Important MiFID Information
 
 
In Bulgarian

Information about MiFID

The Law of markets in financial instruments (LMFI), promulgated in State Gazette No:52/29.06.2007, and Ordinance № 38 for the requirements towards the activities of the investment intermediaries, came into force as of 01.11.2007 in compliance with MiFID.

There are various aspects of MiFID (respectively LMFI), impacting on the operations of the investment intermediaries, thus striving to achieve higher protection of customers and unified standards. These objectives of the directive and the local regulatory framework lead to more detailed breakdown of requirements that set the pattern for FFBH Ltd.

The main provisions of the above-mentioned local regulations are set out below:


MiFID (LMFI) COMPLIANT CLIENT CLASSIFICATION

Retail clients

  • All clients (investors) that would be classified by FFBH Ltd. in compliance with MiFID and the national Law for Markets in financial instruments and Ordinance №38, as retail clients are clients that do not meet the requirements to professional clients.

Professional clients

  • All clients (investors) that would be classified by FFBH Ltd. in compliance with MiFID and the national Law for Markets in financial instruments and Ordinance №38, are clients that possess experience, knowledge and expertise to make their own investment decisions and properly assess the risks that they incur.

  • Further to the described above definition FFBH Ltd. may classify as professional clients the following:

  • Credit instructions
  • Investment intermediaries
  • Other authorised or otherwise regulated financial institutions
  • Insurance companies
  • Undertakings for collective investment and their management companies
  • Pension funds and pension insurance companies
  • Commodity and commodity derivatives dealers
  • Legal entities that provide investment services or perform investment activities consisting exclusively in dealing on own account on markets in financial futures or options or other derivative financial instruments on the money market for the sole purpose of hedging positions on the markets of derivative financial instruments, or which deal for the accounts of other members of those markets or make prices for them and which are guaranteed by clearing members of the same markets, where responsibility for ensuring the performance of contracts entered by such entities is assumed by clearing members of the same markets
  • Other institutional investors
  • Large undertakings meeting with at least two of the following requirements:
    • Balance sheet total – at least the BGN equivalence of EUR 20 000 000;
    • Net turnover - at least the BGN equivalence of EUR 40 000 000;
    • Own funds – at least the BGN equivalence of EUR 2 000 000;
  • National and regional governments, public bodies that manage public debt, Central Banks, international and supranational institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank and other similar international organizations.
  • Other institutional investors whose main activity is to invest in financial instruments, including entities performing securitization of assets or other financing transactions.

Furthermore, MiFID and the national Law for Markets in financial instruments and Ordinance №38 allow a client that has been initially classified as a retail client to be treated by FFBH Ltd. as a professional on his request if he satisfies at least two of the following criteria

  • The person has executed transactions, in significant size, on the relevant market at an average frequency of 10 per quarter over the previous year;
  • The size of the client’s investment portfolio, including financial instruments and cash deposits exceeds the BGN equivalence of EUR 500 000;
  • The person works or has worked in the financial sector for at least one year in a position, which requires knowledge of the relevant transactions or services.

Eligible counterparties

  • All clients (investors) that would be classified by FFBH Ltd. in compliance with MiFID and the national Law for Markets in financial instruments and Ordinance №38 as eligible counterparties are:

  • Investment intermediaries
  • Credit institutions
  • Insurance companies
  • Collective investment schemes
  • Pension funds
  • Pension- insurance companies
  • Governments
  • Public bodies that manage public debt Central Banks and international institutions

According to the regulations of MiFID and the national legislative framework, depending on the client class that you would be granted with, FFBH Ltd. will provide you with the necessary level of protection prior the execution of your investment orders.

For instance, if you are classified as a retail client (by the MiFID standards), the FFBH specialist who will take care of your order will ask you various questions related to your knowledge, experience and skills in deals with investment instruments. Also you may be addressed with questions aiming to provide FFBH Ltd. with information related to your financial condition and readiness to risk in order to assess to what extent the investment instrument subject to your contractual relationships with FFBH Ltd. is appropriate for you.

It is your legitimate right to decline provision of the requested information, but in such a case FFBH Ltd. shall be not kept responsible for any kind of risk that may occur at a given point in time throughout the lifetime of your investment. This means that all risks will be for your personal account. If you are classified as a professional client, prior to accepting your order for deals with financial instruments FFBH Ltd. will try to obtain information about your investment objectives, and if you are categorised as an eligible counterparty according to the MiFID and the local regulatory framework, FFBH will assume that you possess the necessary funds, knowledge and experience and will execute your order at your own responsibility for the potential risks.

According to MiFID and local legislation, you have the right to request higher level of protection than the standard for your class level.

Further to the information provided above, MiFID and the equivalent local legislation oblige all investment intermediaries to develop and inform their clients about the following policies:

  • Policy for client orders execution (Execution policy);
  • General terms and conditions for investment intermediation compliant with the new requirements of MiFID, LMFI and Ordinance № 38;
  • Policy for prevention of conflicts of interests and rules for personal transactions and prevention of market abuses.