Opinion of the European Central Bank of 11 February 2008 at the request of Banca Naţională a României on two draft emergency ordinances amending Law No 58/1934 on bills of exchange and promissory notes and Law No 59/1934 on cheques (CON/2008/7)
Date: 2008-02-11
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Romania, cheque, national law, negotiable instrument, payment system

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 11 February 2008 

at the request of Banca Naţională a României 

on two draft emergency ordinances amending Law No 58/1934 on bills of exchange and 

promissory notes and Law No 59/1934 on cheques 

(CON/2008/7) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  13  December  2007  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  Banca  Naţională  a 

României  (BNR)  for  an  opinion  on  two  draft  emergency  ordinances  (hereinafter  the  ‘draft  emergency 

ordinances’) amending Law No 58/1934 on bills of exchange and promissory notes and Law No 59/1934 

on cheques, respectively. 

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

European Community and the second and fifth 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 emergency ordinances relate to means of payment, and to payment and 

settlement systems. 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 emergency ordinances 

In contrast to credit payment instruments, which may already be electronically processed under Romanian 

law, manual processing of paper-based debit payment instruments such as cheques, bills of exchange and 

promissory notes is currently the only permitted option. The main purpose of the proposed amendments 

introduced  by  the  draft  emergency  ordinances  is  therefore  to  allow  the  electronic  processing  and 

presentment for payment of such debit payment instruments as an alternative to their manual processing. 

In detail, the objectives of the draft emergency ordinances are as follows: (i) to regulate truncation; (ii) to 

define the concept of signature on cheques, bills of exchange and promissory notes more clearly; (iii) to 

eliminate  post-dated  cheques,  the  allonge  and  data/references  to  data  on  the  back  of  cheques,  bills  of 

exchange and promissory notes; and (iv) to introduce a single period for presenting a cheque for payment, 

regardless of whether it is payable in the city where it was issued. 

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
2. 

General observations 

The ECB welcomes the amendments proposed in the draft emergency ordinances, which will implement 

an automated processing solution for cheques, bills of exchange and promissory notes in Romania. The 

use  of  truncation  and  electronic  presentment  for  payment  can  increase  efficiency  in  the  clearing  and 

settlement of such debit payment instruments.  

3. 

Secondary legislation 

The draft emergency ordinances state that BNR will issue secondary legislation to implement them. Once 

such  secondary  legislation  has  been  drafted,  BNR  should  consider  whether  it  would  be  appropriate  to 

submit it to the ECB for consultation. As the ECB has previously stated in this regard ‘an opinion should 

only be sought from the ECB on such draft secondary legislation if the subject matter is closely related to 

the ECB’s tasks and if the impact on areas within the ECB’s fields of competence is different from that 
resulting from the primary legislation itself’2.  

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 11 February 2008. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

2  

See the Guide to consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions, 
p.  14.  Also  paragraph  2.5  of  ECB  Opinion  CON/2007/27  of  21  September  2007  at  the  request  of  Banca  Naţională  a 
României on a draft regulation on oversight of payment systems, securities settlement systems and payment instruments. 
Both available on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.int. 

2