EN ECB -PUBLIC  
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK  
of 21 January  2016  
on the deposit guarantee scheme  
(CON/20 16/3) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 8 January 2016 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Minister of  Finance of 
the Hellenic Republic f or an opinion on a draft l aw on the Deposit and Investment Guarantee Scheme 
(hereinafter  the ‘draft law ’), which transposes into Greek law Directive 2014/49/EU of the European 
Parliament and of the Council1. 
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 and sixth indents of Article 2(1) of Council Decision  
98/415/EC2, as it relates to the Bank of Greece (B oG) and to rules  applicable to financial institut ions 
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 and overview  of the draft law   
1.1 The main purpose of the draft law is to recast and update the national legal framework governing 
the establishment and operation of the Hellenic Deposit and Investment Guarantee Fund 
(hereinafter ‘ HDIGF ’), by br inging it in line with Directive 2014/49/EU . Once t he draft law ent ers into 
force,  the current national legal framework on the establishment and operation of the HDIGF3 will 
be automatically repealed, and several of the core provisions will be  incorporated into the draft law.  
1.2 Under the draft law , the HDIGF  is to continue to operate as a private law legal entity , owned by the 
participating credit institutions and supervised by the Ministry of Finance of the Hellenic Republic4 
while its tasks will remain the same5. Additionally , the HDIGF is to continue to comprise three 
separate schemes : (a) a deposit cover scheme,  for the protection of depositors ; (b) an investment 
cover scheme, for the protection of investors ; and (c) a resolution scheme, for the financ ing of 
                                                 
1  Directive 2014/49/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on deposit guarantee schemes 
(OJ L 173, 12.6.2014, p. 149).  
2  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).  
3  The reference is to Law 3746/2009 (Official Government Gazette, Part A,  27), as amended, inter alia by laws 
4021/2011 (Official Government Gazette, Part A, 218) and Law 4051/2012 (Official Government Gazette, Part A, 
40). 
4  See Article 4(1) of the draft law.  
5  See Article 4(2) of the draft law.  This requirement:  (a) provides  compensation to depositors in the event that their 
bank is unable to repay their deposits ; (b) provides  compensation to investors/customers of credit institutions in the 
event that their bank is unable to fulfil its obligations to them, and ( c) finances  bank resolution measures.   
ECB -PUBLIC  
2 resolution measures , the assets  of which are distinct6. With regard to its governance structure, the 
HDIGF is to continue being governed by a seven- member Board, appointed by the Minister of 
Finance of the Hellenic Republic, comprising a Chairperson,  to be selected from amongst the 
BoG’s Deputy Governors , and six other members , nominated by the Ministry of Finance (one 
member), the BoG ( three members),  and the Hellenic Bank Association (two members)7. 
1.3 It follows from Article 25 of the draft law t hat the assets of the HDGIF’s deposit cover scheme 
comprise (i) the regular, extraordinary and initial contributions payable by participating credit 
institutions ; (ii) the HDGIF’s registered capital ; and (iii) revenues  from other sources, such as the 
management of its cash reserves, the recovery or liquidation of its claims and donations. It also 
follows from Article 29 of the draft law that , should the funds available to the HDGIF’s deposit cover 
scheme not suffice to cover depositor compensation claims , the HDIGF Board may decide (a) to 
borrow the necessary funds , whether from the participating credit institutions or from other sources , 
with or without a State guarantee and subject to terms and conditions stipulated by way of a 
decision of the HDGIF Board,  or (b) otherwise borrow the necessary funds, so as to put the HDGIF 
in a position where it can ensure the short -term financing of its obligations.  
1.4 Following the example of the Directive  2014/49/EU , the adoption of the draft law will mark a 
departure f rom the current situation as regards deposit guarantee schemes , particularly in relation 
to: (a)  the temporary protection of certain deposits in excess of the EUR 100 000 harmonised level 
of coverage provided for in Directive 2014/49/EU8; (b) the reduction of the period necessary for the 
repayment of deposits from twenty  to seven working days9; (c) the recognition of an actionable 
right to compensation,  to be exercised directly by depositors against the HDIGF10; and (d) the 
introduction of a legal duty for c redit institutions to provide depositors (and investors) with all 
relevant information with regard to the protection extended to their deposits and/or investments by 
the HDIGF11. 
 
2. General observations  
2.1 The ECB welcomes the draft law, which codifies the legal framework governing the establishment 
and operation of the HDIGF .  
2.2 At the same time, the ECB stresses that it does not opine on whether or not the draft law effectively 
discharges the obligations of the Hellenic Republic to implement Directive 2014/49/EU . Rather, the 
ECB focuses on those provisions that may affect the BoG’s role as a member of the European 
System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as on the likely implications of specific provisions of the 
draft law on the  ECB’s supervision of sign ificant institutions and the preservation of financial 
stability in the Hellenic Republic.  
                                                 
6  See Article 4(3) of the draft law.  
7  See Article 48(1) of the draft law . On the BoG’s role in the governance of the HDGIF, see paragraph 4.2 of Opinion 
CON/2008/51.  All ECB opinions are available on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu .  
8  See Article 6(2) of Directive 2014/49/EU and Article 9(2) of the draft law . 
9   See Article 8(1)  of Directive 2014/49/EU and Article 11 of the draft law.  
10  See Article 9(1)  of Directive 2014/49/EU  and Article 21 of the draft law.  
11  See Article 16 of Directive 2014/49/EU and Article 46 of the draft law.  
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3   
3. Specific observations  
3.1 No provision of liquidity from the BoG to the HDIGF  
The ECB understands that the re is nothing in the draft law that would expressly permit the BoG t o 
provi de liquidity to  the HDIGF . Article s 25 to 29 of the draft law , which  set out the sources for the 
financ ing of  the tasks of the deposit cover scheme of the HDIGF , do not explicitly refer to the BoG’s 
involvement in the provision of liqu idity to the HDGIF . As the ECB has repeatedly stated in the 
past,  any national legislation that provid es for a deposit guarantee scheme to be financ ed by an 
ESCB national central bank (NCB) would only be compatible with the monetary financing 
prohibition under Article 123 of the  Treaty  where certain restrictive conditions are met , i.e. such 
financing is short -term, it addresses urgent situations, systemic stability issues are at stake and 
decisions are made at the NCB’s discretion12. The ECB  expect s these conditions to be fulfilled with 
regard to any potential involvement by  the BoG in the short -term financing arrangements of the 
HDGIF , by way of the provision of loans by the BoG, as per Article s 29 (1) or (2) of the draft law.  
3.2 Role of the BoG in the oper ation of the HDIGF  
Under Article 27(4) of the draft law , which corresponds to Article 13(2) of Directive 2014/49/EU,  the 
Board makes a recommendation on the type of methodology to use in calculating regular 
contributions to the HDIGF, after which a BoG dec ision will be taken, then notified to the Ministry of 
Finance of the Hellenic Republic. T he ECB is satisfied that the BoG’s responsibilities under the 
aforementioned provision of the draft law do not materially differ from the BoG’s responsibilities 
under Articles 4(4)(a) and (b)(ii) of Law 3746/2009 on the establishment and operation of the 
current HDIGF13. It follows that the draft law does not , in the ECB’s view,  confer genuinely new 
tasks o n BoG in connection with the operation of the HDIGF . 
3.3  Temporary protection of deposits in excess of the U nion-wide harmonised level of coverage  
As noted in paragraph 1. 4 of this opinion, Article 9(2) of the draft law allows  certain deposits in 
excess of EUR 100 000  to be protected temporarily . In particular, the a forementioned provision 
states that certain deposits falling within the broad categories identified in Article 6(2) of Directive  2014/49/EU are to be protected up to an additional margin of EUR 300 000 for up to six 
months after the relevant amount has been credited to the relevant account, subject to the 
submission of an ex post application to the HDIGF  by the account holder(s). The ECB understands 
that Article 9(2) of the draft law is the exercise of a national discretion under Article 6 of the 
Directive  2014/49/EU . The ECB also notes that, according to the accompanying Explanatory 
Memorandum,  the exercise of this discretion is not backed by additional contributions from  the 
participating credit institutions.  The ECB stresses the importance of ensuring that  the financing 
capacity of the HDIGF  is, at all times, proportionate to its  liabilities , and expects that the 
                                                 
12  See the ECB’s  2014 Convergence Report,  p. 30,  available on the ECB’s  website at www.ecb.europa.eu . See also 
paragraph 3.2 of Opinion CON/2015/40; paragraph 4.1 of Opinion CON/2015/17; paragraph 2.2 of Opinion 
CON/2014/86; and paragraph 3.1.3 of Opinion CON/2011/76.  
13  Under the currently applicable legal regime, the BoG is responsible for allocating credit institutions to one of the 
several statutory bands, on the basis of which annual contributions are calculated, taking into account all relevant prudential supervisory criteria.   
ECB -PUBLIC  
4 determination of the a forementioned additional margin of EUR 300 000 is the product of a prior 
impact assessment, to ensure that the HDIGF  will be  in a position to meet depositor and/or investor 
claims in the event of the insolvency  of a credit institution  holding protected deposits in excess of 
the U nion-wide harmonised level of coverage.  
3.4 Suspension of extraordinary contributions jeopardising t he liquidity  or solvency of a credit institution  
In order  to safeguard the sound ness of the capital base of credit institutions, the ECB welcomes 
Article 28(4) of the draft law , where it is stated that the BoG may suspend extraordinary 
contributions to the deposit cover scheme if these contributions would jeopardise the liquidi ty or 
solvency of a credit institution. Where significant institutions  are concerned, this competence is, 
however, to be exercised by the ECB.  
 
This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.  
 
 
Done at Frankfurt am Main,  21 January 2016.  
 
[signed]  
 
The President of the ECB  
Mario DRAGHI