Stablecoin issuer / redeemer in Bulgaria

The Measures Against Money Laundering Act (SG No. 27/2018) remains Bulgaria's AML/CFT statute for crypto businesses: the Markets in Crypto-Assets Act (SG No. 54/2025), in force since 8 July 2025, amended it in § 18 to add FSC-authorised crypto-asset service providers as obliged entities (Article 4, item 19), repeal the NRA register (Article 9a) and repeal the former VASP items 38 and 39 from 1 July 2026.

The Measures Against Money Laundering Act covered virtual-asset providers through Article 4, items 38 and 39; the Markets in Crypto-Assets Act repealed those items from 1 July 2026, replaced them with item 19 (FSC-authorised crypto-asset service providers) and added definitions of crypto-asset, crypto-asset service provider and self-hosted address (Supplementary Provisions § 1, items 33–35).

Exchange between virtual assets and fiat currencies.

Transfer of virtual assets.

Safekeeping and/or administration of virtual assets or instruments enabling control over virtual assets.

Participation in and provision of financial services related to an issuer’s offer and/or sale of a virtual asset are subject to AML/CFT regulation and are treated as financial activities for regulated virtual asset and stablecoin issuers.

SANS does not supervise crypto-asset service providers: under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Act the Financial Supervision Commission authorises and supervises them (Art 3(1)) and monitors their crypto-transfer compliance under Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 (Art 20), and only notifies SANS when it starts enforcing a coercive administrative measure (Art 24).

Role: This is Bulgaria's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). It is the primary recipient of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and other AML-related information from obliged entities. SANS is responsible for analyzing suspicious activities and disseminating intelligence to law enforcement.

National Revenue Agency (NRA) (Национална агенция за приходите - НАП)

The National Revenue Agency no longer registers or supervises VASPs: on 8 July 2025 it discontinued its MAMLA Art 9a register and handed it to the FSC (Markets in Crypto-Assets Act § 5(1)–(2)), and firms on that list are under FSC supervision during the transition (§ 3(4)).

In Bulgaria, the identification and verification of the beneficial owner is required under the AML Act, but if no individual beneficial owner can be identified through ownership or control criteria, the law provides that members of senior management are treated as the beneficial owner for registration purposes, so the process is not absolute but includes a fallback.

Natural Persons: Name, date and place of birth, nationality, permanent address, unique identification number (e.g., national ID card, passport number). Identity must be verified using reliable, independent source documents or data (e.g., valid official identification document).

Legal Entities: Company name, legal form, registration number, registered address, and the names of the individuals authorized to represent the company. Verification involves obtaining extracts from commercial registers or similar official documents.

In Bulgaria, the identification and verification of the beneficial owner is required under the AML Act, but if no individual beneficial owner can be identified through ownership or control criteria, the law provides that members of senior management are treated as the beneficial owner for registration purposes, so the process is not absolute but includes a fallback.

For legal entities, VASPs must identify the natural person(s) who ultimately own or control the customer, typically defined as holding 25% plus one share or more of the voting rights or exercising control via other means. This information must also be verified.

Evidence fact bg.aml.understanding-the-purpose-and-intended not found (may have been renamed).

VASPs must gather information on why the customer wants to use their services, the expected transaction patterns, and the source of funds/wealth where relevant.

Regular scrutiny of transactions undertaken throughout the course of the business relationship to ensure they are consistent with the VASP's knowledge of the customer, their business, and risk profile.

Keeping customer documents, data, and information up-to-date.

Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs): Customers who hold or have held prominent public functions, their family members, or close associates.

High-Risk Third Countries: Transactions involving customers or beneficial owners from countries identified by the EU or FATF as having strategic AML/CFT deficiencies.

Complex, Unusual, Large Transactions, or Unusual Patterns: Transactions that have no apparent economic or lawful purpose.

MiCA and Bulgaria's Markets in Crypto-Assets Act do not set tax rules; the Act's only income-tax change (§ 20 of its transitional and final provisions) replaces "virtual currencies" with "crypto-assets" in Article 33(3) of the Income Taxes on Natural Persons Act and defines crypto-assets in § 1 item 63 of that Act by reference to the Markets in Crypto-Assets Act.