Opinion of the European Central Bank of 2 August 2007 at the request of Banca Naţională a României on a draft law on non-banking financial institutions (CON/2007/23)
Date: 2007-08-02
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Romania, central bank, financial stability, financial supervision, money laundering, national law, terrorism financing

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 2 August 2007  

at the request of Banca Naţională a României 

on a draft law on non-banking financial institutions 

(CON/2007/23) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 16 July 2007 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Banca Naţională a României 

for an opinion on a draft law on non-banking financial institutions (hereinafter ‘draft law’). 

The  ECB’s  competence  to  deliver  an  opinion  is  based  on  Article  105(4)  of  the  Treaty  establishing  the 

European Community and on 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  Central  Bank  by  national  authorities  regarding  draft 
legislative provisions1, as the draft law relates to national central banks 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. 

1.   Purpose of the draft law 

The  draft  law  clarifies  and  adapts  the  legal  framework  for  non-banking  financial  institutions, 

harmonising  it  with  the  new  legislation  on  credit  institutions  and  capital  adequacy,  and  on 

commercial companies in Romania. At the same time, it anticipates the expansion of the regulatory 

and supervisory powers of Banca Naţională a României over non-banking financial institutions in 

the area of money laundering and terrorist financing in the context of the future implementation of 

Directive  2005/60/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  26  October  2005  on  the 

prevention  of  the  use  of  the  financial  system  for  the  purpose  of  money  laundering  and  terrorist 
financing2 in Romania.  

2. 

Extension of regulatory and supervisory powers of Banca Naţională a României in the area of 

money laundering and terrorist financing 

2.1  The  ECB  takes  note  of  the  changes  in  the  legislative  framework  for  non-banking  financial 

institutions and underlines that ‘Member States  may not put their NCBs in a position where they 

1  
2  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
OJ L 309, 25.11.2005, p. 15.  

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
have  insufficient  financial  resources  to  carry  out  their  ESCB-  or  Eurosystem-related  tasks,  as 
applicable’3. Therefore, the ECB expects that when extending Banca Naţională a României’s tasks, 

care will be taken to ensure that it has sufficient financial and personnel resources both in terms of 

quantity and quality to carry out all its tasks, and in particular that its capacity to carry out ESCB-
related  tasks  will  not  be  affected4.  It  should  be  kept  in  mind  that  such  sufficient  and  skilled 

resources  will,  at  a  later  stage,  be  assessed  in  the  framework  of  the  Mutual  Evaluation  Report 

reviewing Member States’ compliance with Financial Action Task Force Standards.  

This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.  

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 2 August 2007. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

3  
4 

See e.g. ECB’s Convergence Report 2007, p. 19, available on www.ecb.int.  
See  paragraph  3.2  of  ECB  Opinion  CON/2007/17  of  18  June  2007  at  the  request  of  the  Italian  Ministry  of  Economic 
Affairs  and  Finance  on  a  draft  law  on  the  regulation  and  supervision  of  markets  and  the  functioning  of  the  competent 
independent authorities.  

2