Opinion of the European Central Bank of 30 July 2004 at the request of the Estonian Ministry of Finance on a draft law amending the Credit Institutions Act and the Commercial Code and a draft law on e-money institutions (CON/2004/25)
Date: 2004-07-30
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Estonia, application of EU law, credit institution, electronic money, financial stability, payment system

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 30 July 2004 

at the request of the Estonian Ministry of Finance 

on a draft law amending the Credit Institutions Act and the Commercial Code and a draft law on 

e-money institutions 

(CON/2004/25) 

1. 

On 18 June 2004 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Estonian Ministry 

of Finance for an opinion on a draft law amending the Credit Institutions Act and the Commercial 

Code and a draft law on e-money institutions (hereinafter the ‘draft laws’). 

2. 

The  ECB’s  competence  to  deliver  an  opinion  is  based  on  the  second,  fifth  and  sixth  indents  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  laws 

contain  provisions  concerning  means  of  payment,  payment  and  settlement  systems  and  rules 

applicable  to  financial  institutions  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. 

3. 

The ECB notes that the draft law amending the Credit Institutions Act and the Commercial Code 

will  transpose  the  following  Community  directives  into  Estonian  law:  the  Seventh  Council 

Directive 83/349/EEC of 13 June 1983 based on the Article 54(3)(g) of the Treaty on consolidated 
accounts2,  as  far  as  credit 

institutions  are  concerned;  Council  Directive  93/6/EEC  of 
institutions3; 

investment  firms  and  credit 

the  capital  adequacy  of 

15 March 1993  on 

Directive 2000/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 March 2000 relating to 
the  taking  up  and  pursuit of  the  business  of  credit  institutions4;  and  Directive  2001/24/EC of  the 

European Parliament and of the Council of 4 April 2001 on the reorganisation and winding up of 
credit  institutions5.  Further,  the  draft  law  on  e-money  institutions  will  transpose  the  following 

Community directives into Estonian law: Directive 2000/28/EC of the European Parliament and of 

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2  
3  
4  
5  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
OJ L 193, 18.7.1983, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 2003/51/EC (OJ L 178, 17.7.2003, p. 16). 
OJ L 141, 11.6.1993, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 2004/39/EC (OJ L 145, 30.4.2004, p. 1). 
OJ L 126, 26.5.2000, p. 5. Directive as last amended by Directive 2004/39/EC (OJ L 145, 30.4.2004, p. 1). 
OJ L 125, 5.5.2001, p. 15. 

 
 
 
                                                      
the  Council of  18  September  2000  amending  Directive  2000/12/EC  relating  to  the  taking up  and 
pursuit of the business of credit institutions6 and Directive 2000/46/EC of the European Parliament 

and of the Council of 18 September 2000 on the taking up, pursuit of and prudential supervision of 
the business of electronic money institutions7. 

4. 

Pursuant to Article 1(2) of Decision 98/415/EC, Member States do not have to consult the ECB on 

the  transposition  of  Community  directives  into  national  law.  On  this  occasion  therefore,  the 

Estonian  Ministry  of  Finance  was  not  legally  obliged  to  consult  the  ECB  formally  regarding  the 

draft  laws.  While  the  ECB  notes  that  the  competent  authority  for  verifying  the  transposition  of 

Community  directives  into  national  law  is  the  Commission,  the  ECB  nevertheless  welcomes  the 

opportunity to deliver its opinion on the draft laws in as far they fall under one or more of its fields 

of competence. 

5. 

The ECB supports the transposition of the Community directives listed above into Estonian law, as 

this will enhance the existing supervisory framework in Estonia. However, the ECB would like to 

draw attention to the following specific issue in relation to the draft law on e-money institutions. 

Directive  2000/12/EC  defines  e-money  institutions  as  ‘credit  institutions’.  In  Estonia,  credit 

institutions  are,  as  a  rule,  regulated  by  Eesti  Pank  which  issues  decrees  and  adopts  regulations, 

while  it  is  the  Estonian  Minister  of  Finance  who  regulates  the  rest  of  the  financial  sector. 

Articles 37(8), 39(4), 44(5) and 45(2) of the draft law on e-money institutions, which provide for 

the  Minister  of  Finance  to  adopt  regulations  in  relation  to  e-money institutions,  are  therefore  not 

coherent  with  this  principle.  The  existence  of  separate  regulatory  authorities  creates  a  risk  of 

applying  different  regulations  on  the  same  subject  to  credit  institutions,  which  could  undermine 

financial stability and payment systems in Estonia.  

6. 

The ECB would furthermore like to draw attention to the fact that central banks’ traditional focus 

on  systemic  risk,  together  with  their  knowledge  of  money  and  securities  markets  and  market 

infrastructures and their function in the oversight of payment and settlement systems, place them in 

a unique position to identify threats to the stability of the financial system. In this context, given 

that e-money is a means of payment and that ensuring financial stability is one of the tasks Eesti 

Pank  has  to  perform  under  Article  2(4)  of  the  Eesti  Pank  Act,  and  taking  into  account  that 

Article 65 of the Government of the Republic Act does not provide for the Ministry of Finance to 

have the power to adopt regulations in relation to credit institutions, the power to adopt regulations 

in relation to e-money institutions should now be entrusted to Eesti Pank alone. 

6  
7 

OJ L 275, 27.10.2000, p. 37. 
OJ L 275, 27.10.2000, p. 39. 

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7. 

The  ECB  confirms  that  it  has  no  objection  to  the  competent  national  authorities  making  this 

opinion publicly available at their discretion. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 30 July 2004. 

[ signed ] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

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