EN ECB-PUBLIC  
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 30 November 2016  
on the reimbursement of the costs for the operation of  the central credit register and the register 
of bank accounts 
(CON/2016/57) 
 
Introduction and legal basis 
On 3 November 2016 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Българска  народна  
банка  (Bulgarian National Bank (BNB)), following correspondence exchanged between BNB and the 
Minister of Finance, for an opinion on a draft law on the 2017 State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria 
(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 indent of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC1, as 
the draft law relates to BNB. In accordance with th e 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 law 
1.1 The draft law proposes, inter alia, to amend the Law on credit institutions, so that BNB defines the 
methodology for the calculation of the fees for access to the two information systems operated by 
BNB: the central credit register and the register of bank accounts. The expenditures of the relevant 
state bodies and judicial authorities in respect of their access to the two registers shall be incurred by the state budget and their payment to BNB shall be arranged by means of an agreement 
between BNB and the Ministry of Finance. The purpose of the proposed amendments is to overcome the drawbacks of the currently estab lished decentralised payment of costs by the 
relevant public and judicial authorities, which could hamper both the planning and accounting of the 
budget expenses of these authorities and the payment of the expenditures. 
1.2 In addition, the draft law envisages that credit institutions and branches of credit institutions 
operating in Bulgaria shall have access to the register of bank accounts, in order to establish the existence of clients’ payment accounts that have basic features, as well as to receive relevant data 
for the purposes of assessing the creditworthiness of individuals. It is suggested by BNB that the 
inclusion of credit institutions as users of information from the register of bank accounts aims to 
ensure that costs in relation to the operation of the register are predominantly covered from private 
sources. 
                                                 
1  Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national 
authorities regarding draft legislative provisions (OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42). 
ECB-PUBLIC  
2  
2. Specific observations 2.1 The ECB has had the opportunity to comment on the arrangements for the reimbursement of the 
costs that BNB would incur in setting up and operating the central credit register and the register of bank accounts
2.  
2.2 The principle of financial independence of Eu ropean System of Central Banks (ESCB) members 
requires that the Member States do not put their NCBs in a position where they have insufficient 
financial resources to carry out not only their ESCB  related tasks, but also their national tasks, both 
from an operational and financial perspective3. The ECB has noted that, in this regard and in order 
to comply with the prohibition of monetary financing under Article 123 of the Treaty, it needs to be 
ensured that BNB will be fully and adequately reimbursed for all costs incurred in performing activities related to the tasks entrusted to it in connection with the setting up and operation of the 
two registers
4.  
2.3 The draft law aims to replace the current arrangement for the decentralised payment of a fee 
charged by BNB with an overarching framework agreement between BNB and the Ministry of 
Finance. The ECB underlines that this agreement should ensure that the reimbursement of BNB for the incurred costs is made on the basis of ‘arm’s length’ commercial terms, either in advance of 
costs being incurred or on a regular and prompt basis as the costs arise. The ECB would 
appreciate receiving a copy of the draft agreement between BNB and the Ministry of Finance prior 
to its entry into effect and execution. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.  
  
Done at Frankfurt am Main, 30 November  2016. 
 [signed ] 
 
The President of the ECB Mario DRAGHI 
                                                 
2  See Opinions CON/2015/46 and CON/2016/19. All ECB opinions are published on the ECB’s website at 
www.ecb.europa.eu . 
3  See paragraph 3.1.2 of Opinion CON/2015/46. 
4  See paragraph 3.1.6 of Opinion CON/2015/46 and paragraph 3.2.1 of Opinion CON/2016/19.