Opinion of the European Central Bank of 26 April 2013 on a consumer credit register (CON/2013/29)
Date: 2013-04-26
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: France, consumer credit, data collection, financial solvency, information system, national law

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 26 April 2013 

on a consumer credit register 

(CON/2013/29) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 5 April 2013, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Minister for Economic 

Affairs and Finance for an opinion on a draft law on consumer credit (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  the  Banque  de  France.  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 

1.1  The draft law relates to consumer credit and in particular to the setting up of a new consumer credit 

register called ‘registre national des crédits aux particuliers’ (national register of consumer credit) 

(hereinafter  the  ‘Register’)  which  will  be  managed  by  the  Banque  de  France.  It  aims  to  prevent 

natural  persons  becoming  over-indebted  and  to  supply  credit  institutions  with  information  for 

assessing  the  solvency  of  persons  applying  for  loans.  The  Register  will  record  loans  granted  to 

natural persons for non-professional purposes. Included are consumer credit agreements and loans 

for  house  purchases.  The  Register  will  also  record  repayment  incidents  linked  to  those  loans,  as 

well as information relating to situations of over-indebtedness. 

1.2  Under the draft law, credit institutions are required to record relevant information in the Register, 

and  to  consult  the  Register  before  granting  loans.  Committees  on  over-indebtedness  and  court 

clerks will be obliged to report to the Banque de France information relating to situations of over-

indebtedness. 

1.3  The draft law also contains rules on maintaining and deleting the information in the Register. The 

Banque de France and credit institutions will be authorised to collect, use and keep the individual’s 

national identity number until the loan application has been refused or a unique identifier has been 

created  by  the  Banque  de  France  for  that  person.  The  Banque  de  France  will  not  be  subject  to 

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OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
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professional  confidentiality  requirements  in  respect  of  circulating  information  on  identifiable 

persons  contained  in  the  Register  to  the  credit  institutions  as  well  as  to  committees  on  over-

indebtedness and court clerks. It shall be a criminal offence for the Banque de France, the credit 

institutions, the committees on over-indebtedness and court clerks to provide to anyone information 

contained  in  the  Register.  Exceptions  to  this  rule  are  cases  where  information  is  provided  to 
interested  parties  exercising  their  right  to  access  the  information2,  officials  from  the  Prudential 

Control Authority, the Banque de France and the National Commission on Computer Technology 

and  Freedom  and,  where  applicable,  credit  institutions  in  the  Union,  other  than  in  France,  who 

receive loan applications from individuals resident in France. 

1.4  Collection  of  the  information  contained  in  the  Register  by  any  entity  other  than  the  Banque  de 

France  and  those  specifically  referred  to  in  the  draft  law  is  punishable  by  law.  Breach  of  the 

obligation to consult the Register and to report the relevant information is also punishable by law. 

1.5  The  draft  law  also  provides  for  the  abolition  of  the  ‘fichier  national  des  incidents  de 

remboursement des crédits aux particuliers’ (national file of consumer credit repayment incidents), 

which is managed by the Banque de France and which records information on the opening of and 

dealing with over-indebtedness files, and on loan repayment incidents. Further provisions deal with 

deferred  entry  into  force  and  transitory  measures.  The  Register  must  be  operational  on  a  date 

specified by decree, and at the latest two years as from its publication. 

2. 

General observations 

The new consumer credit register will contribute to the improvement of the 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 ‘Autorité de contrôle prudentiel’. 

3. 

Prohibition of monetary financing 

In the absence of any provision on the financing of the new task entrusted to the Banque de France in the 

draft  law,  the  ECB  underlines  the  importance  of  safeguarding  compliance  with  the  prohibition  of 

monetary  financing  laid  down  in  Article  123(1)  of  the  Treaty.  The  prohibition  is  designed  to  prevent 

central banks from providing overdraft facilities or any other type of credit facility to the public sector, 

e.g. financing of the public sector’s obligations vis-à-vis third parties. The ECB notes that the new task 

entrusted  to  the  Banque  de  France  under  this  amendment  is  not  a  central  banking  task  in  the  French 

context. Rather, the ECB understands that the new task entrusted to the Banque de France is linked to a 

State task and is performed in the interests of the French State. Therefore, if the Banque de France is to be 

entrusted  with  such  a  task,  it  needs  to  be  adequately  remunerated  in  advance,  in  order  to  ensure 
compliance with the monetary financing prohibition3. 

2  
3  

Law no 78-17 of 6 January 1978. 
See  paragraph  2.1  of  ECB  Opinion  CON/2011/30.  All  ECB  opinions  are  published  on  the  ECB’s  website  at 
www.ecb.europa.eu. 

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4. 

Central bank independence 

The financing of the operation and maintenance of the Register must comply with the principle of central 

bank independence, under which a national central bank (NCB) 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 NCBs, e.g. tasks in the area of consumer protection, additional human and financial resources must 

also be allocated for these tasks so that they may be carried out in a manner that will not affect the NCBs’ 

operational capacity to perform their ESCB-related tasks. These requirements of financial independence 
would be satisfied if, as indicated by the Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance6, the costs of setting 

up and operating the Register are covered by fees and charges levied on the credit institutions concerned. 

5. 

Information contained in the Register 

5.1  The ECB notes that national central credit registers (CCRs) provide useful additional information 

to supervisory authorities on credit concentration. The information contained in CCRs supports the 

analytical  process,  allowing  early  detection  of  potentially  fragile  institutions  which  are  under 

supervision  as  set  out  in  the  Memorandum  of  Understanding  on  the  exchange  of  information 

among  national  central  credit  registers  for  the  purpose  of  passing  it  on  to  reporting  institutions 
(MoU)7. 

5.2  The draft law contains a general prohibition on the dissemination of data contained in the Register, 
and  provides for  a limited number  of  exceptions. The  ECB  recommends  that  the  exceptions8  are 

expanded  to  include  a  general  reference  to  ‘competent  authorities’  as  defined  in  Directive 
2006/48/EC relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions9, and NCBs 

operating  CCRs,  to  ensure  that  such  data  can  be  exchanged  under  the  provisions  set  out  in  the 

MoU.  This  MoU  provides  a  framework  for  the  regular  exchange  of  information  among  national 

CCRs and allows reporting institutions to obtain a more complete overview of the indebtedness of 

a borrower on a cross-border basis. 

5.3  The  ECB  considers  that  it  would  be  useful  to  differentiate  between  the  retention  of  personalised 

and depersonalised information as recommended by the World Bank in its report entitled ‘General 
Principles for Credit Reporting’10. Moreover, the ECB recommends that the information contained 

in  the  Register  should  not  be  immediately  deleted  after  full  repayment,  as  it  constitutes  positive 

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10  

See the ECB’s Convergence Report 2012, p. 25, and paragraph 2.2 of Opinion CON/2013/20. 
See, for example, paragraph 4 of Opinion CON/2012/74. 
See  the  letter  of  the  Minister  for  Economic  Affairs  and  Finance  to  the  President  of  the  ECB,  dated  3  April  2013, 
requesting the opinion of the ECB on the draft law. 
Available on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
New Article L. 333-15 of the Consumer Code. 
Directive  2006/48/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  14  June  2006  relating  to  the  taking  up  and 
pursuit of the business of credit institutions, OJ L 177, 30.6.2006, p. 1. 
See paragraphs 62 and 117 of the report, available on the World Bank’s website at http://web.worldbank.org. 

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information  on  borrowers  and  their  ability  and  willingness  to  pay  back  loans.  Such  positive 

information should be kept for a longer period than negative information. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 26 April 2013. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI 

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