Maya Ivanova
Associate
Maya is a graduate of the Law Faculty of the University of Plovdiv with an excellent academic attainment. She joined NBLO in 2020 and her areas of practice are related to white-collar crime and the associated areas of civil and compliance law: money laundering, corporate fraud, investment fraud, asset tracing, regulatory compliance, bribery and corruption and data protection.
Prior to NBLO, Maya worked for two years in the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime at the Ministry of Interior of Bulgaria where she dealt primarily with Anti Money Laundering. Later she joined the Bulgarian State Agency for National Security where she worked for 6 years primarily on financial crimes which includes money laundering, investment fraud, tax evasion and more.
She has extensive experience with Anti Money Laundering matters, regulatory, national security, criminal defense and white collar crimes.
Maya has a fluent command of English and Bulgarian, her native language.
Qualifications: Plovdiv University
Languages Spoken: Bulgarian and English
Office Location: Sofia
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Corporate and M&A
Overview We see corporate and commercial work and M&A as the core of our practice. We serve a range of international clients in different sectors of the economy and advise on a broad variety of corporate and commercial work. Our lawyers have in-depth knowledge and abundant practical experience of local, as well as international transactions […]
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White collar crime and Investigations
New Balkans Law Office (NBLO) provides cross-border and intra-Bulgarian legal advice of the highest quality including in the areas of white-collar crime and the associated areas of civil and compliance law: Anti-Money Laundering Corporate fraud Investment fraud Asset tracing Environmental law Bribery and corruption Regulatory compliance Market manipulation Whistleblowing NBLO works extensively in the field […]
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Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
NBLO has advised blockchain entrepreneurs since 2016 and remains well connected in the field. Bulgaria is attractive to early-stage firms which appreciate its talent pool, its vibrant tech community and the countries low business, labour and living costs. The overwhelming majority of Bulgaria’s blockchain and cryptocurrency entrepreneurs operate in Sofia which functions as a “sandbox” […]
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Corporate Tax
Tax policies and corporate tax regulations are always of strategic importance to our clients in conducting their business and investment. Tax is a major concern for all businesses and individuals. There are tax related aspects in each transaction and business venture, both at the stage of its structuring and set-up, as well as in the […]
- Real Estate
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AML Central Point of Contact in Bulgaria
NBLO’s work as Central Point of Contact New Balkans Law Office’s expertise and extensive work in the area of Anti Money Laundering (AML) was recognised by one of the largest global cross-border payment service providers who have appointed NBLO as their Central Point of Contact (CPC) in Bulgaria. What is a CPC? According to […]
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How to Open a Bank Account in Bulgaria as a Foreign Business
In this article, we provide an overview of the criterion that overseas incorporated businesses must generally fulfil in order to open a bank account in Bulgaria. We have restricted our analysis to organisations that are structured as companies or corporations in their home jurisdiction. Although Bulgarian law tends to recognise the legal forms of other […]
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Bulgaria’s Proposed Amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act
On 28 April 2023, the Council of Ministers submitted a Bill to amend and supplement the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to the National Assembly.The proposed bill introduces additional anti-money laundering measures outlined in the Action Plan. These measures aim to address the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing identified in the National […]
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Politically exposed person (PEP): AML regulation and KYC
How are politically exposed persons defined and regulated? According to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a politically exposed person (PEP) is an individual who is or has been entrusted with a prominent political function. FATF Recommendations 12 and 22 gives guidance on the effective implementation of further measures for foreign, domestic and international PEPs, […]
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Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Money Laundering
What is a Non-Fungible Token? Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are non-interchangeable tokens stored on a blockchain or other form of a distributed ledger. The tokens can represent any form or data, from a picture or video to a digital asset in a video game. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) defines NFTs as “digital assets that […]
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Incompliance with anti-money laundering regulations can lead to strict fines
The EU is one of the most heavily regulated financial jurisdictions from an anti-money laundering (AML) perspective, and even stricter regulations appear to be coming in the future. The EU Fourth and Fifth AML Directives provide a strict set of rules that the obligated entities must follow to mitigate the risk of money laundering and […]
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The Risks of Failing to Apply AML and KYC Requirements to Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency and crypto assets are generally assumed to be attractive to criminals because of the possibility for preserving anonymity and the ease of transmitting funds despite the transparent and traceable design of the blockchain. As such, there is significant risk involved in failing to apply AML and KYC regulations to cryptocurrency. There have been hundreds […]
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Does the Bulgarian Government actually hold 213,519 bitcoin?
Is Bulgaria possibly one of the largest governmental holders of bitcoin? Тhe legal regulation of Government investment in, seizure, holding of and control of cryptoassets. The beginning of an urban legend? This is now almost both an urban legend in cryptospace and a meme, and has been such since news appeared in 2017 of the […]
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The California Consumer Privacy Act from a European perspective
Introduction The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is a Californian state statute intended to enhance privacy rights and consumer protection for residents of California. The CCPA was adopted in June 2018 and entered into force on 1 January 2020. Companies offering services in California and in the European Union (EU) must comply with both CCPA […]
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Does Bulgaria permit extradition of own nationals abroad?
By and large, one may be extradited when requested by a foreign government in connection with a serious crime punishable by both the Bulgarian and the requesting country’s law. Unlike the position in other countries, as a general rule Bulgarian law does not permit the extradition of its own nationals (including those nationals who are […]
