Opinion of the European Central Bank of 15 September 2011 on the categories of intermediaries authorised to maintain accounts for dematerialised securities denominated in foreign currency or units of account (CON/2011/71)
Date: 2011-09-15
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Belgium, financial stability, foreign currency, international payment, national law, public debt, securities

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 15 September 2011 

on the categories of intermediaries authorised to maintain accounts for dematerialised securities 

denominated in foreign currency or units of account 

(CON/2011/71) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 15 August 2011, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Belgian Ministry of 

Finance for an opinion on a draft royal decree amending the Royal Decree of 14 June 1994 laying down 

the rules for maintaining accounts for dematerialised securities denominated in foreign currency or units 

of account (hereinafter the ‘draft royal decree’).  

The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Article 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 

Functioning of the European Union and the fifth 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 concerns 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 royal decree 

1.1  The  draft  royal  decree  aims  to  improve  the  marketability  of  dematerialised  Belgian  public  debt 
securities  denominated  in  foreign  currency  or  units  of  account2  by  increasing  the  number  of 
intermediaries authorised to maintain accounts for such securities3. These securities are held in the 

securities settlement system administered by the Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de 
Belgique (NBB), the NBB-SSS4. The two new categories of intermediaries that will be authorised 

1  
2  

3  

4  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
These  public  debt  securities  are  mainly  governed  by:  (a)  the  Law  of  2  January  1991  on  the  market  for  public  debt 
securities  and  on  monetary  policy  instruments;  and  (b)  the  Royal  Decree  of  14  June  1994  laying  down  the  rules  for 
maintaining accounts for dematerialised securities denominated in foreign currency or units of account.  
Currently,  these  intermediaries  are  the  following  NBB-SSS  participants:  (a)  the  NBB;  (b)  Clearstream  Banking  and 
Euroclear France; (c) Euroclear Bank; and (d) the participant who is either the issuer, or the paying agent designated in 
the issuing agreement (Article 1 §2 of the Royal Decree of 14 June 1994).  
See Article 4 of the Law of 2 January 1991 which designates the NBB as the settlement institution entrusted with holding 
dematerialised Belgian public debt securities and the settlement of transactions therein.  

 
 
 
 
                                                 
ECB-PUBLIC 

to  maintain  accounts  for  these  securities5  were  selected  for  their  ability  to  process  cash  flows  in 
foreign currency or in units of account6.  

1.2 

In addition, the concept of ‘foreign currencies’ defining the scope of the Royal Decree of 14 June 

1994  will  cover  the  ‘foreign  currencies  for  which  the  ECB  publishes  daily  foreign  exchange 
reference rates’7, instead of referring to the monetary units of the members of the Organisation for 

Economic Co-operation and Development. These daily foreign exchange reference rates will also 
be used for calculating the euro value of the securities8. Finally, the draft royal decree will reflect in 

the Royal Decree of 14 June 1994, the abolition of the principle of ‘direct and single access’ to the 
NBB-SSS that entered into force in 2006 already9. 

2.   General observations 

The ECB welcomes the draft royal decree as it will allow for a much wider range of financial institutions 

participating  in  NBB-SSS  to  maintain  accounts  for  dematerialised  Belgian  public  debt  securities 

denominated  in  foreign  currency  or  units  of  account.  In  June  2011,  a  TARGET2-Securities  (T2S) 

taskforce had indeed already indicated that the restricted categories of NBB-SSS participants authorised 
to  maintain  accounts  for  such  securities  were  obstacles  to  smooth  cross-CSD  settlement  in  T2S10.  In 

addition, this development is in line with the recommendation issued by the European System of Central 

Banks  (ESCB)  and  the  Committee  of  European  Securities  Regulators  (CESR)  concerning  access 
(recommendation 14)11, which states that rules and requirements restricting access to securities settlement 

systems should be aimed solely at controlling risk. 

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

5  

6  
7  
8  
9  

10  

11  

The two following categories of NBB-SSS participants will be added: (a) securities settlement institutions, as defined in 
Article 2 of the Law of 2 August 2002 on the supervision of the financial sector and on financial services; and (b) paying 
agents  responsible  for  the  servicing  of  an  on-going  issue  of  securities  with  NBB-SSS  (new  Article  1  §2  of  the  Royal 
Decree of 14 June 1994, amended by Article 1 of the draft royal decree).  
Fourth recital to the draft royal decree. 
New Article 1 §3 of the Royal Decree of 14 June 1994, amended by Article 1, 3° of the draft royal decree. 
New Article 3, 1° of the Royal Decree of 14 June 1994, amended by Article 2 of the draft royal decree. 
The  requirement  in  the  Law  of  2  January  1991,  that  authorised  intermediaries  maintain  dematerialised  public  debt 
securities only and/or directly on accounts held with the NBB’s settlement system or with a participant in that system (i.e. 
the  principle  of  ‘direct  and  single  access’)  was  repealed  by  Article  19  of  the  Law  of  15  December  2004  relating  to 
financial collateral and various tax provisions in relation to in rem collateral arrangements and loans relating to financial 
instruments.  This  allowed  for  the  establishment  of  a  multi-tiered  system  of  indirectly  held  dematerialised  public  debt 
securities (see Opinion CON/2004/27, paragraph 15). 
See  section  2.8.2  of  the  June  2011  Issue  List  for  Task Force  on  smooth  cross-CSD  settlement,  available  on  the ECB’s 
website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
See the ESCB-CESR Recommendations for securities settlement systems and recommendations for central counterparties 
in the European Union (2009), available on the ECB website at www.ecb.europa.eu.  

2 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
ECB-PUBLIC 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 15 September 2011. 

[signed] 

The Vice-President of the ECB 

Vítor CONSTÂNCIO 

3