Bulgaria Parliament Moves to Ensure Faster Repayment of Guaranteed Bank Deposits

Bulgaria’s Parliament on Thursday decided state-guaranteed deposits in banks to be repaid within seven workdays after a bank suspends payments.

According to a draft amendment to the Law on Bank Deposit Guarantee adopted on first reading, the Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund will be obliged to redeem guaranteed deposits of up to 196,000 levs (100,000 euro) after a bank halts payments rather than wait for up to 20 business days after the central bank has withdrawn the banking licence of an insolvent bank.

While the amendment doesn’t change the maximum guaranteed amount, it provides an opportunity to depositors to be granted access to their assets within a narrower timeframe based only on the fact that their bank has halted payments.