EN ECB -PUBLIC 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK  
of 19 March 2013  
on dormant deposit accounts with credit institutions  
(CON/2013/20)  
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 26 February 2013, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Greek Ministry of 
Financ e for an opinion on a set of draft legislative provisions regarding the management of dormant 
deposit accounts  by credit institutions in Greece (hereinafter the ‘draft provisions’) . The draft provisions 
are part of a draft law on arrangements amending and improving pension- related, fiscal, administrative 
and other provisions of the Ministry of Finance . 
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/EC of 
29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft 
legislative provisions1, as the draft provisions  concern the Bank of Greece . In accordance with the firs t 
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 provisions  
1.1 According to the draft provisions, their main purpose is to allow mone y in dormant deposit 
accounts to tran sfer to the State once the rights of the depositors or their legal heirs have laps ed2. 
To this end, the draft provisions  reform the current legal framework  governing such accounts3. In 
particular, they establish  an automated procedur e requiring  credit institutions  operating in Greece  
to take specific action to de al wi th dormant deposit accounts held with them, including monitoring 
compliance with and implementation of the draft provisions. Furthermore, the draft provisions 
confer on t he Bank of Greece specific supervisory tasks t o ensur e the adequate implementation of 
the scheme.  
1.2 More specifically, f or the purposes of the draft provisions , ‘dormant deposit account ’ means an 
account on which no transaction by depositors has been rec orded for a period of 20 years from  the 
                                                           
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
2  Article 6 of the draft provisions . 
3  See Legislative Decree 1195/1942 (FEK A 70).  
ECB -PUBLIC 
2 day f ollowing  the last transaction4. The draft provisions require a credit institution to notif y the 
beneficiary of a potentially dormant account several times5 before the expiry of the 20- year period 
that the balanc e on the dormant deposit account  will be statute barred for the benefit of the Greek 
State twenty years from the day following  the last transaction . 
1.3 Following the expiry  of the 20-year period,  the credit institution concerned must transfer to the 
State  the aggregate balance on any time -barred dormant deposit accounts, including any interest, by 
the end of April of each year and the credit institution must also  notify the General Accounting 
Office (GAO) and the concerned beneficiaries or heirs  of the tra nsfer, as provided for in the draft 
provisions6. 
1.4 The draft provisions confer on the Bank of Greece supervis ion of  proper compliance by credit 
institutions with their obligations and impose the necessary sanctions for  breach es. In addition, 
within the f irst two months of every year the Bank of Greece is required to submit to the G AO a list 
of all credit institutions operating in Greece. Finally, t he Minister for Finance may  ask the Bank of 
Greece to carry out ad  hoc inspections, whenever necessary, to co nfirm correct application of the 
draft provisions7. 
 
2.  General observations  
2.1 According to the explanatory memorandum, the draft provisions  are expected to clarify that the 
money on dormant deposit accounts after the 20- year lapse of the rights of bene ficiaries and their 
heirs may be used to fund State protect ion of  vulnerable social groups. In this respect , the ECB 
broadly  welcomes the draft provisions and notes the importance of ensuring that a fair balance is 
struck  between general interest considera tions underlying the statute -barring and the protection of 
beneficiaries’  property right s, as enshrined in national and international  legislation8. Furthermore, 
the ECB notes that , in the explanatory memorandum , the Greek legislator has taken  into account 
the relevant national legislation and well established case law  on statute -barring , as well as relevant 
arrangements in other Member States, noting however that currently there is no harmonised 
European Union legislation dealing especially  with time barrin g for dormant deposit accounts . In 
this context , the ECB notes  that it is essential  to ensure equal treatment of depositors, regardless of 
whether the y are residen t in Greece or abroad.  
2.2 Moreover, t he ECB notes that the Bank of Greece is assigned superv isory tasks related to the 
application of the draft provisions , as set out in paragraph 1.4 above . The ECB has consistently 
expressed its concern that,  when allocating additional tasks to national central banks, it must be 
                                                           
4  Article 7 of the draft prov isions . 
5  For deposited amount s in excess of EUR 100 notification by letter with ackno wledgement of receipt takes place at least 
twice . See Article 8 (1) of the draft provisions . According to the explanatory memorandum, the notification requirements 
seem t o reflect Judgment No 66610/09 of the European Court of Human Rights.   
6  Article 8(3)  of the draft provisions . 
7  Article 9 of the draft provisions.  
8  See in particular European Convention on  Human Rights.  
ECB -PUBLIC 
3 ensured that they have sufficient  human and financial resources, both in terms of quantity and 
quality, for all of their tasks, and in particular that their capacity to fulfil their European System of 
Central Banks or Eurosystem -related tasks is not affected9. 
2.3 Finally, in particular a s regards the power of the Minister of Finance to ask the Bank of Greece to 
carry out ad hoc  inspections in accordance with Article 9(5) of the draft provisions , the ECB notes 
that this is not in line with the prohibition on  the Bank of Greece fr om taking instructions from the 
Government10. If the intention of the Greek legislator is to hold the Bank of Greece accountable for 
its new tasks, it should set up an appropriate accountability framework , such as  additional 
reporting .  
 
This opinion will be publishe d on the ECB’s website.  
  
Done at Frankfurt am Main, 19 March 2013.  
 
[signed]   
The President of the ECB  
Mario DRAGHI  
                                                           
9   See the ECB’s Convergence Report 2012, p. 25. See also Opinion CON/2011/105.  All ECB opinions are  published on 
the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu.  
10  See Article 5A of the Statute of the Bank of Greece, available on the website of the Bank of Greece 
(www.bankofgreece.gr) .