Law on the Legal Status and Supervision of Credit Institutions and Stockbroking Firms
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06.2017 25 APRIL 2014. - Law on the legal status and supervision of credit institutions and stockbroking firms DISCLAIMER THIS TEXT IS AN UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION AND MAY NOT BE USED AS A BASIS FOR SOLVING ANY DISPUTE (Belgisch Staatsblad/Moniteur belge [Belgian Official Gazette], 7 September 2014) (Unofficial consolidated text) Last update: Law of 25 October 2016 (Belgian Official Gazette, 21 November 2016) and Law of 7 December 2016 (Belgian Official Gazette, 13 December 2016) BOOK I. - SCOPE - DEFINITIONS - GENERAL PROVISIONS TITLE I. - Scope Article 1. § 1. Articles 242, 15° to 19° and 296 to 310, 378 and 379 of the present Law regulate a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution. The other provisions of the present Law, including the Annexes thereto, regulate a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution. § 2. This Law regulates the establishment, activity and the supervision of credit institutions and investment firms which have the capacity of stockbroking firm operating in Belgium, and their potential resolution, to protect savers, investors and the robustness and proper functioning of the financial system. For this purpose, it determines the supervisory task of the National Bank of Belgium in its capacity of national competent authority, namely within the scope of the Single Supervisory Mechanism. Books I to XI and Annexes I to VI of the present Law provide for the partial transposition - which remains limited to the part relating to credit institutions, - of Directive 2013/36/EU; - of Directive 2011/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 amending Directives 98/78/EC, 2002/87/EC, 2006/48/EC and 2009/138/EC as regards the supplementary supervision of financial entities in a financial conglomerate (“FICOD I”), hereinafter referred to as “FICOD I”; - of Directive 2014/59/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 establishing a framework for the recovery and resolution of credit institutions and investment firms and amending Council Directive 82/891/EEC, and Directives 2001/24/EC, 2002/47/EC, 2004/25/EC, 2005/56/EC, 2007/36/EC, 2011/35/EU, 2012/30/EU and 2013/36/EU, and Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010 and (EU) No 648/2012, of the European Parliament and of the Council, hereinafter referred to as “Directive 2014/59/EU”. - of Directive 2014/65/EU; - of Directive 2014/49/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on deposit guarantee schemes, hereinafter referred to as “Directive 2014/49/EU”; as well as - of Directive 97/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 March 1997 on investor-compensation schemes, hereinafter referred to as “Directive 97/9/EC”. Books I, XI, and XII and Annexes I, II and IV to VI of the present Law provide for the transposition - which remains limited to the part relating to investment firms with the capacity of stockbroking firm, - of Directive 2013/36/EU; - of FICOD I; - of Directive 2014/59/EU; - of Directive 2014/65/EU; as well as - of Directive 97/9/EC. § 3. A “credit institution” shall mean a Belgian or foreign undertaking whose business is to receive deposits or other repayable funds from the public and to grant credit for its own account. A “stockbroking firm” shall mean an investment firm governed by Belgian or foreign law, the business of which consists in providing a) investment services consisting of: - dealing on own account; - underwriting of financial instruments and/or placing of financial instruments on a firm commitment basis; - placing of financial instruments without a firm commitment; or - operating multilateral trading facilities; and/or b) ancillary services consisting of: - safekeeping and administration of financial instruments for the account of clients, including custodianship and related services such as cash and/or collateral management; - granting credits or loans to an investor to enable the investor to carry out a transaction in one or more financial instruments, where the firm granting the credit or loan is involved in the transaction; - foreign exchange services where these are connected to the provision of investment services; or - services related to underwriting of financial instruments. Article 2. The following shall not be considered credit institutions for the purposes of this Law: 1° the National Bank of Belgium, the European Central Bank and the public limited liability company bpost; 2° companies carrying out capital redemption operations governed by the Law of 13 March 2016 on the legal status and supervision of insurance or reinsurance companies. TITLE II. — Definitions Article 3. The following definitions shall apply for the purposes of this Law and its implementing decrees and regulations: 1° the National Bank of Belgium: the institution referred to in the Law of 22 February 1998 establishing the Organic Statute of the National Bank of Belgium, hereinafter referred to as “the Bank”; 2 2° the SSM Regulation: Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 of 15 October 2013 conferring specific tasks on the European Central Bank concerning policies relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions; 3° Single Supervisory Mechanism: the supervisory mechanism established by the SSM Regulation; 4° the supervisory authority: the Bank or the European Central Bank, as per the distribution of competences stipulated in or by virtue of the SSM Regulation, as regards the supervision of credit institutions; the Bank as regards the supervision of stockbroking firms; 5° non-participating Member State: a Member State whose currency is not the euro and which has not established a close cooperation within the meaning of Article 7 of the SSM Regulation; 6° non-participating Member State: a Member State whose currency is not the euro and which has not established a close cooperation within the meaning of Article 7 of the SSM Regulation; 7° Directive 2013/36/EU: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions and investment firms, amending Directive 2002/87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC; 8° Regulation 575/2013: Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012; 8°/1 Directive 2014/65/EU: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU; 8°/2 Regulation 600/2014: Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012; 8°/3 Directive 2004/39/EC: Directive 2004/39/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 21 April 2004 on markets in financial instruments amending Council Directives 85/611/EEC and 93/6/EEC and Directive 2000/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and abrogating Council Directive 93/22/EEC; 8º/4 Regulation No 537/2014: Regulation (EU) No 537/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on specific requirements regarding statutory audit of public-interest entities and repealing Commission Decision 2005/909/EC; 9° Member State: a State that is a party to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement; 10° competent authority: a public authority or institution officially recognized by Directive 2013/36/EU or Directive 2014/65/EU and by the national law of a Member State and that is authorized under that national law to exercise supervision of credit institutions and investment firms within the scope of the supervisory regime of that State, as well as, where applicable, the European Central Bank by virtue of its powers under the Single Supervisory Mechanism; 10°/1 Regulation No 806/2014: Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2014 establishing uniform rules and a uniform procedure for the resolution of credit institutions and certain investment firms in the framework of a Single Resolution Mechanism and a Single Resolution Fund and amending Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010; 3 10°/2 Single Resolution Board: the board established by Article 42 of Regulation No 806/2014; 11° third country: a State that is not a party to the European Economic Area Agreement; 12° authority of a third country: an authority that is tasked with the supervision of credit institutions or investment firms in a third country; 13° consolidating supervisor: the competent authority responsible for the supervision on a consolidated basis of EEA parent credit institutions and credit institutions controlled by an EEA parent financial holding company or an EEA parent mixed financial holding company; 14° Regulation No 1093/2010: Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 establishing a European Supervisory Authority (European Banking Authority), amending Decision No 716/2009/EC and repealing Commission Decision 2009/78/EC; 15° European Banking Authority: the European Banking Authority established by Regulation No 1093/2010, hereinafter also referred to as the “EBA”: 16° Regulation No 1092/2010: Regulation (EU) No 1092/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on European Union macro-prudential oversight of the financial system and establishing a European Systemic Risk Board; 17° ESRB: the European Systemic