Why doesn’t the National Bank keep separate accounts for its tasks in the public interest and its activities "as a company"?
As a central bank, the National Bank is subject to special rules on the maintenance of its accounts. The annual report (part 2) describes the legal framework of the annual accounts. The National Bank is subject to mandatory rules under the ECB Guideline (EU) 2016/2249 of 3 November 2016 on the legal framework for accounting and financial reporting in the ESCB (ECB/2016/34). In addition, it draws up its annual accounts in accordance with Article 33 of the law of 22 February 1998 establishing its Organic Statute. The usual Belgian accounting rules expressly do not apply to it under the exclusion specified in Article 3:1, § 3, 2° of the Companies and Associations Code.
The rules applicable to the National Bank do not provide for separate accounts. Moreover, it would be extremely difficult (and necessarily arbitrary) to draw up two separate balance sheets, splitting the activities in the public interest from the other activities. The two aspects of the National Bank’s special, unique status are inseparably linked.