Opinion of the European Central Bank of 14 December 2018 on the organisation of the functioning of the central register of bank accounts and financial transactions (CON/2018/57)
Date: 2018-12-14
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Belgium, bank deposit, exchange of information, financial transaction, information storage and retrieval, information system, overheads

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 14 December 2018 

on the organisation of the functioning of the central register of bank accounts and financial 

transactions  

(CON/2018/57) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 28 November 2018 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Belgian Ministry of 

Finance for an opinion on  a draft royal decree  organising the functioning of the  central register of bank 

accounts and financial transactions (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 1, as 

the  draft  law  contains  provisions  concerning  the  Nationale  Bank  van  België/Banque  Nationale  de 

Belgique  (NBB).  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 implements the Law of 8 July 2018 organising the central register of bank accounts 
and financial transactions (hereinafter the ‘Law of 8 July 2018’) 2. The draft law relates, in particular, 

to the exchange of information between the reporting  agents and the central register, on the  one 

hand, and between the central register and legal persons authorised to consult the register, on the 

other hand. The draft law also contains a chapter on the enforcement of data protection provisions 

as well as the implementation of administration sanctions.  

1.2  The  draft  law  also  implements  Article  10  of  the  Law  of  8  July  2018  on  the  cost  recovery 

mechanism,  which  concerns  all  costs  incurred  by  the  NBB  for  the  establishment,  operation  and 

maintenance  of  the  points  of  contact  that  ensure  access  to  the  central  register.  The  draft  law 

distinguishes between investment costs, defined as the costs incurred by the NBB for the analysis, 

development, testing and establishment of the central register in the establishment environment as 

well as any further development of the central register or the platform on which it is operated, and 

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).  

2        Loi du 8 juillet 2018 portant organisation d'un point de contact central des comptes et contrats financiers et portant 
extension de l'accès au fichier central des avis de saisie, de délégation, de cession, de règlement collectif de dettes 
et de protêt, Wet van 8 Juli 2018 houdende organisatie van een central aanspreekpunt van rekeningen en ﬁnanciële 
contracten  en  tot  uitbreiding  van  de  toegang  tot  het  centraal  bestand  van  berichten  van  beslag,  delegatie, 
overdracht, collectieve schuldenregeling en protest.  

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
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operating costs, defined as the total costs incurred by the NBB in the context of the central register, 
excluding investment costs3.  

Operating costs 

1.3  The  NBB  invoices  a  provisional  amount  corresponding  to  the  estimated  operating  costs  at  the 

beginning  of  each  quarter  following  the  date  as  of  which  the  NBB  renders  the  central  register 

accessible  to  centralising  bodies  and,  in  their  absence,  to  persons  authorised  to  receive 
information4. Invoices are issued by the NBB to each centralising body, where applicable, or to the 

person authorised to receive information, and the amount set out in the invoice is payable within 90 
calendar  days.5    The  NBB  determines  the  provisional  amounts  to  be  invoiced  by  using  a 

provisional  tariff  per  consultation  which  is  calculated  as  a  ratio  of  the  NBB’s  estimated  operating 

costs for the respective calendar year and the sum of expected consultations in the same calendar 

year. The expected consultations are estimated prudently on the basis of the estimates provided by 

each centralising body, where applicable, or by persons authorised to access information from the 
central  register6.  The  NBB  calculates  the  provisional  amounts  corresponding  to  the  estimated 

operating costs by multiplying the provisional tariff per consultation by the number of consultations 

requested  in  the  previous  quarter  on  behalf  of  a  given  centralising  body,  where  applicable,  or  by 
the persons authorised to receive information from the central register 7.  

1.4 

In  the  course  of  the  six  months  following  the  end  of  each  calendar  year,  the  NBB  calculates  the 
definitive amount corresponding to the actual operating costs for the elapsed calendar year.8 First, 

the  NBB  determines  the  definitive  tariff  per  consultation  which  is  calculated  as  the  ratio  of  the 

NBB’s  incurred  operating  costs  and  the  sum  of  the  consultations  received  in  the  same  calendar 
year. 9  Second,  the  NBB  determines  the  definitive  amounts  corresponding  to  the  actual  operating 

costs  (attributable  to  each  centralising  body  or  person  authorised  to  receive  the  information)  by 

multiplying the definitive tariff per consultation by the number of consultations actually submitted by 

each centralising body or person authorised to access information from the central register in the 
elapsed calendar year.10 Depending on whether the definitive amount corresponding to the actual 

operating  costs  is  lower  or  higher  than  the  provisional  amount  corresponding  to  the  estimated 
operating costs, the NBB draws up a credit note or issues an additional invoice 11. 

Investment costs 

1.5 

In January 2019, the NBB will invoices an amount corresponding to the initial investment costs to a 

limited number of institutions according to a predefined key,  namely, the Ministry  of Justice (17% 

share  in  the  key),  the  Ministry  of  Finance  (14%),  the  Royal  Federation  of  Notaries  (57%),  the 

3        Article 1 of the draft law.  
4        Article 21 paragraph 2 of the draft law.  
5        Articles 21 paragraph 2 and 23 sub-paragraph 2 of the draft law.  
6        Article 21 paragraph 1 of the draft law.  
7        Article 21 paragraph 2 of the draft law.  
8        Article 21 paragraph 3 of the draft law.  
9        Article 21 paragraph 3 sub-paragraph 1 of the draft law.  
10        Article 21 paragraph 3 sub-paragraph 2 of the draft law.  
11        Article 21 paragraph 3 sub-paragraph 4 of the draft law.  

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National  Chamber  of  Bailiffs  (3%)  and  the  department  for  the  treatment  of  financial  information 

(9%).  Additional  invoices  are  to  be  prepared  within  the  calendar  month  in  which  each  update  or 
expansion  of  the  content  or  features  of  the  central  register  or  its  IT  platform  is  implemented12. 
Invoices are payable within 90 calendar days 13.   

1.6  

In addition, at the beginning of each calendar year after the central register  becomes operational, 

the  Ministers  of  Justice  and  Finance  will    establish  the  amount  of  the  contribution  towards 

investment costs payable to the abovementioned institutions in respect of each information request 

submitted during the same calendar year. This tariff per consultation is calculated as the ratio of the 

overall value of the NBB’s investment costs invoiced by the NBB to the abovementioned institutions 

up  to  that  date,  and  the  sum  of  consultations  that  the  NBB  expects  to  receive  during  the  current 

calendar  year,  taking  into  account  a  linear  amortization  of  each  investment  over  ten  consecutive 
six-month  periods  (i.e.,  five  years)14.  On  the  basis  of  this  tariff,  the  NBB  will  invoice  the  resulting 

amounts  payable  by  the  centralising  bodies  and  the  persons  authorised  to  receive  information  at 

the  same  time  and  in  the  same manner  as  the  provisional  amounts  for  the  contributions  towards 
operating costs are invoiced to these persons 15. The NBB will, in respect of any resulting amounts 

received by NBB, issue credit notes at the beginning of the subsequent calendar year in favour of 

the  Ministries  of  Justice  and  Finance,  the  Royal  Federation  of  Notaries,  the  National  Chamber  of 

Bailiffs  and  the  department  for  the  treatment  of  financial  information,  in  accordance  with  their 
respective shares in the predefined key (see paragraph 1.5 above)16.    

2.   General observations 

2.1  The ECB has issued a number of opinions related to the central register  operated by  the NBB17, 

most recently on the Law of 8 July 2018. In its opinions, the ECB noted, in particular, that the task 

entrusted  to  the  NBB  in  relation  to  the  central  register  is  not  a  central  banking  task,  nor  does  it 

facilitate the performance of such a task. Rather, the ECB understood that the task entrusted to the 

NBB in relation to the central register is linked to a governmental task, as it is meant to support the 

government’s efforts in combating tax fraud and preventing the use of the financial system for the 

purpose  of  money  laundering,  the  financing  of  terrorism  and  financial  crime  in  general. 

Consequently,  to  safeguard  the  NBB’s  financial  independence  and  as  a  guarantee  against  the 

circumvention  of  the  monetary  financing  prohibition,  the  ECB  emphasised  that  the  NBB  needs  to 

be,  at  the  least,  fully  and  adequately  remunerated  when  carrying  out  its  tasks  in  relation  to  the 
central register 18.  

12        Article 22 paragraph 1 of the draft law.  
13        Article 23 paragraph 2 of the draft law.  
14        Article 22 paragraph 2 sub-paragraph 1 of the draft law.  
15        Article 22 paragraph 2 sub-paragraph 3 of the draft law.  
16        Article 22 paragraph 2 sub-paragraph 4 of the draft law.  
17  

18  

See  Opinions  CON/2011/30,  CON/2011/98,  CON/2016/35,  CON/2017/20  and  CON/2018/4.  All  ECB  opinions  are 
published on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
See,  in  particular,  paragraph  2  of  Opinions  CON/2011/30  and  CON/2011/98;  paragraphs  2.2,  3.2  and  3.8  of 
CON/2016/35;  paragraph  4.2  of  CON/2017/20;  paragraph  2.3  of  CON/2018/4.  In  the  same  vein,  see  also 
paragraph 3.2 of Opinion CON/2015/36 and the ECB’s 2018 Convergence Report, p. 30. 

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2.2  The ECB notes that according to Article 23 of the draft law the invoiced amounts in respect of all 

operating  and  investment  costs  are  payable  within  90  days.  In  this  respect,  the  ECB  wishes  to 

emphasise that, for the purposes of the monetary financing prohibition, Article 1(1)(b)(iii) of Council 
Regulation  (EC)  No  3603/9319  defines  ‘other  type  of  credit  facility’,  inter  alia,  as  ‘any  transaction 

with the public sector resulting or  likely to result  in a  claim against that sector’.  Hence, to  ensure 

compatibility with the prohibition of monetary financing, the draft law should ensure that the detailed 

arrangements for the reimbursement of the NBB’s operating and investment costs do not result in 

any claim by the NBB against the public sector.  

2.3  With  regard  to  the  credit  notes  issued  by  the  NBB  to  the  Ministries  of  Justice  and  Finance,  the 

Royal Federation of Notaries, the National Chamber of Bailiffs and the department for the treatment 

of  financial  information,  the  ECB  notes  that  they  are  issued  in  respect  of  payments  due  to  those 

institutions from the centralising bodies and the persons authorised to receive information from the 

central register, which payments are received by the NBB on behalf of those institutions. Therefore, 

the  issuance  of  these  credit  notes  by  the  NBB  does  not  relate  to  any  credit  in  favour  of  the 

institutions concerned. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 14 December 2018. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI  

19  

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  3603/93  of  13  December  1993  specifying  definitions  for  the  application  of  the 
prohibitions referred to in Articles 104 and 104b(1) of the Treaty (OJ L 332, 31.12.1993, p. 1). Articles 104 and 104b 
of the Treaty are now Articles 123 and 125 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. 

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