29.10.2012

The topic of a two day seminar in Sofia on 24 and 25 October was \"Challenges to the sector \"Financial services and markets \" in the EU: new single supervisory and regulatory framework and enhancing the cooperation in the financial sector. It has been organized within the project \"Strengthening the capacity of Bulgarian Ministry of Finance in the field of financial services and financial markets\" under Operational Programme Administrative Capacity. The project is co-financed by the EU through the European Social Fund and is implemented by the Ministry of Finance Government Debt and Financial Markets Directorate.

The seminar was attended by Bulgarian and Austrian lecturers - experts from the banking and non-banking sector. They discussed, from the Bulgarian and Austrian banking sector view, the establishment of a banking union and single supervisory mechanism in the eurozone. Among the topics discussed were the changes to the deposit guarantee schemes rules, as well as the challenges in the field of credit institutions and investment intermediaries restructuring. The lecturers discussed the new requirements in respect of financial instruments markets, as well as the supervisory practices and challenges in the non-banking sector in Austria and Bulgaria. Activities and measures for the stabilization of banks in Austria, as well as the key challenges related to the negotiations in the EU on the financial services regulatory framework were also presented at the seminar.

The seminar was closed with a discussion on the measures on European and national level for the stabilization of financial institutions.