Opinion of the European Central Bank of 3 June 2011 on new legislation on the credit register (CON/2011/47)
Date: 2011-06-03
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Latvia, credit, financial institution, financial risk, financial stability, financial supervision, national law

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 3 June 2011 

on new legislation on the credit register  

(CON/2011/47) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  6  April  2011,  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  Latvijas  Banka  for  an 

opinion on a draft law on the credit register (hereinafter the ‘draft law’).  

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 law relates to Latvijas Banka. 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 main purpose of the draft law is to contribute to financial stability by providing credit institutions and 

other financial institutions with additional possibilities to assess the creditworthiness of their existing and 

potential customers. The draft law consolidates the regulatory framework of the credit register which is 
currently  contained  in  the  Law  on  credit  institutions2,  the  Law  on  insurance  companies  and  their 
supervision3  and  the  Law  on  credit  unions4.  In  addition,  it  eliminates  inconsistencies  and  provides 

additional regulation. The draft law will also provide the national supervisory authority, the Financial and 

Capital Markets Commission (FCMC), with additional powers to obtain data necessary for the fulfilment 

of its supervisory tasks and Latvijas Banka with data necessary for financial statistics and macroeconomic 

analysis.  The  draft  law  retains  Latvijas  Banka’s  task  of  maintaining  the  credit  register  and  providing 

detailed regulation necessary for the performance of this obligation. 

2.   General observations 

The  ECB  welcomes  the  draft  law.  The  consolidation  of  provisions  on  the  credit  register  currently 

contained  in  other  legal  acts  will  enhance  transparency  and  improve  legal  certainty.  The  draft  law  will 

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OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
Article 1061 of the Law on credit institutions. 
Article 293 of the Law on insurance companies and their supervision. 
Article 271 of the Law on credit unions. 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
ECB-PUBLIC 

serve to enhance individual financial institutions’ credit risk management, as well as risk assessment for 

the  financial  sector  as  a  whole.  The  draft  law  will  also  be  beneficial  for  the  exercise  of  prudential 

supervision  by  the  FCMC,  as  well  as  Latvijas  Banka’s  task  of  monitoring  financial  market 
developments5.  

3.  

Specific observations 

3.1  The  ECB  fully  welcomes  the  aim  of  the  draft  law  to  contribute  to  financial  stability  (a)  by 

providing the FCMC with additional powers to obtain information required for the supervision of 

the financial and capital market participants, (b) by allowing Latvijas Banka to use credit register 

data for statistical purposes, and (c) by enabling both institutions to obtain data for macroeconomic 
analysis6.  

3.2  The ECB notes that under Article 3 of the draft law, Latvijas Banka will continue to maintain the 

credit  register,  own  its  technical  facilities  and  be  in  charge  of  its  development  and  security.  As 

regards the financing of such tasks performed by Latvijas Banka, the ECB refers to the principle of 

financial independence under which a national central bank must have sufficient means not only to 

perform its ESCB-related tasks, but also its national tasks, e.g. financing its administration and own 
operations7.  The  ECB  considers  that  the  draft  legislation  does  not  raise  concerns  in  this  respect, 

since it authorises Latvijas Banka to charge a fee for the use of the register to cover the costs related 
to its maintenance8. 

3.3  The  ECB  welcomes  the  provisions  of  the  draft  law  authorising  Latvijas  Banka  to  provide  data 

included  in  the  register  to  Latvian  and  foreign  authorities,  subject  to  legislative  provisions  on 
prudential supervision and national statistics9.  

3.4  The ECB understands that Latvijas Banka has retained its powers to provide detailed regulation on 

the  content  of  data  to  be  included  and  provided  from  the  register  as  well  as  the  procedure  for 
submitting  and  receiving  data10.  Furthermore,  the  ECB  understands  that  regulation  already  in 
force11 will be amended to reflect the changes introduced by the draft law. 

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This task is set out in Article 41 of the Law on Latvijas Banka. 
Article 2(1)(b), (c) and (d) of the draft law. 
See the ECB’s Convergence Report, May 2010, p. 21, and in particular Opinion CON/2011/5, paragraph 3.1.  
Article 30 of the draft law. 
Article 4(4) of the draft law. 
Articles 10, 13 and 17 of the draft law. 
Latvijas Banka’s ‘Regulation for the Credit register’. 

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ECB-PUBLIC 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 3 June 2011. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

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