Opinion of the European Central Bank of 16 July 2021 on the Corporate Credit Register (CON/2021/24)
Date: 2021-07-16
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: legal basis

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 16 July 2021  

on the Corporate Credit Register 

(CON/2021/24) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 27 May 2021 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Belgian Minister for Finance 

for an opinion on a draft law (hereinafter the ‘draft law’) and an accompanying draft royal decree (hereinafter 

the ‘draft royal decree’) on the Corporate Credit Register (CCR) (hereinafter collectively referred to as the 

‘draft legislation’). 

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  fourth  indents  of  Article 2(1)  of  Council  Decision 

98/415/EC1, as the draft legislation relates to the Nationale Bank van Belgiё/Banque Nationale de Belgique 

(NBB/BNB)  and  the  collection,  compilation  and  distribution  of  monetary,  financial,  banking,  payment 

systems  and  balance  of  payments  statistics.  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 legislation 

1.1  The  draft  legislation  amends  and  replaces  the  current  legal  framework,  including  the  Law  of 

4 March 2012  on  the  Central  Corporate  Credit  Register  (CCCR) 2  and  the  Royal  Decree  of 
15 June 2012  on  the  CCCR3,  under  which  credit  institutions  established  in  Belgium  must  report 

certain  data  concerning  credits  granted  to  beneficiaries  to  the  NBB/BNB.  According  to  the  report 

accompanying the draft royal decree, the main purpose of the draft legislation is to end the double 

reporting that exists currently for credit institutions under the existing legal framework in Belgium. At 

the  moment,  the  NBB/BNB  operates  two  different  databases:  one  is  used  to  collect  credit  data 

reported  under the  national legal framework and the  other is used  to collect statistical credit  data 

under  Regulation  (EU)  2016/867  of  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB/2016/13) 4  (hereinafter  the 

‘AnaCredit Regulation’), under which credit institutions are obliged to report certain credit data to the 

relevant national central bank (NCB)5. As noted  in  the report, the information reported to the two 

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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). 
Wet  betreffende  de  Centrale  voor  Kredieten  aan  Ondernemingen/  Loi  relative  à  la  Centrale  des  Crédits  aux 
Entreprises.  
Koninklijk besluit betreffende de Centrale voor Kredieten aan Ondernemingen/ Arrêté royal relatif à la Centrale des 
Crédits aux Entreprises.  
Regulation (EU) 2016/867 of the European Central Bank of 18 May 2016 on the collection of granular credit and credit 
risk data (ECB/2016/13) (OJ L 144, 1.6.2016, p. 44). 

Article 3 of the AnaCredit Regulation. 

 
 
 
 
 
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databases  overlaps.  The  draft  legislation  creates  a  framework  whereby  only  one  of  the  two 

databases will be retained, i.e. the one maintained for the purposes of the AnaCredit Regulation, 

obliging reporting agents to only report data once.  

1.2 

In addition, the draft legislation proposes to supplement the data to be collected under the AnaCredit 

Regulation with additional data in three ways. First, unlike the AnaCredit Regulation, which contains 

a reporting threshold of the debtor's commitment amount, equal to or larger than EUR 25 000, on 

any reporting reference date within the reference period 6, the draft legislation does not contain any 

reporting threshold. Second, the draft legislation includes leasing companies within the definition of 

‘reporting agents’ that are obliged to collect and report data under the draft legislation7, whereas the 

actual reporting population under the AnaCredit Regulation consists of credit institutions and resident 

foreign branches of credit institutions. Third, while the AnaCredit Regulation does not provide for the 

collection of information concerning natural persons, the draft legislation provides for the mandatory 

collection  of  data  by  reporting  agents  when  the  counterparty  to  credit  for  a  professional  purpose, 

excluding credit for private purpose like mortgage credit or consumption credit, is a natural person, 

whether acting within the framework of his or her professional activities or not8. These provisions are 

in line with the existing reporting requirements under the current national framework in Belgium. 

1.3  The draft law authorises the NBB/BNB to exchange the collected information on credit granted to 

legal entities with the ECB, allowing the ECB and Eurosystem NCBs to use the data in compliance 

with the AnaCredit Regulation and with other institutions in Belgium such as the Financial Services 

and Markets Authority, the Belgian Data Protection Authority and the Economic Inspection9. For each 

institution  the  draft  law  precisely  stipulates  the  purposes  for  which  data  may  be  shared  with  that 

specific institution. Each institution must take the necessary measures to ensure the confidentiality 

of such data and their exclusive use for the purposes provided for in the draft law. The ECB and the 

NCBs, in particular, may consult and use the communicated data in accordance with the AnaCredit 

Regulation, including for the establishment and maintenance of feedback loops by NCBs for their 

reporting agents, provided that the recorded data and legal protection of confidentiality are equivalent 

to those of the CCR and that they provide their data on a reciprocal basis 10. Under the draft royal 

decree,  the  NBB/BNB  is  required  to  transmit  all  data  recorded  in  the  CCR  to  the  ECB,  with  the 

exception of (1) data disclosed by leasing companies; (2) data relating to natural persons; (3) data 

relating to legal entities for off-balance-sheet commitment-type instruments; and (4) data relating to 

legal entities for which the amount owed by the debtor for ‘credit and deposit’ type instruments with 

the same reporting agent is less than EUR 25 00011. Thus, the NBB/BNB will transfer all data that is 
to be collected under the AnaCredit Regulation to the ECB and the NCBs, as also laid out in that 
Regulation 12. 

1.4  Under the draft legislation, reporting agents also have the possibility to access the CCR, either prior 

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Article 5 of the AnaCredit Regulation. 

Article 2, 3° b) of the draft law and Article 3, 2° and Article 4, 3° and 4° of the draft royal decree.  
Article 2, 14° and 15° of the draft law and Article 4, 4° of the draft royal decree. 

Article 11, §2 of the draft law. 
Article 11, § 3 of the draft law. 
Article 10 of the royal decree. 
Recital 15 of the AnaCredit Regulation 

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to the conclusion of a credit or lease agreement either in the context of undertaking risk assessment 

on a potential counterparty or in the context of managing an agreement 13. 

1.5  The draft law provides that when a reporting agent does not comply with the obligation to collect and 

report data as determined in the draft legislation, the NBB/BNB can impose daily penalties on that 

reporting  agent.  The  NBB/BNB  is  required,  when  deciding  to  impose  daily  penalties,  to  take  into 

account the sanctions already imposed or to be imposed by the ECB in the context of infringement 

proceedings concerning the same facts, and must consult the ECB in that regard. Furthermore, in 

determining the amount of the daily penalty, particular account must be taken of the sanctions already 

imposed or to be  imposed  by the ECB  in the context  of infringement proceedings concerning  the 

same facts 14. The explanatory memorandum clarifies that the maximum amounts and the criteria for 

determining  the  amount  of  the  daily  penalty  payment  are  aligned  with  the  provisions  of  Council 

Regulation (EC) 2533/9815 concerning the powers of the ECB in the field of sanctions, to which Article 

18 of the AnaCredit Regulation refers. The maximum amount of the daily penalty per day of delay is 

in line as well with the same provisions.  

1.6  The draft law authorises the NBB/BNB to ask reporting agents to reimburse the costs incurred by it 

in order to collect, record, manage, verify and disseminate the data recorded in the CCR 16. 

2. 

General observations  

2.1  The  ECB  welcomes  the  draft  legislation  since  it  amends  and  replaces  the  existing  national  legal 

framework on reporting obligations related to information on credit granted to legal entities in order 

to  obtain  a  comprehensive  and  efficient  centralisation  of  granular  credit  data  needed  for  national 

purposes and for the purposes of the AnaCredit Regulation. The draft legislation allows for financial 

institutions  to  better  evaluate  the  risks  of  granting  credit  and  enables  supervisory  authorities  to 
evaluate  the  risks  borne  by  the  financial  sector  more  easily.  In  addition,  the  draft  legislation 

incorporates, to the extent possible, the reporting obligations that have direct effect by reason of the 

AnaCredit Regulation with additional obligations imposed by national law into one legal framework. 

Indeed, it is one of AnaCredit’s key long-term objectives to harmonise reporting requirements and 

implementation practices.  The  ECB especially  welcomes in this respect the efforts of  the Belgian 
legislator to prevent double reporting by reporting agents in the future. It is worth noting that in the 

event that where the scope of the AnaCredit Regulation is extended to include the supplementary 

data described in paragraph 1.2 above, the draft law would need to be revisited.   

2.2   The  supplementary  data  to  be  reported  under  the  draft  legislation  are  in  line  with  the  AnaCredit 

Regulation. In this respect, the AnaCredit Regulation clarifies that the NCBs in the European System 

of Central Banks (ESCB) are allowed to extend the reporting of credit data beyond the scope outlined 

in  the  AnaCredit  Regulation  for  their  own  statutory  purposes,  in  line  with  relevant  national  law17. 

Further, the AnaCredit Regulation provides that the statistical reporting requirements it establishes 

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Article 11, § 1 of the draft law. 
Article 20, §1 and §2 of the draft law.  

Council  Regulation  (EC)  2533/98  of  23  November  1998  concerning  the  collection  of  statistical  information  by  the 
European Central Bank (OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8). 
Article 22 of the draft law.  

Recital 15 of the AnaCredit Regulation. 

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are without prejudice to any other current or future reporting requirements with regard to credit data 

in accordance with national law or other reporting frameworks18.  

3. 

Specific observations  

3.1 

In respect of the possibility for the NBB/BNB to share the collected data with various institutions, to 

the  extent  that  it  wishes  to  transmit  confidential  statistical  information  collected  by  other  NCBs  to 

other institutions, the ECB wishes to highlight that the rules on the protection and use of confidential 

statistical  information  collected  by  the  ESCB  are  laid  out  in  Regulation  (EC)  No  2533/98 19.  In 

particular,  Article  8(1)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  2533/98  allows  for  the  use  of  confidential  statistical 

information by the ESCB “exclusively for the exercise of the tasks of the ESCB”, except in a number 

of defined circumstances. Moreover, paragraphs 4, 4a and 5 of Article 8 of the same regulation allow 

for the transmission of confidential statistical information within and outside the ESCB, subject to the 

fulfilment  of  a  number  of  requirements  and  conditions.  These  latter  provisions  are  particularly 

important when it comes to information collected by other NCBs in accordance with the AnaCredit 

Regulation to which the NBB/BNB may have access.  

3.2  The  ECB  also  wishes  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  Minister  for  Finance  to  the  sanctioning  regime 

which applies in respect of a failure by reporting agents to comply with the ECB’s statistical reporting 

requirements, and which is also referred to in the AnaCredit Regulation20. In particular, the ECB has 

the power to impose sanctions on reporting agents which fail to comply with the reporting obligations 

set out in the regulations adopted by the ECB, and specifically where (a) no statistical information is 

received  by  the  ECB  or  an  NCB  by  the  established  deadline;  or  (b)  the  statistical  information  is 

incorrect, incomplete or in a form not complying with the requirement 21. The ECB understands that 

the sanctioning provisions in case of infringements under the draft law operate without prejudice to 

this  separate  sanctioning  regime  of  the  ECB  under  EU  law.  While  the  ECB’s  sanctioning  regime 

under the AnaCredit Regulation is referenced in the draft law, the draft law could usefully clarify, for 

the avoidance of doubt, that the sanctioning regime under the draft law operates without prejudice to 

the ECB’s sanctioning regime under EU law. At the same time, Article 18 of the AnaCredit Regulation 

clarifies that the ECB's power to impose sanctions for non-compliance with the reporting obligations 

of the AnaCredit Regulation is independent of an NCB's right to sanction, in line with its national law, 

non-compliance with statistical or other reporting obligations that apply to reporting agents under the 

respective national legal framework in line with Article 8(3) of the AnaCredit Regulation. Therefore, 

the ECB’s power to impose sanctions is independent of the right of the NBB/BNB to impose sanctions 

with regard to the information that the draft law requires to be reported that goes beyond the scope 

of the AnaCredit Regulation. 

3.3 

In  addition,  Article  2(1)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  2157/1999  of  the  European  Central  Bank 

(ECB/1999/4) 22 provides that no more than one infringement procedure shall be initiated against the 

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Article 8(3) of the AnaCredit Regulation. 
Articles 8 to 8c of Regulation (EC) 2533/98. 

Article 18 of the AnaCredit Regulation. 
Article 7 of Regulation (EC) 2533/98. 
Regulation  (EC)  No  2157/1999  of  23  September  1999  on  the  powers  of  the  European  Central  Bank  to  impose 
sanctions (ECB/1999/4) (OJ L 264, 12.10.1999, p. 21). 

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same undertaking based on the same facts. Further, no decision to initiate an infringement procedure 

may be taken by the ECB or the NCB until they have informed or consulted with one another 23. This 

means that where the same facts indicate a failure to comply with a statistical reporting obligation 

under an ECB regulation and a failure to comply with a reporting obligation that an NCB is competent 

to enforce, there is no specific priority with respect to the action that must be taken. This is a matter 

that must be resolved by consultation between the ECB and the NCB to ensure not more than one 

infringement procedure is initiated against the same reporting agent for the same non-compliance. 

The ECB welcomes that this consultation procedure between the NBB/BNB and the ECB is explicitly 

foreseen in the draft law, both for the purpose of imposing a periodic penalty payment and for the 

purpose of determining the amount of the penalty payment 24, in order to ensure compliance with the 

principle of non bis in idem, whereby no legal action may be instituted twice in respect of the same 

cause of action. 

3.4  With regard to the supplementary data on natural persons, as noted in the recitals of the AnaCredit 
Regulation 25,  should  the  scope  of  reporting  be  extended  to  include  personal  data  in  subsequent 

stages, the protection of the rights of natural persons with regard to the collection and processing of 

their personal data should be ensured. It is important to ensure that the appropriate measures are 

taken for the protection of personal data collected under the new national framework in accordance 

with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council26. The ECB therefore 

welcomes  that  the  draft  law  provides  this  protection  of  the  processing  of  personal  data  collected 

concerning natural persons27. 

3.5  As  previously  noted  by  the  ECB28,  the  ECB  has  no  concerns  regarding  the  financing  of  the 

NBB/BNB’s task of registering the data that reporting agents collect and report to the NBB/BNB in 

the CCR, as well as maintaining the CCR, as the NBB/BNB can reimburse the costs made via the 

reporting agents 29.  

This opinion will be published on EUR-Lex. 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 16 July 2021. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Christine LAGARDE 

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Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2157/1999 (ECB/1999/4). 
Article 20 of the draft law. 
Recital 12 of the AnaCredit Regulation. 
Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural 
persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 
95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1). 
Article 12 of the draft law. 
See paragraph 3.1 of Opinion CON/2011/20. All ECB opinions are available on EUR-Lex. 

Article 22 of the draft law. 

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