EN ECB -PUBLIC  
 
 OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK  
of 14 December  2018  
on the organis ation of the functioning of the central register of bank accounts and financial 
transactions  
(CON/ 2018/57) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 28 November  2018 the European Central Bank ( ECB) received a request from  the Belgian Ministry o f 
Finance  for an opinion on a draft  royal decree organising the  functioning of the central register of bank 
accounts and financial transactions  (hereinafter the ‘ draft law’).  
The ECB’s competence to deliv er 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 contains provisions concerning the Nationale Bank van België/B anque Nationale de 
Belgique ( NBB). 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 law  
1.1  The draft  law implement s the Law of 8 July 2018 organising the central register of bank accounts 
and financial transactions  (herein after the ‘Law of 8 July 2018’ )2. The draft law  relates, in particular, 
to the exchange of information between the reporting agents and the central regis ter, on the one 
hand, and between the central register and legal  persons authorised to consult the register, on the 
other hand. The draft law also contains a chapter on  the enforcement  of data protection provisions  
as well as the implementation of administ ration sanctions.  
1.2 The draft law also implements Article 10 of the Law of 8 July 2018  on the cost recovery 
mechanism, which concerns  all costs incurred by  the NBB for the establishment , operation and 
maintenance of the point s of contact  that ensur e access to the central register . The draft law  
distinguishes between investment costs , defined as the costs incurred by the NBB for the analysis, 
development, testing and establishment of the central register in the establishment  environment as 
well as any fur ther development of the central register or the platform on which it is operated,  and 
                                                 
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).  
2       Loi du 8 juillet 2018 portant organisation d'un point de contact central des comptes et contrats financiers et portant 
extension de l'accès au fichier central des avis de saisie, de délégation, de cession, de règlement coll ectif de dettes 
et de protêt, Wet van 8 Juli 2018 houdende organisatie van een central aanspreekpunt van rekeningen en ﬁ nanciële 
contracten en tot uitbreiding van de toegang tot het centraal bestand van berichten van beslag, delegatie, 
overdracht, collecti eve schuldenregeling en protest .  
ECB -PUBLIC  
2 operati ng costs,  defined as the total costs incurred by the NBB in the context of the central register , 
excluding investment costs3.  
 Operating costs  
1.3 The NBB invoices a provisional amount corresponding to t he estimated operati ng costs at the 
beginning of each quarter following the date as  of which the NBB renders the central register  
accessible to centralising bodies and, in their absence, to persons authorised to rec eive 
information4. Invoices are issued by the NBB to each centralising body , where applicable,  or to the 
person authorised to receive information,  and the amount set out in the invoice is  payable within 90  
calendar days .5  The NBB determines the provisiona l amount s to be invoiced by using  a 
provisional tariff per  consultation which is calculated as  a ratio of  the NBB’s estimated operating 
costs for the respective calendar year and the sum of expected consultations in the same calendar 
year. The expected consultations are estimated prudently on the basis of the estimates provided by 
each centralising body , where applicable , or by persons authorised to access information from the 
central register6. The NBB  calculat es the provisional amount s corresponding to the estimated 
operating costs  by multipl ying the provisional tariff per consultation by the number of consultations 
requested in the previous quarter on behalf of  a given centralising body,  where applicable,  or by 
the persons authorised to receive information  from the central register7.  
1.4 In the course of the six months  following the end of each calendar year, the NBB calculates the 
definitive amount corresponding to the actual  operati ng costs for the elapsed calendar year.8 First, 
the NBB determines the  definitive tariff per consultation which is calculated as  the ratio of the 
NBB’s incurred operating costs  and the sum of the consultations received in the same calendar 
year.9 Second, the NBB determines the definitive amounts corresponding to the actual operating 
costs (attributable to each centralising body or person authorised to receive the information) by 
multiplying the definitive tariff per consultation by  the number of consultations  actually submitted by 
each centralising body or person authorised to access information from the central register in the 
elapsed calendar year .10 Depending on whether the definitive amount corresponding to the actual 
operating costs is lower or higher than the provisional amount corresponding to the estimated 
operating costs , the NBB draws up a credit note or issues a n additional  invoice11. 
 Investment  costs 
1.5 In January 2019, the NBB will invoices an amount  corresponding to the initial investment costs  to a 
limited number of institutions  according to a predefined key , namel y, the Ministry of Justice (17% 
share in the key) , the Ministry of Finance (14%) , the Royal F ederation of N otaries  (57%) , the 
                                                 
3       Article 1 of the draft law.  
4       Article 21 paragraph 2 of the draft law.  
5       Article s 21 paragraph 2 and 23 sub-paragraph 2 of the draft law.  
6       Article 21 paragraph 1 of the draft law.  
7       Article 21 paragraph 2 of the draft law.  
8       Article 21 paragraph 3 of the draft law.  
9       Article 21 paragraph 3 sub- paragraph 1 of the draft law.  
10       Article 21 paragraph 3 sub- paragraph 2 of the draft law.  
11       Article 21 paragraph 3 sub- paragraph 4 of the draft law.  
ECB -PUBLIC  
3 National Chamber of B ailiffs (3%) and the department for the treatment of financial information  
(9%) . Additional invoice s are to be prepared within the calendar month in which  each update or 
expansion of the content or features  of the central register or its  IT platform is implemented12. 
Invoices are payable within 90 calendar days13.   
1.6  In addition, at the beginning of each calendar year after the central register   becomes operational , 
the Minist ers of Justice and Finance will  establish the amount of the contribution towards 
investment costs payable to the abovementioned institutions  in respect of each information request 
submitted during the same calendar year.  This tariff per consultation is calculated as the ratio of the 
overall value of the NBB’s investment  costs invoice d by the NBB to the abovementioned institutions 
up to that date,  and the sum of consultations that the NBB e xpects to receive dur ing the current 
calendar year , taking into account a linear amortization of each investment over ten consecutive 
six-month periods  (i.e., five years)14. On the basis of this tariff,  the NBB will invoice the resulting 
amounts payable by t he centralising bodies and the persons authorised to receive information at 
the same time and in the same manner as the provisional amounts for the contributions towards 
operating costs are invoiced to these persons15. The NBB will, in respect of any result ing amounts 
received by NBB, issue credit notes  at the beginning of the subsequent calendar year in favour of 
the Ministries of Justice and Finance, the Royal Federation of Notaries, the National Chamber of 
Bailiffs and the department for the treatment of financial information, in accordance with their 
respective shares in the predefined key (see paragraph 1. 5 above)16.    
 
2.  General observations  
2.1 The ECB has issued a number of opinions related to the ce ntral register operated by the NBB17, 
most recently  on the Law of 8 July 2018.  In its opinions, the ECB noted, in particular, that the task 
entrusted to the NBB in relation to the central register is not a central banking task, nor does it 
facilitate the performance of such a task. Rather, the ECB understo od that the task entrusted to the 
NBB in relation to the central register is linked to a governmental task, as it is meant to support the 
government ’s efforts  in combating tax fraud and preventing the use of the financial system for the 
purpose of money la undering, the financing of terrorism and financial crime in general . 
Consequently, t o safeguard the NBB’s financial independence and as a guarantee against the 
circumvention of the monetary financing prohibition, t he ECB  emphasised that the NBB needs to 
be, at the least,  fully and adequately remunerated when carrying out its tasks in relation to the 
central register18.  
                                                 
12       Article 22 paragraph 1 of the draft law .  
13       Article 23 paragraph 2 of the draft law.  
14       Article 22 paragraph 2 sub- paragraph 1 of the draft law.  
15       Article 22 paragraph 2 sub- paragraph 3 of the draft  law.  
16       Article 22 paragraph 2 sub- paragraph 4 of the draft law.  
17  See Opinions CON/2011/30, CON/2011/98, CON/2016/35, CON/2017/20 and CON/2018/4. All ECB opinions are 
published on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu.  
18  See, in particular,  paragraph 2 of  Opinions  CON/2011/30 and CON/2011/98;  paragraphs 2.2, 3.2  and 3.8 of  
CON/2016/35;  paragraph 4.2 of CON/2017/20;  paragraph 2.3 of CON/2018/4.  In the same vein, see also 
paragraph 3.2 of Opinion CON/2015/36 and the ECB’s 2018 Convergence Report, p. 30.  
ECB -PUBLIC  
4 2.2 The ECB notes that  according to Article 23 of the draft law the invoiced amounts in respect of all 
operating and investment costs are pa yable  within 90 days . In this respect, the ECB wishes to 
emphasise that, for the purposes of the monetary financing prohibition,  Article 1(1)(b)(i ii) of Council 
Regulation (EC) No 3603/ 9319 defines ‘other type of credit facility’, inter alia, as ‘any transaction 
with the public sector resulting or likely to result in a claim against that sector ’. Hence, to ensure 
compatibility with the prohibition of monetary financing, t he draft law should ensure that the detailed 
arrangements for the reimbursement of the N BB’s operating and investment costs do not result in 
any claim by the NBB against the public sector.  
2.3 With regard to the credit notes issued by the NBB to the Ministries of Justice and Finance, the 
Royal Federation of Notaries, the National Chamber of Bailiffs and the department for the treatment 
of financial information, the ECB notes that they  are issued in respect of payments due to those 
institutions from the centralising bodies and the persons authorised to receive information from the 
central regi ster, which payments are received by the NBB  on behalf of those institutions . Therefore, 
the issuance of these credit notes by the NBB  does not relate to any credit in favour of the 
institutions concerned.  
 
This opinion will be published on the ECB’s websi te. 
 
 
Done at Frankfurt am Main, 14 December  2018.  
 
[signed]  
 
The President of the ECB  
Mario DRAGHI  
                                                 
19  Council Regulation (EC) No 3603/93 of 13 December 1993 specifying definitions for the application of the 
prohibitions referred to in Articles 104 and 104b(1) of the Treaty (OJ L 332, 31.12.1993, p. 1). Articles 104 and 104b 
of the Treaty are now Articles 123 and 125 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.