Overview of changes

October 2022

  • integration of the most recent amendments to the Banking Law, particularly in relation to the Companies and Associations Code
  • inclusion of references to Circular NBB_2021_28 transposing the EBA Guidelines on internal governance (EBA/GL/2021/05)
  • inclusion of references to Circular NBB_2021_27 transposing Guidelines EBA/GL/2021/06 on the assessment of suitability, and to the NBB’s Fit & Proper Manual
  • inclusion of references to the Regulation of the NBB of 9 November 2021 on the exercise of external functions by managers and persons responsible for independent control functions of regulated companies (approved by Royal Decree of 8 February 2022) and to Communication NBB_2022_19 on the same subject
  • inclusion of references to Circular NBB_2019_19 transposing Guidelines EBA/GL/2019/02 on outsourcing arrangements
  • inclusion of references to Circular NBB_2021_30 transposing Guidelines EBA/GL/2021/04 on remuneration policy
  • inclusion of references to Circular NBB_2021_18 transposing Guidelines EBA/GL/2020/06 on loan origination and monitoring
  • inclusion of references to the EBA Guidelines on the role and responsibilities of the AMLCO (EBA/GL/2022/05)
  • inclusion of references to Circular NBB_2021_16 on special mechanisms and to Circular NBB_2021_17 on fiscal prevention policy
  • inclusion of references to Communication NBB_2019_15 on the NBB’s expectations regarding the content of the statutory governing body’s report on the assessment of the compliance function, and to Communication NBB_2019_29 on the modification of the date for the transmission of compliance reports
  • inclusion of new points on IT security (including recommendations on the tasks of the Chief Security Information Officer) and on governance at group level
  • clarification of prudential expectations regarding the term “independent director”, the policies to be established and the role of the independent control functions
  • addition of recommendations on the integration of environmental and climate risk in the training programme for directors and the tasks of the risk management function
  • addition of a chapter on group context
  • update of the governance memorandum outline

October 2018

  • inclusion of references to Guidelines EBA/GL/2017/11 on internal governance
  • inclusion of references to Guidelines EBA/GL/2017/12 on the assessment of the suitability of members of the management body and key function holders
  • inclusion of a reference to the SSM Guide to fit and proper assessments
  • replacement of references to Circular NBB_2013_02 by references to the Manual on assessment of fitness and propriety introduced by Circular NBB_2018_25
  • additions relating to amendments to the Banking Law introduced by the Law of 21 November 2017 and the Law of 5 December 2017
  • addition of Circulars NBB_2018_13 and NBB_2018_14 on payment services and incident reporting
  • addition of Circular NBB_2018_20 on outsourcing to cloud service providers
  • addition of the Regulation of the NBB of 6 February 2018 on expertise of the persons responsible for the compliance function (with accompanying explanatory note), Communication NBB_2018_05 of 8 February 2018 on the report of the statutory governing body on assessment of the compliance function, and Communication FSMA_2018_05 of 8 May 2018 on continuing training for compliance officers

September 2017

  • addition of Circular NBB_2016_44 on remuneration policies
  • addition of a point on loans to managers (Article 72 of the Banking Law)
  • update of the external guidelines on the application of Article 62 of the Banking Law
  • inclusion of references to the Royal Decree and the Circular on the exercise of external functions
  • update of Articles 27 to 33 of the Banking Law on audit committees
  • update of the title of the Banking Law (to include stockbroking firms)
  • addition of Circular NBB_2017_03 and Communication NBB_2017_02 on shareholding