Banking and Finance law in Belgium
Droit bancaire et financier en Belgique – Bank- en financieel recht in België
FSMA communication of 1 March 2022. From 1 May 2022, the activities of certain virtual-currency service providers are regulated in Belgium. These providers must meet a series of conditions, notably as to their professional integrity and compliance with anti-money-laundering legislation. Who is covered by the new rules on crypto and virtual-currency services? Providers of exchange... Continue Reading →
In an earlier article (May 2020), we reviewed crowdfunding and crowdlending in Belgium and the draft European Regulation then under study, including its treatment of cross-border crowdfunding services. The Crowdfunding Regulation (ECSPR) in brief The European Union has since published the Regulation of 7 October 2020 (ECSPR, European Crowdfunding Service Providers Regulation), which entered into... Continue Reading →
The facts: an insurance broker offered his client Koblis The Kobelco case caused a stir in Flanders in the late 2000s. Kobelco, active in the life insurance sector before being declared bankrupt in 2009, offered investors a product called KOBLI, providing an investment of a given amount over a one-year horizon, in return for an... Continue Reading →
The Brussels Court of First Instance referred to the public prosecutor the file of an insurance broker who had gone a little too far in assisting his client, actively advising him on financial products. Carrying on investment advice or portfolio management without the appropriate authorisation is a criminal offence. The need for prior authorisation to... Continue Reading →
This article relates to another on investment advice given by an insurance broker, and is an extract from our "Banking Case Law Barometer 2019", published in the D.A.O.R. review. A case before the Liège Court of Appeal gave rise to an interesting decision on the liability of an insurance broker for advice on branch 23... Continue Reading →
The case: a limitation question In the late 1990s, a couple took out a mortgage credit requiring an outstanding-balance (mortgage life) insurance covering 100% on the husband's life, arranged through the lending bank. In 2004, again through the bank, the wife signed an insurance proposal covering 50% of the credit for its remaining term, while... Continue Reading →
Crowdfunding, literally funding or lending by the crowd, is an alternative financing method outside the traditional financial system of regulated banks and financial markets. It calls on a large number of people to raise funds to develop a project. A major player in this new model, crowdfunding platforms act as intermediaries between entrepreneurs seeking financing... Continue Reading →
The principle The MiFID II Directive requires firms providing investment services (executing orders or investment advice, private banking style) to keep, as evidence, a record of every investment service provided and every investment activity or transaction. This includes recording investment orders placed by telephone between an investor client and the banker. As soon as a... Continue Reading →
The context: discretionary management in question and a lost reinvestment opportunity A wealthy client sued his banker, complaining that, after liquidating all the financial instruments in his portfolio, the banker had been slow to reinvest the resulting cash, whereas, according to the client, the banker was responsible for managing his assets. For the client, a... Continue Reading →
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
