Banking and Finance law in Belgium
Droit bancaire et financier en Belgique – Bank- en financieel recht in België
A decision by the Mons Court of Appeal[1] allowed us to review the notion of interruption of prescription, a fundamental principle in Belgian civil law. This case illustrates the rules applicable to the starting point of prescription and the conditions necessary to interrupt it. The Starting Point of Prescription in Belgian Law In contractual matters, the... Continue Reading →
Discover how alternative compensation plans like Stock-Option Plans (SOP) and Hedged-Stock Option Plans (HESOP) can attract and retain employees. Understand the Belgian tax implications and legal considerations surrounding these plans.
May a bank be held liable when it refuses to grant a credit, or refuses to extend an existing one? The question matters to lawyers, bankers and in-house counsel alike. Freedom of contract is a fundamental principle of Belgian civil law. A bank is not obliged to finance every applicant. But can it abuse its... Continue Reading →
A bank that agrees to grant credit to a client is bound by certain obligations. Failure to meet these obligations may give rise to quasi-delictual civil liability. In the context of so-called “regulated” credit — such as mortgage loans and consumer credit, both of which are governed by Book VII of the Code of Economic... Continue Reading →
Interest rate swaps (IRS) are derivative products known as hedging instruments. In a rising-rate environment, they offer the opportunity to determine and fix future costs on a credit agreement. They can also prove to be a dangerous speculative instrument. This is a brief analysis of how they work and of the legal issues they raise... Continue Reading →
Within the Belgian courts, a large share of seriously contested credit disputes still turns on funding loss and the early repayment of fixed-term credit and loans concluded between a bank and a business before the Act of 21 December 2013 on SME financing entered into force. The issue The question is whether a business may... Continue Reading →
Through a concrete case of a lost bank card and fraudulent transactions on a client's account, we revisit the respective responsibilities of the bank and the client in payment services matters, much as in phishing cases. The client who believed his card had been swallowed A client carried out banking operations at an ATM inside... Continue Reading →
In de juridisch-economische wereld is het een verhaal dat reeds meer dan 20 jaar duurt: kan een bank een wederbeleggingsvergoeding (funding loss) vorderen wanneer een onderneming haar krediet terugbetaalt vóór de contractueel overeengekomen termijn?
Dans le cadre d’un programme de fidélité de voyageurs lancé par plusieurs compagnies aériennes, ces dernières ont lancé, en partenariat avec un établissement de crédit belge, une carte de crédit « co-brandée » (le nom de la banque ainsi que de la compagnie aérienne y figurent) permettant au consommateur d’accumuler des « miles » de fidélité. La réglementation relative au crédit à la consommation est d’application.
Quelques principes de responsabilité de l'intermédiaire en crédit à l'égard des documents que son client lui transmet, au détour d'une décision judiciaire
Lorsqu’un créancier saisissant entend pratiquer une saisie-arrêt en récupération de revenus périodiques non-encore échus au moment de la saisie, il lui est recommandé de mentionner expressément dans l’exploit de saisie que celle-ci est également pratiquée pour de tels revenus, au-delà des mentions formelles habituelles que ces actes contiennent généralement.
