Opinion of the European Central Bank of 5 October 2012 on new credit register measures in Ireland (CON/2012/74)
Date: 2012-10-05
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Ireland, central bank, credit, data collection, debt, disclosure of information, financial stability, national law

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 5 October 2012  

on new credit register measures in Ireland 

(CON/2012/74) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 24 August 2012, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Irish Department of 

Finance for an opinion on a General Scheme of Credit Reporting Bill 2012. 

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  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 General Scheme relates to the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) 

and contains 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 General Scheme  

The General Scheme is intended to form the basis of the Credit Reporting Bill 2012. The publication of 

the Credit Reporting Bill by the Irish Department of Finance by the end of September 2012 is a structural 

benchmark  commitment  of  the  Irish  Government  under  the  EU/IMF  Programme  for  Ireland.  The 

objective  of  the  General  Scheme  is  to  establish  a  comprehensive  and  reliable  registry  of  credit 

information to assist in achieving public policy objectives and improving financial stability by providing 

information  for  credit  applications  and  on  outstanding  credits.  The  General  Scheme  provides  for  the 

establishment  and  operation  of  a  statutory  credit  register  database  called  the  Central  Credit  Register 

(CCR). Credit Information Providers (CIPs) will be under an obligation to report to the CCR operator on 

a comprehensive range of credit information in respect of credit information subjects (CISs) for all credit 

applications  and  credit  agreements  in  excess  of  a  prescribed  minimum  threshold.  Access  to  credit 

information held in the CCR will be limited to specific purposes and restricted to CIPs and individuals 

entered on a register of credit information users (CIUs) to be maintained by the CBI. The General Scheme 

contains extensive provisions in relation to the accuracy, protection and security of data on the CCR. 

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                      
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2. 

General observations 

2.1 

The  General  Scheme  will  improve  financial  institutions’  credit  risk  management,  as  well  as  risk 

assessment  for  the  financial  sector  as  a  whole.  It  will  also  be  beneficial  for  the  exercise  of 

prudential supervision by the CBI, as well as for the CBI’s tasks of: 

(i) 

providing for the collection and study of data dealing with monetary and credit problems and 

publishing information about that data;  

(ii) 

collecting  data  to  provide  advice  and  assistance  to  the  Central  Statistics  Office  about  the 

collection,  compilation,  analysis  and  interpretation  of  statistics  relating  to  the  balance  of 

payments, national accounts and other financial statistics;  

(iii) contributing to the stability of the financial system overall. 

2.2 

The ECB notes that some draft heads2 have not been finalised. In addition, the ECB understands 

that  the  General  Scheme  remains  subject  to  further  review,  including  by  the  Irish  Attorney 

General, meaning that the General Scheme may contain significant changes when its provisions are 

reflected in the Credit Reporting Bill. If this occurs, the ECB expects prompt consultation on the 

Credit Reporting Bill once it is published. 

2.3  According to the General Scheme, the CBI is required to maintain a database of debtors containing 

information relating to their identity, payments and credit history, which is available to the CIUs. 

Further, the CBI is to collect and record credit information on CISs in the CCR. The definition of 

‘debtor’  includes  individuals  and  businesses  with  financial  obligations  to  creditors  under 
agreements within Ireland3. A CIS is defined as a person or entity to which the credit information 

collected by a CIP relates. The ECB recommends consistent use of defined terms to ensure clarity 

and transparency. It would also be useful to further clarify whether the terms ‘debtor’ and ‘creditor’ 

include natural or legal persons with residency or registration outside Ireland respectively. 

In addition, the General Scheme contains an extensive list of the types of credit information that the 

CBI  may  collect  and  record  for  the  CCR.  It  also  sets  out  the  types  of  identification  information 

which the CBI is authorised to collect in respect of: 

(i) 

any CIS who is a natural person acting outside his or her business, trade or employment; 

(ii)   any CIS who is not such a natural person. 

CIPs  must  report  on  the  on-going  performance  status  of  credit  agreements,  any  rescheduling  of 

credit agreements, arrears accumulation, default events and all relevant credit events in accordance 

with regulations made under the General Scheme. The ECB assumes that the CCR is intended to 

capture  information  about  the  credit  histories  and  borrowings  of  both  commercial  and  individual 

debtors.  The  ECB  recommends  reviewing  the  definition  of  ‘default  event’,  the  content  of  credit 

2  
3  

For example, draft heads 30 and 33. 
This  includes,  but  is  not  limited  to,  individuals,  sole  traders,  partnerships,  companies,  branches,  limited  liability 
partnerships, trusts, charities and friendly societies (see the definition of ‘debtors’  under draft head 2 for the complete 
list). 

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information  and  the  identification  fields  to  ensure  that  all  necessary  information  relating  to  all 

envisaged categories of debtor is in fact captured, to guarantee the functionality of the CCR. 

3. 

Central bank statutory powers and obligations 

The ECB welcomes the provision of the General Scheme allowing the CBI to use the information stored 

in the CCR for the purpose of discharging its statutory powers and functions. The ECB welcomes that the 

General Scheme will allow the CBI to access this information for an indefinite period once the prescribed 
periods for retention of the CCR data set out in the General Scheme expire.. This will provide the CBI 

with  indefinite  access  to  data  for  the  purposes  of  its  mandate  and  statutory  obligations,  including  those 

related  to  membership  of  the  European  System  of  Central  Banks  (ESCB),  the  Eurosystem,  macro-  and 

micro- prudential supervision and consumer protection. 

4. 

Central bank independence 

The  CBI  will  establish,  operate  and  own  the  CCR  and  its  contents,  with  the  possibility  of  outsourcing 

operations. It will also manage access to the CCR by authorised bodies. The General Scheme authorises 

the CBI to charge levies and fees to CIUs. The specific levels and methods of calculating these levies and 

fees may be prescribed by regulations to be made by the CBI with the consent of the Minister for Finance. 

The CBI may also, with the consent of the Minister, charge CIUs and CISs a fee for providing a record of 

all credit reports requested or issued on a particular CIS for a period of up to five years.  

It is not clear whether all CBI expenses in connection with the establishment, operation and maintenance 

of  the  CCR  will  be  financed  by  the  levies  and  fees.  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 operations4. As 
pointed out in previous ECB opinions5, when allocating specific non-ESCB related tasks to the national 

central  banks  (NCBs),  e.g.  tasks  in  the  area  of  financial  supervision  or  consumer  protection,  additional 

human and financial resources  must also be allocated for these tasks to be carried out in a manner that 

will not affect the NCBs’ operational capacity to perform their ESCB-related tasks. 

5. 

Access to the CCR and statistical reporting 

5.1  The  General  Scheme  provides  that  the CBI  will  maintain  a  register  of  CIUs  authorised  to access 

credit  information  held  on  the  CCR,  namely  the  CBI,  credit  providers,  CISs  and  their  authorised 

representatives. The ECB notes that the register of CIUs may be amended to include: 

4  

5  

See the ECB’s Convergence Report, May 2012, p. 25, and in particular Opinion CON/2011/20, paragraph 3.1, Opinion 
CON/2011/47,  paragraph  3.2  and  Opinion  CON/2011/69,  paragraph  3.  All  ECB  opinions  are  available  on  the  ECB’s 
website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
See, for example, Opinion CON/2007/8, paragraph 3, Opinion CON/2011/76, paragraph 3.3  or Opinion CON/2012/52, 
paragraph 2.3. 

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(i)  

on direction by the Minister, any State body that requests from the CBI credit information on 
the CCR for the purpose of advancing the public good6; 

(ii)   creditors  from  other  Member  States  seeking  information  in  accordance  with  Ireland’s 

obligations under Article 9 of Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the 

Council  of  23  April  2008  on  credit  agreements  for  consumers  and  repealing  Council 
Directive 87/102/EEC7; 

(iii)   with the consent of the Minister, any other State-owned credit register that meets sufficient 

data security standards, and where the CBI is satisfied that all data will be treated securely 

and that it will not be passed on to a third party without explicit agreement of the CBI. The 

ECB  would  welcome  clarification  in  the  General  Scheme  of  who  may  access  the  credit 

information on the CCR. A reference to the tasks performed by the ESCB under Article 5 of 

the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank may 

be  added.  This  also  applies  to  accessing  credit  reports  and  credit  scores  that  the  CCR 

compiles. These reports and scores should be clearly stated as constituting credit information 

that  may  be  accessed  by CIUs.  Further,  draft  head  13(8)  on  the  CIU  register  provides  that 

‘the register of credit information may be amended to include creditors from other Member 

States  seeking  information.’  The  ECB  considers  that  creditors  from  other  Member  States 

should  not  be  excluded  from  the  outset,  provided  they  meet  the  non-discriminatory  access 

conditions,  e.g.  data  protection  rules.  The  ECB  considers  that  these  amendments  would 

contribute to open, transparent and non- discriminatory access to the CCR. 

5.2  According to draft head 10, paragraph 1, the CBI lists a minimum set of attributes to be collected 

and  recorded  in  respect  of  each  credit  information  subject,  while  paragraph  2  provides  the 

flexibility  for  the  CBI  to  expand  this  set  for  a  specific  credit  provider  for  various  purposes.  The 

ECB  would  welcome  if  the  General  Scheme  could  also  provide  such  flexibility  for  updating  the 

overall CCR content, in particular when international or European standards require it, possibly via 

a regulation. 

5.3  According to draft head 11(2), the CBI lists a number of attributes to be collected as regards the 

identification  of  entities,  including  the  company  and  the  VAT  registration  numbers.  The  ECB 

would  recommend  also  including  a  reference  to  the  necessity  of  identifying  legal  persons  in 

compliance  with  international  or  European  standards,  facilitating  cross-border  access  and  use, 

provided that confidentiality is appropriately protected. 

6. 

Compatibility of registers 

The  CBI  will  have  the  power  to  collect  and  record  credit  information  in  respect  of  CISs,  including 

registered  insolvency  information,  namely,  registered  (i)  Debt  Relief  Certificates;  (ii)  Debt  Settlement 

6  
7   

The State body concerned must submit to the Minister a justified request (draft head 13, paragraph 5). 
OJ L 133, 22.5.2008, p. 66. 

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Arrangements;  (iii)  Personal  Insolvency  Arrangements  registered  in  accordance  with  the  Personal 
Insolvency Act 20128. The ECB recommends requiring the Insolvency Service to provide the registered 

insolvency  information  to  the  CBI  for  inclusion  on  the  CCR.  In  addition,  this  registered  insolvency 

information,  as  well  as  any  information  from  other  registers  to  be  included  on  the  CCR,  should  be 

provided in a manner consistent with the format and scope of the CCR, to ensure a level of consistency 

and compatibility across these registers. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 5 October 2012. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI 

8  

The draft Personal Insolvency Bill 2012 is currently being debated in the committee stage in the Irish parliament.. The 
ECB  understands  that  the  Insolvency  Service  will  be  responsible  under  the  Personal  Insolvency  Act  2012  for  the 
establishment and maintenance of these insolvency registers.  

5