EN ECB-PUBLIC 
 
 
 OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 5 October 2012  
on new credit register measures in Ireland 
(CON/2012/74) 
 
Introduction and legal basis 
On 24 August 2012, the European Central Bank (ECB) re ceived a request from the Irish Department of 
Finance for an opinion on a General Scheme of Credit Reporting Bill 2012. 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 
Functioning of the European Union and the third and sixth indents of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Ce ntral Bank by national authorities 
regarding draft legislative provisions
1, as the General Scheme relates to  the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) 
and contains rules applicable to fi nancial institutions insofar as they ma terially influence the stability of 
financial institutions and markets. In accordance with  the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of 
Procedure of the European Central Bank, th e Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 
 1. Purpose of the General Scheme  
The General Scheme is intended to form the basis of the Credit Reporting Bill 2012. The publication of 
the Credit Reporting Bill by the Irish Department of Fi nance by the end of September 2012 is a structural 
benchmark commitment of the Irish Government  under the EU/IMF Programme for Ireland. The 
objective of the General Scheme is to establish a comprehensive and reliable registry of credit information to assist in achieving public policy obj ectives and improving financial stability by providing 
information for credit applications and on outsta nding credits. The General Scheme provides for the 
establishment and operation of a statutory credit re gister database called the Central Credit Register 
(CCR). Credit Information Providers (CIPs) will be under an obligation to report to the CCR operator on 
a comprehensive range of credit information in respect  of credit information subjects (CISs) for all credit 
applications and credit agreements in excess of a prescribed minimum threshold. Access to credit 
information held in the CCR will be limited to sp ecific purposes and restricted to CIPs and individuals 
entered on a register of credit information users (CIUs)  to be maintained by th e CBI. The General Scheme 
contains extensive provisions in relation to the accuracy, protection and security of data on the CCR. 
 
                                                      
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
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2 2. General observations 
2.1 The General Scheme will improve financial ins titutions’ credit risk management, as well as risk 
assessment for the financial sector as a whole. It  will also be beneficial for the exercise of 
prudential supervision by the CBI, as well as for the CBI’s tasks of: 
(i) providing for the collection and study of data  dealing with monetary and credit problems and 
publishing information about that data;  
(ii) collecting data to provide advice and assist ance to the Central Statistics Office about the 
collection, compilation, analysis and interpreta tion of statistics relating to the balance of 
payments, national accounts and ot her financial statistics;  
(iii) contributing to the stability of the financial system overall. 
2.2 The ECB notes that some draft heads2 have not been finalised. In addition, the ECB understands 
that the General Scheme remains subject to fu rther review, including by the Irish Attorney 
General, meaning that the General Scheme may c ontain significant changes when its provisions are 
reflected in the Credit Reporting Bill. If this o ccurs, the ECB expects prompt consultation on the 
Credit Reporting Bill once it is published. 
2.3 According to the General Scheme, the CBI is require d to maintain a database of debtors containing 
information relating to their identity, payments a nd credit history, which is available to the CIUs. 
Further, the CBI is to collect and record credit information on CISs in the CCR. The definition of 
‘debtor’ includes individuals and businesses with financial obligations to creditors under 
agreements within Ireland3. A CIS is defined as a person or entity to which the credit information 
collected by a CIP relates. The ECB recommends cons istent use of defined terms to ensure clarity 
and transparency. It would also be useful to furthe r clarify whether the terms ‘debtor’ and ‘creditor’ 
include natural or legal persons with residenc y or registration outside Ireland respectively. 
 In addition, the General Scheme c ontains an extensive list of the types of credit information that the 
CBI may collect and record for the CCR. It also sets out the types of identification information 
which the CBI is authorised to collect in respect of: 
(i) any CIS who is a natural person acting outside his or her business, trade or employment; 
(ii)  any CIS who is not such a natural person. CIPs must report on the on-going performance stat us of credit agreements, any rescheduling of 
credit agreements, arrears accumulation, default even ts and all relevant credit events in accordance 
with regulations made under the General Scheme . The ECB assumes that the CCR is intended to 
capture information about the credit histories and borrowings of both commercial and individual 
debtors. The ECB recommends reviewing the defin ition of ‘default event’, the content of credit 
                                                      
2  For example, draft heads 30 and 33. 
3  This includes, but is not limited to, individuals, sole traders, partnerships, companies, branches, limited liability 
partnerships, trusts, charities and friendly societies (see the definition of ‘debtors ’  under draft head 2 for the complete 
list). 
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3 information and the identification fields to ensu re that all necessary information relating to all 
envisaged categories of debtor is in fact captu red, to guarantee the functionality of the CCR. 
 3. Central bank statutory powers and obligations The ECB welcomes the provision of the General Scheme  allowing the CBI to use the information stored 
in the CCR for the purpose of discharging its statut ory powers and functions. The ECB welcomes that the 
General Scheme will allow the CBI to access this info rmation for an indefinite period once the prescribed 
periods for retention of the CCR data se t out in the General Scheme expire.
. This will provide the CBI 
with indefinite access to data for the purposes of its  mandate and statutory ob ligations, including those 
related to membership of the European System of  Central Banks (ESCB), the Eurosystem, macro- and 
micro- prudential supervisi on and consumer protection. 
 4. Central bank independence  
The CBI will establish, operate and own the CCR and its contents, with the possibility of outsourcing 
operations. It will also manage access to the CCR by authorised bodies. The General Scheme authorises 
the CBI to charge levies and fees to CIUs. The speci fic levels and methods of calculating these levies and 
fees may be prescribed by regulations to be made by th e CBI with the consent of the Minister for Finance. 
The CBI may also, with the consent of the Minister, ch arge CIUs and CISs a fee for providing a record of 
all credit reports requested or issued on a particular CIS for a period of up to five years.  
It is not clear whether all CBI expenses in connec tion with the establishment, operation and maintenance 
of the CCR will be financed by the levies and fees. The ECB refers to the principle of financial 
independence under which a national central bank must have sufficient means not only to perform its 
ESCB-related tasks, but also its national tasks, e. g. financing its administration and own operations
4. As 
pointed out in previous ECB opinions5, when allocating specific non-ESCB related tasks to the national 
central banks (NCBs), e.g. tasks in the area of fina ncial supervision or consum er protection, additional 
human and financial resources must also be allocated for these tasks to be carried out in a manner that 
will not affect the NCBs’ operational capacity to perform their ESCB-related tasks.  
 5. Access to the CCR and statistical reporting  
5.1 The General Scheme provides that the CBI will ma intain a register of CIUs authorised to access 
credit information held on the CCR, namely the CB I, credit providers, CISs and their authorised 
representatives. The ECB notes that the register of CIUs may be amended to include: 
                                                      
4  See the ECB’s Convergence Report, May 2012, p. 25, and in  particular Opinion CON/2011/ 20, paragraph 3.1, Opinion 
CON/2011/47, paragraph 3.2 and Opini on CON/2011/69, paragraph 3. All ECB opinions are available on the ECB’s 
website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
5  See, for example, Opinion CON/2007/8,  paragraph 3, Opinion C ON/2011/76, paragraph 3.3  or Opinion CON/2012/52, 
paragraph 2.3. 
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4 (i)  on direction by the Minister, any State body  that requests from the CBI credit information on 
the CCR for the purpose of advancing the public good6; 
(ii)  creditors from other Member States seek ing information in accordance with Ireland’s 
obligations under Article 9 of Directive 2008/48/EC  of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 23 April 2008 on credit agreemen ts for consumers and repealing Council 
Directive 87/102/EEC7; 
(iii)  with the consent of the Minister, any othe r State-owned credit register that meets sufficient 
data security standards, and where the CBI is sa tisfied that all data will be treated securely 
and that it will not be passed on to a third pa rty without explicit agreement of the CBI. The 
ECB would welcome clarification in the General Scheme of who may access the credit information on the CCR. A reference to the tasks performed by  the ESCB under Article 5 of 
the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank may be added. This also applies to accessing credit reports and credit scores that the CCR compiles. These reports and scores should be cl early stated as constituting credit information 
that may be accessed by CIUs. Further, draft head 13(8) on the CIU register  provides that 
‘the register of credit information may be am ended to include creditors from other Member 
States seeking information.’ The ECB considers that creditors from other Member States should not be excluded from the outset, provided they meet the non-discriminatory access conditions, e.g. data protection rules. The ECB considers that these amendments would 
contribute to open, transparent and non- discriminatory access to the CCR. 
5.2 According to draft head 10, paragraph 1, the CBI  lists a minimum set of attributes to be collected 
and recorded in respect of each credit inform ation subject, while paragraph 2 provides the 
flexibility for the CBI to expand this set for a specific credit provider for various purposes. The 
ECB would welcome if the General Scheme could also provide such flexibility for updating the 
overall CCR content, in particular when internationa l or European standards require it, possibly via 
a regulation. 
5.3 According to draft head 11(2), the CBI lists a nu mber of attributes to be collected as regards the 
identification of entities, including the company and the VAT registration numbers. The ECB would recommend also including a reference to the necessity of identifying legal persons in 
compliance with international or European st andards, facilitating cross-border access and use, 
provided that confidentiality is appropriately protected.  
 6. Compatibility of registers The CBI will have the power to collect and record credit information in respect of CISs, including 
registered insolvency information, namely, registered  (i) Debt Relief Certificates; (ii) Debt Settlement 
                                                      
6  The State body concerned must submit to  the Minister a justified  request (draft head 13, paragraph 5). 
7   OJ L 133, 22.5.2008, p. 66. 
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5 Arrangements; (iii) Personal Insolvency Arrangeme nts registered in accordance with the Personal 
Insolvency Act 20128. The ECB recommends requiring the Insolv ency Service to provide the registered 
insolvency information to the CBI for inclusion on the CCR. In addition, this registered insolvency 
information, as well as any information from other registers to be included on the CCR, should be 
provided in a manner consistent with the format and scope of the CCR, to ensure a level of consistency 
and compatibility across these registers. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.   Done at Frankfurt am Main, 5 October  2012. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Mario DRAGHI 
                                                      
8  The draft Personal Insolvency Bill 2012 is currently being de bated in the committee stage in the Irish parliament.. The 
ECB understands that the Insolvency Service will be re sponsible under the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 for the 
establishment and maintenance of these insolvency registers.