OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 24 January 2012 on dematerialised securities

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
of 24 January 2012
on dematerialised securities 
(CON/2012/3)

Introduction and legal basis

On 21 November 2011, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Luxembourg
Ministry of Finance for an opinion on a draft law on dematerialised securities and amending (a) the
Law of 5 April 1993 on the financial sector, (b) the Law of 23 December 1998 creating a financial
sector supervisory commission, (c) the Law of 10 August 1915 on commercial companies, (d) the Law
of 3 September 1996 on the involuntary dispossession of bearer securities, (e) the Law of
1 August 2001 on the circulation of securities and other fungible instruments, (f) the Law of
20 December 2002 on collective placement bodies, (g) the Law of 17 December 2010 on collective
placement bodies, (h) the Law of 13 February 2007 on specialised investment funds and (i) the Law of
22 March 2004 on securitisation, (hereinafter ‘the draft law’).
The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on
the Functioning of the European Union and the fifth and sixth indents of Article 2(1) of Council
Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national
authorities regarding draft legislative provisions1
, as the draft law contains provisions on settlement
systems as well as rules applicable to financial institutions insofar as they materially influence the
stability of financial institutions and markets. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of
the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.

http://www.ecb.int/ecb/legal/pdf/en_con_2012_3_f_sign.pdf