Bulgaria’s Financial Supervision Commission licensed investment brokerages Adamant Capital Partners and ABC Finance to operate on the local stock exchange.

The market now has 62 non-banking financial brokers and of these seven have been cleared to start operations this year, the regulator said.

A recent check by Dnevnik daily found out that the series of stock market downturns has dampened the demand for brokers and investment advisors. Few brokerages are looking to increase their payroll and some of them cut jobs or are considering new staff strategies.

The crisis ate away at brokerages’ profits, crippling trade volumes and turnover. According to the regulator’s data, while the number of deals has increased, they fetched nearly per cent smaller turnover. The volume of traded shares shrank by a third.

January’s massive sellouts of local and foreign investors dealt a heavy blow at bourse trading. The broader BG40 index has sunk more than 40 per cent over the past six months.