EN ECB-P UBLIC  
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 3 June 2011 
on new legislation on the credit register  
(CON/2011/47) 
 Introduction and legal basis
 
On 6 April 2011, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Latvijas Banka for an 
opinion on a draft law on the credit register (hereinafter the ‘draft law’).  
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 i ndent of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC 
of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft 
legislative provisions1, as the draft law relates to Latvijas Banka . In accordance with the first sentence of 
Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the Eur opean Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted 
this opinion. 
 1.  Purpose of the draft law 
The main purpose of the draft law is to contribute to financial stability by providing credit institutions and 
other financial institutions with additional possibiliti es to assess the creditworth iness of their existing and 
potential customers. The draft law consolidates the re gulatory framework of the credit register which is 
currently contained in the Law on credit institutions
2, the Law on insurance companies and their 
supervision3 and the Law on credit unions4. In addition, it eliminates inconsistencies and provides 
additional regulation. The draft law will also provide the national supervisory authority, the Financial and 
Capital Markets Commission (FCMC), with additional pow ers to obtain data necessary for the fulfilment 
of its supervisory tasks and Latvijas Banka with data  necessary for financial statistics and macroeconomic 
analysis. The draft law retains Latvijas Banka’s task  of maintaining the credit register and providing 
detailed regulation necessary for the performance of this obligation. 
 2.  General observations 
The ECB welcomes the draft law. The consolidati on of provisions on the credit register currently 
contained in other legal acts will enhance transparen cy and improve legal certainty. The draft law will 
                                                 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
2  Article 1061 of the Law on credit institutions. 
3  Article 293 of the Law on insurance companies and their supervision. 
4  Article 271 of the Law on credit unions. 
ECB-P UBLIC  
2 serve to enhance individual financial institutions’ cred it risk management, as well as risk assessment for 
the financial sector as a whole. The draft law will also be beneficial for the exercise of prudential 
supervision by the FCMC, as well as Latvijas Banka’s task of monitoring financial market 
developments5.  
 3.  Specific observations 3.1 The ECB fully welcomes the aim of the draft la w to contribute to financial stability (a) by 
providing the FCMC with additional powers to obt ain information required for the supervision of 
the financial and capital market participants, (b) by allowing Latvijas Banka to use credit register 
data for statistical purposes, and (c) by enabling both institutions to obtain data for macroeconomic 
analysis
6.  
3.2 The ECB notes that under Article 3 of the draft law,  Latvijas Banka will continue to maintain the 
credit register, own its technical facilities and be  in charge of its development and security. As 
regards the financing of such tasks performed by La tvijas Banka, 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 nationa l tasks, e.g. financing its administration and own 
operations7. The ECB considers that the draft legislati on does not raise concerns in this respect, 
since it authorises Latvijas Banka to charge a fee for the use of the register to cover the costs related 
to its maintenance8. 
3.3 The ECB welcomes the provisions of the draft la w authorising Latvijas Banka to provide data 
included in the register to Latvian and foreign authorities, subject to legislative provisions on 
prudential supervision and national statistics9.  
3.4 The ECB understands that Latvijas Banka has retain ed its powers to provide  detailed regulation on 
the content of data to be included and provide d from the register as well as the procedure for 
submitting and receiving data10. Furthermore, the ECB understands  that regulation already in 
force11 will be amended to reflect the cha nges introduced by the draft law. 
 
                                                 
5  This task is set out in Article 41 of the Law on Latvijas Banka. 
6  Article 2(1)(b), (c) and (d) of the draft law. 
7  See the ECB’s Convergence Report, May 2010, p. 21, an d in particular Opinion CON/2011/5, paragraph 3.1.  
8  Article 30 of the draft law. 
9  Article 4(4) of the draft law. 
10  Articles 10, 13 and 17 of the draft law. 
11  Latvijas Banka’s ‘Regulatio n for the Credit register’. 
ECB-P UBLIC  
3 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 
  Done at Frankfurt am Main, 3 June 2011. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET