Client: United States Agency for International Development

1998-2002, SEGIR Priv

CARANA assisted capital markets institutions and participants in Bulgaria to assure a regulated, transparent and efficient securities market place. We approached the task from several fronts:  improving the operations and trading system of the Bulgaria Stock Exchange; giving operations and system support to the central depository; strengthening market-related professional and service organizations, particularly a broker dealer association (SRO); offering regulatory guidance and training to improve corporate governance; and increasing the supply of listed and traded securities.

The CARANA team held a series of accounting related seminars, including International Accounting Standards (IAS), Financial Statement Analysis, Accounting and Control for Financial Intermediaries, and Investment Banking. We proposed amendments to the Law on Public Offering for Securities as well as amendments to the Accounting and Auditing Acts, to codify the establishment of a comprehensive written examination for auditors and accountants. We also assisted the Bulgaria Institute of CPAs (BICPA) with the adoption of IAS and International Standards of Auditing (ISA) and the Institute’s membership in the South Eastern European Partnership on Accounting Development.

CARANA contracted a Russian software development firm, Technical Center RTS, to installation and modify RTS Plaza software for the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. The software is a Russian-Bulgarian language version of an integrated/distributed securities trading network. The final product was a sophisticated trading system with modules for direct entering of trading orders, simultaneous stock trading, and order matching based on price and/or priority. Other features include remote user access, password authentication, and easy procedures for setting up trading parameters and algorithms.