Opening accounts/buying shares with Bulgarian mutual fund companies

@esha71

Take a reccy at the Bulgarian stock exchange bse-sofia.bg

@esha71

It sounds a little complicated if you need POAs and folks travelling to Sofia on your behalf.

Perhaps it would be easier to open a Bulgarian bank account as most of these guys provide investment options such as mutual funds, and perhaps even brokerage services.

Alternatively, perhaps it's possible to have an international brokerage (such as Saxo or InteractiveBrokers) who support trading on multiple exchanges.

Or, I suppose, you might be able to incorporate a Bulgarian company and have that open the accounts.

I'm not American, so I have no idea how FATCA impacts things these days.

If you do not have  an international tax attorney working for you, any investments in the  EU are risky business.

thanks for the comments guys.

@mickeyhar BSE only deals with stocks, REITs & ETfs. At one point I was able to open an account with Karoll brokerage. I am more interested in BG Mutual Funds. Some intermediaries that provide Mutual Funds are Capman.bg, Elana Funds, DSK Bank etc

@gwynj yes, if i could make an account with DSK bank that would help. it seems like most bulgarian entities are not very fast in responding to emails. I think I might have to get assistance from a local in Sofia via POA.

@TonyFF i think the big headache is the PFIC levied by IRS and filling extra forms for that. But at this point I am ready to deal with it. Is there anything else specific that I am missing?

I have quite a few Bulgarian relatives. Nobody trusts to give POA to anyone there. 

I had a meeting with an international tax attorney last year. He advised me against any investing outside of  the US.

The interest rates are so high in America;  you can easily make a lot of money right now.  Are you trying to get a Golden Visa by making an investment?

@TonyFF. I am exploring the financial ecosystem in Bulgaria. The first step is to be able to participate in Bulgarian funds and banks and see how receptive they are to an american. Then after learning and observing the system for a bit, I will assess whether to explore more or not.

> Nobody trusts to give POA to anyone there.

It is both insightful and tragic to hear that level of trust (and hence corruption/lack of professionalism) is so low there, but I am sure there ae some professionals out there, if I look around patiently.

> He advised me against any investing outside of  the US.

You are correct. I definitely do not intend to move my retirement or life savings outside of the US. Like I said I am making a small cautious start with small amounts and only if satisfied will take bigger steps but no plans to move my life savings at any point.

read this thread by Johnavann   "Beware Scams in Bulgaria"

Good luck with your trials