One of the Most Successful Bulgarians on Wall Street George Balinov Will Visit the University

On 4 February 2026 the UNWE will host a public lecture by George Balinov – one of the most successful Bulgarians on Wall Street and a leading professional in global finance. He arrived at the invitation of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noncho Dimitrov – Head of the National and Regional Security Department and Secretary General for Digitalization and Cybersecurity, and Alex Behar – lecturer at the same Department and Director of Information Technology of ZOTA /world system for digital payments/. The event will be held at 11.00 a.m. in Maxima Aula.

The purpose of the visit is the establishment of the first University Investment Endowment Fund at the UNWE on the model of Harvard and the leading American universities.

George Balinov has been living and working in the United States for nearly 25 years and he is currently based in Manhattan, New York. In April he will join Morgan Stanley as Co-Head of Global Investment Banking in the FinTech sector, where he will be responsible for strategic coverage of FinTech companies and for providing advisory and capital solutions in one of the most dynamically developing sectors of the global economy.

Having over 20 years of experience in investment banking George Balinov is an established expert in structuring and realizing mergers and acquisitions /M&A/ as well as in raising capital for financial technology companies. His professional focus includes digital payments, consumer financial data and analytics, trading services, capital markets and trading technology.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he was a Managing Director at Moelis & Company /2023 – 2025/, where he led the company's FinTech coverage. Prior to that, he held senior positions at SVB Securities, Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, responsible for key strategic projects and transactions in the fields of payments, financial software, capital markets and financial data in North and South America.

George Balinov holds a Bachelor's degree in Finance and Accounting from Stern Undergraduate College at New York University. His professional career began as an analyst on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange – an experience that laid the foundations for his international career. He was born in Varna and is 43 years old.

The public lecture at the UNWE will give an opportunity to students, lecturers and representatives of the academic and business community to meet with one of the leading Bulgarian experts in global finance and to gain experience and vision for the development of the FinTech sector, investment banking and strategic management in an international context.