Boom of Liquidated Investment Intermediaries in Bulgaria
Bulgaria has seen a boom of investment intermediaries filing for voluntary liquidation since the beginning of the year due to stagnation in the sector, the deputy head of the financial regulator said.
"Some of the permits have already been invalidated," Angel Dzhalazov, deputy head of the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) said on Monday at the "Banks Investments Money" forum in Sofia.
The trend started last year - the number of companies active in the segment declined to 55 in November from 61 in June even though on the whole investment intermediaries saw an improvement in their financial results for the period, shows a report of the regulator.
Among the troubled intermediaries, which exited the market last year, were Astra Investment, BulFin Invest, Eurodealing, EFG Securities Bulgaria, Capital Engineer Project, Capital Finance, Leader Invest, Makler 2002, Rock Ridge Investment, CEE Securities and Sofia Invest Brokerage.
"The sector is being restructured due to the lack of clients. What our agency can do is serve as a middle man by both listening to the demands of the business and monitoring that the rules are being abided by," Dzhalazov said.
"The global crisis is all about psychology. It will be over when all players on the market decide that it is over," he added.
"Credit risk management is a key factor for sustainable growth. To manage credit risk effectively companies need to identify, measure, monitor and control customer performance," said Nikitas Konstantellos, CEO of ICAP Group, a B2B services group, which operates in South Eastern Europe and is present in five countries, including Bulgaria.
Fifteen percent of the Bulgarian companies and bank accounts receivables have to be written off or restructured, according to an ICAP survey, which evaluated 13,769 Bulgarian companies and estimated both the probability of default and the expected loss in case of default. /Source: Sofia News Agency/