EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 18 November 2008  
at the request of Българска  народна  банка  (Bulgarian National Bank) 
on a draft law amending the Law on credit institutions 
(CON/2008/71) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 22 October 2008 the European Central Bank (E CB) received a request from the Governor of 
Българска  народна  банка  (Bulgarian National Bank) (BNB) for an opinion on a draft law amending the 
Law on credit institutions (hereinafter the ‘draft law’). 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an  opinion is based on Article 105(4) of the Treaty establishing the 
European Community 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 provisions1, as the draft law relates to BNB and to rules applicable to financial institutions 
insofar as they materially influence the stability of fi nancial institutions and markets. In accordance with 
the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Pr ocedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing 
Council has adopted this opinion. 
 1.  Purpose of the draft law 
The draft law is primarily aimed at transposing Directive 2007/44/EC
2 into national law and adopting 
other related provisions3. The ECB has not been consulted on th e transposition measures. Accordingly, 
this opinion only relates to: (i) the draft law provisions  on the establishment of a register of financial 
institutions managed by BNB4; and (ii) the introduction of a Europ ean dimension to BNB’s supervisory 
powers. 
 
                                                 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
2 Directive 2007/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 September 2007 amending Council Directive 
92/49/EEC and Directives 2002/83/EC, 2004/39/EC, 2005/68/E C and 2006/48/EC as regard s procedural rules and 
evaluation criteria for the prudential assessment of acquisitions  and increase of holdings in the financial sector (OJ L 247, 
21.9.2007, p.1).  
3 See draft Articles 79(1) and 103(2). 
4 See draft Articles 3 and 3a. 
2 2. Specific comments 
2.1.  The draft law will empower BNB to carry out new tasks related to setting up and maintaining a 
register of financial institutions at BNB5. In particular, financial ins titutions not subject to license 
or registration under another law w ill be entered into the BNB register in order to be able to carry 
out their activities. The ECB welcomes the creation of the public register for financial institutions 
at BNB and recommends that BNB be provided with sufficient fina ncial and personnel resources to 
carry out its register-related tasks6.  
2.2 Furthermore, it is important to ensure that th e draft law complies with Community legislation, and 
in particular with the definition of financial institu tions. In this regard, the list of activities financial 
institutions may engage in should also include  the issuance and administration of means of 
payment7 as provided for in Article 4(5) of Directive 2006/48/EC of the European Parliament and 
of the Council of 14 June 2006 relating to th e taking up and pursuit of the business of credit 
institutions (recast)8. However, the ECB understands that th e draft law on payment services and 
payment systems (LPSPS), on which the ECB has recently been consulted9, provides for the 
amendment of Articles 2(2) and 3(1) of the Law on credit institutions according to which the 
provision of payment services within the meaning of the LPSPS and the issuing and administering of other means of payment (e.g. traveller cheques and letters of credit) will be included within the 
list of activities that financial institutions may enga ge in. It appears that both draft laws will enter 
into force at different points in time. In this respect, the two draft laws should be properly aligned in order to remove this inconsiste ncy with Community legislation.  
2.3. Moreover, draft Article 3a(3) should also be aligned with Community legislation so that the 
application of this provision is explicitly restricted  to financial institutions established in Bulgaria, 
and thus does not apply to financial institutions of other Member States. 
2.4. Finally, the draft law provides that, in exerci sing its supervisory functions, BNB must recognise the 
possible impact of its actions on the financial stability of other Member States
10. The ECB notes 
that this provision is aimed at reflecting the conclusions of the Ecofin meeting of 14 May 2008, 
                                                 
5 See Article 3 and 3a of the draft law. 
6 See paragraph 4 of ECB Opinion CON/2007/ 40 of 12 December 2007 at the request of Българска  народна  банка  
(Bulgarian National Bank) on a draft law introducing a licensi ng regime for entities providi ng money remittance services; 
paragraph 2 of ECB Opinion CON/2007/38 of 23 November 2007 at the request of the Slovenian Ministry of Finance on 
a draft law on foreign exchange; paragraph 3.3 of ECB Op inion CON/2007/29 of 5 October 2007 at the request of the 
Portuguese Ministry of Finance and Pub lic Administration on a draft decree-law amending the legal framework of credit 
institutions and financial companies; paragraph 2.1 of ECB Opinion CON/2007/23 of 2 August 2007 at the request of 
Banca Na ţională a României on a draft law on non-banking financia l institutions; and paragraph 3.2 of ECB Opinion 
CON/2007/17 of 18 June 2007 at the request of the Italian Mi nistry of Economic Affairs and Finance on a draft law on 
the regulation and supervision of markets and the func tioning of the competent independent authorities. 
7 See sub-paragraph 2 of Article 2(2) of the Law on credit institutions published in Darjaven Vestnik  issue No 59, 
21.07.2006, as last amended on 05.08.2008. 
8 OJ L 177, 30.6.2006, p. 1. 
9 On 22 October 2008 the ECB received a request from the BNB’s Governor for an opinion on a draft law on payment 
services and payment systems.  
10 See draft Article 79(1). 
3 namely that the mandates of national supervisory authorities should allow them to take the EU 
dimension into account in exercising their duties11.  
  This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.    Done at Frankfurt am Main, 18 November 2008. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET 
   
                                                 
11  See the Council conclusions on the EU Supervisory Framework and Fi nancial Stability Arrangements, as agreed by the 
Ecofin on 14 May 2008, available on the Council’ s website at http://consilium.europa.eu.