In an earlier article we described the case of two elderly phishing victims and a 2019 decision of the Antwerp courts. That decision has now been confirmed by the Antwerp Court of Appeal, in November 2020. Phishing is on the rise Phishing is a fraud by email, SMS, WhatsApp or other online means by which... 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 →

A bill allowing the reverse mortgage mechanism (crédit logement inversé) to emerge in Belgian law has just been tabled in the Chamber. Fourteen years after the subprime crisis, caused among other things by aggressive and risky mortgage formulas in the United States, will Belgian law soon see this new form of credit, allowing mainly elderly... Continue Reading →

Febelfin, the Belgian financial sector federation, and the Minister of Finance agreed on a new moratorium, outside the statute, on the repayment of credits granted to businesses. A further payment deferral is thus granted to businesses in difficulty because of the Covid-19 crisis. It became possible to request a deferral of the instalments provided in... Continue Reading →

On 9 December 2020, the Minister of Finance and Febelfin adopted a second Charter on the deferral of payment for mortgage and business credits, in view of the economic consequences of the Covid health crisis. The second lockdown had, and would continue to have, economic repercussions for many households and businesses. Minister Vincent Van Peteghem... Continue Reading →

Apart from certain rules on savings accounts, no provision anticipated interest rates falling below zero. Theoretically, even capital-guaranteed life insurance could carry negative rates. More and more banks offer clients non-regulated savings accounts, not subject to the obligation to offer a minimum return of 0.11%. An economic context that is no longer theoretical For some... Continue Reading →

The Act of 8 November 2020 inserting provisions on the basic banking service for businesses into Book VII of the Code of Economic Law was published in the Belgian Official Gazette of 24 November 2020. Ever more refusals to open accounts and unilateral account closures Given the risk of heavy sanctions on banks in the... Continue Reading →

For several years, some bank clients have faced their banker's announcement of the unilateral termination of the banking relationship and the resulting closure of their accounts, without reasons and generally on notice. The clients concerned have a period to give precise instructions on the fate of their assets: accounts, whether in debit or credit, must... Continue Reading →

A client dies after entrusting his bank with a discretionary portfolio management mandate. Must the bank immediately liquidate the managed portfolio? May it continue discretionary management after death? What risks does the bank run towards the heirs if it continues, or if, on the contrary, it no longer performs a single act on the portfolio... Continue Reading →

Febelfin, the Belgian banking federation, has announced that individuals and businesses which requested and obtained a payment deferral on their mortgage or business loan until 31 October 2020 at the latest may benefit from a further deferral until the end of that year. To obtain a (new) deferral, borrowers must continue to meet all the... Continue Reading →

In a case brought to our attention, a wealthy client sued a private bank in liability for losses on financial investments made under a discretionary portfolio-management agreement. The principle: the manager's fault cannot be inferred from the result The Court of Appeal first recalled that the manager's obligations are obligations of means, and that a... 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 →

The indemnities claimed by credit institutions on the early termination of a pre-2014 investment credit and on early repayment still stir debate. The borrowers' strategy to avoid a large funding-loss indemnity The main stake in litigation is, for borrowers, to persuade the court to recharacterise an investment-credit agreement as an interest-bearing loan. If they succeed,... Continue Reading →

An analysis of the rules on blocking and unblocking the deceased's bank accounts and assets in a succession, in the light of the principle of hereditary seisin. By a judgment of 24 June 2019, the French-speaking Court of First Instance of Brussels examined the blocking of bank accounts in a succession. The Court held that... 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 →

Publication in the Belgian Official Gazette of the ministerial order setting out the terms for benefiting from the State guarantee on Covid credits above EUR 50,000,000. The ministerial order is available on the Belgian Official Gazette website. This article relates to an earlier one on the State guarantee for certain credits granted between 1 April... Continue Reading →

A summary of the guarantee scheme for the Covid credits granted from 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020, whose principles appear in the Royal Decree of 14 April 2020 granting a state guarantee for certain credits in the fight against the consequences of the coronavirus. 1. Context of the Covid credit guarantee On 27... 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 →

Many companies devise alternative remuneration plans to attract and retain their employees. One such is the Stock Option Plan (SOP), under which employees may receive options allowing them, in time, to acquire their employer's shares at a pre-set price. That exercise right usually lapses if the employee leaves the company. Belgian tax law requires the... Continue Reading →