EN ECB -PUBLIC  
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK  
of 21 July 2014  
on the Central Credit Register  
(CON/2014/ 57) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 30 May 2014 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Portuguese Minister of 
State and for Finance for an o pinion on a draft decree -law amending Decree -Law No 2 04/2008  of 
14 October  2008  establishing the legal framework f or the Central Credit Register  (hereinafter the ‘ draft 
decree -law’). 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) an d 282(5) of the Treaty on the 
Functioning of the European Union and on the third and sixth indents of Article  2(1) of Council 
Decision  98/415/EC1, as the draft decree -law relates to the Banco de Portugal (BdP) and to rules 
applicable to financial instituti ons insofar as they materially 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, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.  
 
1.  Purpose of the draft decree -law 
1.1 The draft decree -law introduces changes to  the legal framework aimed at increasing the 
information available to assess  the risk involved in credit operations and in the acceptance of credit 
claims as a guarantee in liqu idity-providing ope rations of the BdP  and the Eurosystem.  It also 
allows participating entities2 to access the company and sector tables in the Central Balance Sheet 
Database  and establishes that the BdP may provide participating entities with historical i nformation 
to enable borrowers  without a record of default in the Central Credit Register ( Central de 
Responsabilidades de Crédito - CRC) to negotiate improved credit conditions.  
1.2 Additionally, the draft decree -law authorises the BdP, under conditions t o be defined by the BdP, to 
grant access to information on legal persons to credit rating agencies solely for the purpose of 
                                                           
1  Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by nati onal authorities 
regarding draft legislative provisions ( OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42 ). 
2  According to Article 2(1) , participating entities are: (a) institutions authorised to grant credit which have their head office 
in Portugal; (b) branches of institution s which have their head office abroad and which are authorised to grant credit in 
Portugal; (c) other entities with a permanent establishment in Portugal , designated by the BdP, which grant credit under 
special regimes or which acquire credit originally gr anted by the financial sector.  
ECB -PUBLIC  
2 preparing ratings3, and clarifies that the information contained in the CRC may be used by both the 
BdP and the ECB to perform thei r respective tasks4. 
 
2. Specific  observation s 
2.1 The ECB generally welcomes initiatives that enable credit risk assessment systems to improve the 
quality of their assessments. More informed evaluation of credit risk can benefit the financial 
market in ge neral and the Eurosystem which uses credit risk assessments in its collateral 
framework for monetary policy operations.  
2.2 The ECB also  welcomes the fact  that the data collected in the CRC can be shared with the ECB , 
thus supporting the performance of  the ESCB ’s tasks .  
 
This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.  
 
 
Done at Frankfurt am Main, 21 July 2014.  
 
[signed]  
 
The President of the ECB  
Mario DRAGHI  
                                                           
3 Article 6(7) of the draft decree -law. 
4  Article 5(2) of the draft decree -law.