Opinion of the European Central Bank of 30 November 2016 on the reimbursement of the costs for the operation of the central credit register and the register of bank accounts (CON/2016/57)
Date: 2016-11-30
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Bulgaria, access to information, account, bank, credit, information system, national law

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 30 November 2016  

on the reimbursement of the costs for the operation of the central credit register and the register 

of bank accounts 

(CON/2016/57) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  3 November  2016  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  Българска  народна 

банка  (Bulgarian  National  Bank  (BNB)),  following  correspondence  exchanged  between  BNB  and  the 

Minister of Finance, for an opinion on  a draft law on the 2017 State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria 

(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/EC1, as 

the  draft  law  relates  to  BNB.  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 proposes, inter alia, to amend the Law on credit institutions, so that BNB defines the 

methodology for the calculation of the fees for access to the two information systems operated by 

BNB: the central credit register and the register of bank accounts. The expenditures of the relevant 

state bodies and judicial authorities in respect of their access to the two registers shall be incurred 

by  the  state  budget  and  their  payment  to  BNB  shall  be  arranged  by  means  of  an  agreement 

between  BNB  and  the  Ministry  of  Finance.  The  purpose  of  the  proposed  amendments  is  to 

overcome  the  drawbacks  of  the  currently  established  decentralised  payment  of  costs  by  the 

relevant public and judicial authorities, which could hamper both the planning and accounting of the 

budget expenses of these authorities and the payment of the expenditures. 

1.2 

In  addition,  the  draft  law  envisages  that  credit  institutions  and  branches  of  credit  institutions 

operating in Bulgaria shall have access to the register of bank accounts, in order to establish the 

existence of clients’ payment accounts that have basic features, as well as to receive relevant data 

for the purposes of assessing the creditworthiness of individuals. It is suggested by BNB that the 

inclusion  of  credit  institutions  as  users  of  information  from  the  register  of  bank  accounts  aims  to 

ensure that costs in relation to the operation of the register are predominantly covered from private 

sources. 

1  

Council  Decision  98/415/EC  of  29 June  1998  on  the  consultation  of  the  European  Central  Bank  by  national 
authorities regarding draft legislative provisions (OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42). 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
ECB-PUBLIC 

2. 

Specific observations 

2.1  The ECB has had the opportunity to comment on the arrangements for the reimbursement of the 

costs that BNB would incur in setting up and operating the central credit register and the register of 
bank accounts2.  

2.2  The  principle  of  financial  independence  of  European  System  of  Central  Banks  (ESCB)  members 

requires  that  the Member States  do not  put their NCBs  in a position  where they  have  insufficient 

financial resources to carry out not only their ESCB related tasks, but also their national tasks, both 
from an operational and financial perspective3. The ECB has noted that, in this regard and in order 

to comply with the prohibition of monetary financing under Article 123 of the Treaty, it needs to be 

ensured  that  BNB  will  be  fully  and  adequately  reimbursed  for  all  costs  incurred  in  performing 

activities related to the tasks entrusted to it in connection with the setting up and operation of the 
two registers4.  

2.3  The  draft  law  aims  to  replace  the  current  arrangement  for  the  decentralised  payment  of  a  fee 

charged  by  BNB  with  an  overarching  framework  agreement  between  BNB  and  the  Ministry  of 

Finance. The ECB underlines that this agreement should ensure that the reimbursement of BNB for 

the  incurred  costs  is  made  on  the  basis  of  ‘arm’s  length’  commercial  terms,  either  in  advance  of 

costs  being  incurred  or  on  a  regular  and  prompt  basis  as  the  costs  arise.  The  ECB  would 

appreciate receiving a copy of the draft agreement between BNB and the Ministry of Finance prior 

to its entry into effect and execution. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 30 November  2016. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI 

2  

3  
4  

See  Opinions  CON/2015/46  and  CON/2016/19.  All  ECB  opinions  are  published  on  the  ECB’s  website  at 
www.ecb.europa.eu. 
See paragraph 3.1.2 of Opinion CON/2015/46. 

See paragraph 3.1.6 of Opinion CON/2015/46 and paragraph 3.2.1 of Opinion CON/2016/19. 

2