Setting up a unified body for financial supervision in Bulgaria is going to take about 6 months, according the Chair of Parliamentary Finance Committee, Menda Stoyanova.

Speaking in the southern city of Plovdiv Sunday, Stoyanova explained that in order to realize its idea to place both the banks and the non-banking institutions under the supervision of one single institution, the ruling majority and the government of the GERB party will need to make serious legislative changes.

MP Stoyanova also said that it was still unclear how the new body for financial supervision would be positioned – i.e. if it will be within the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), outside of it, or within the Ministry of Finance.

The Chair of the Parliamentary Committee for Budget and Finance believes that the BNB should host the new institution. She has pointed out that a number of EU member states are carrying out similar reforms by uniting the bodies supervising their banking and non-banking financial sectors.

Currently, Bulgaria’s banking and crediting sector is supervised by the BNB, whereas the insurance firms, retirement funds, and other non-banking financial companies are monitored by the Financial Supervision Commission. The Commission is independent and is accountable to the Parliament.

In the spring 2009, the assets of the Bulgarian banking sector supervised by the BNB amounted to BGN 69,5 B, whereas the total assets of the non-banking institutions supervised by the FSC amounted to BGN 8,5 B.

The idea for creating a united Bulgarian financial supervision bodies was first floated in 2001-2002 by the NMSP party of former PM Saxe-Coburg. In September 2009, it was launched anew by the new Finance Minister Simeon Djankov.