency between 2013 and 2014.
He replaces Karina Karaivanova, who resigned last month ahead of taking the position as Bulgaria’s representative at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) starting on March 1. She had been at the helm of the regulator since July 2016.
During his hearing at the National Assembly’s budget committee earlier this week, Atanassov said that his main priorities if appointed would be to build a “stable team of professionals”, transparent and timely communication of the commission’s operations to the public, as well as strict oversight of the companies operating on the markets under FSC’s purview – insurers, pension funds and investment intermediaries.
After the vote, Atanassov took his oath of office in Parliament and said one of immediate areas he would focus on would be the proposed revamp in the car insurance policies sector. Last year, the regulator proposed the introduction of a so-called “bonus-malus” system, which received heavy criticism because it linked insurance premiums to vehicles’ incident history rather than drivers’ track record.
(Boiko Atanassov taking his oath of office in the National Assembly on March 15. Photo: parliament.bg)
