Opinion of the European Central Bank of 25 March 2011 on the abolition of the task of the Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique of acting as central depositary of deeds of protest (CON/2011/28)
Date: 2011-03-25
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Belgium, central bank, decentralisation, national law, negotiable instrument

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 25 March 2011 

on the abolition of the task of the Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique of 

acting as central depositary of deeds of protest 

(CON/2011/28) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  4  March  2011,  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  the  Nationale  Bank  van 

België/Banque Nationale de Belgique (NBB), acting on behalf of the Belgian Ministry of Justice, for an 

opinion  on  a  draft  law  abolishing  the  task  of  the  Nationale  Bank  van  België/Banque  Nationale  de 

Belgique of acting as central depositary of deeds of protests and amending various provisions concerning 

deeds of protests (hereinafter the ‘draft law’) and a draft royal decree abolishing the task of the Nationale 

Bank van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique of acting as central depositary of deeds of protests and 

amending various provisions concerning deeds of protests (hereinafter the ‘draft royal decree’) (the draft 

law and the draft royal decree are hereinafter collectively referred to as the ‘draft legislation’).  

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 legislation relates to the NBB. 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 legislation 

1.1  The  draft  legislation  will  abolish2  non  European  System  of  Central  Banks  related  tasks  currently 

entrusted  to  the  NBB  which  concern:  (a)  the  centralised  processing  of  bills  of  exchange  and 
promissory  notes3,  and  (b)  the  NBB’s  ancillary  task  of  acting  as  central  depositary  of  deeds  of 

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3  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
See in particular Articles 8 to 11 of the draft law and Articles 1 to 7 of the draft royal decree. 
This system allows for eliminating the material transfer of all bills of exchange and promissory notes indicating a bank 
account  opened  in  the  books  of  a  credit  institution  established  in  Belgium,  notably  by  providing  for  their  centralised 
presentation for payment at the Centre for Exchange and Clearing managed by the NBB (see in particular Article 1 of the 
Royal Decree of 16 July 1957 implementing Article 38, second subparagraph, and Article 42 of the Coordinated Law on 
bills of exchange and promissory notes). In this context, a framework agreement was concluded between the NBB and 
the Belgian banking sector, which is to expire in 2011.  

 
 
 
 
                                                 
protest4. The processing of bills of exchange and promissory notes will in the future be done in a 
decentralised manner5. The rules governing the instruments themselves will not be affected.  

1.2  The rationale behind the draft legislation is to be found essentially in: (a) the steady decline in the 

use of bills of exchange and promissory notes and, hence, of protests, (b) the costs that would need 

to be invested to modernise the IT system currently used for the centralised processing, and (c) the 

fact that, from a general point of view, the Belgian banking sector tends to discourage the use of 
payment instruments such as paper-based cheques, bills of exchange and promissory notes6.  

2.   General observation 

The  ECB  has  no  objection  to  the  draft  legislation.  The  ECB  observes  that,  as  pointed  out  in  the 

explanatory  memorandum,  the  decision  not  to  encourage  the  use  of  paper-based  bills  of  exchange  and 

promissory notes is in line with the European Commission’s position in favour of a gradual repositioning 
of paper-based payment instruments and their replacement by more efficient electronic payments7.  

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 25 March 2011. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

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5  

6  
7  

In case of non-payment of a bill of exchange or promissory note payable at the Center for Exchange and Clearing, the 
NBB is also the authority with which the bailiffs draw up the deed of protest (Article 2 of the Law of 3 June 1997 on 
protests  and  Article  2  of  the  implementing  Royal  Decree  of  15  September  1997),  and  which  subsequently  makes  data 
available to the relevant parties (Articles 4 and 9 of the Law of 3 June 1997). As central depositary, the NBB keeps the 
deed of protest or the certified copies thereof (Article 4 and 8 of the Law of 3 June 1997). 
See  Article  13  of  the  draft  law,  under  which  the  bailiffs  who  draw  up  the  deeds  of  protests  will  be  required  to  send 
certified copies thereof to the competent Commercial Court. 
See the explanatory memorandum to the draft law, pp. 1 and 2. 
See  for  instance  the  Commission’s  Consultative  paper  on  SEPA  Incentives,  13  February  2006,  available  at 
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/payments/docs/sepa/sepa-2006_02_13_en.pdf.  

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