EBA settles disagreement between the Spanish and Belgian deposit guarantee schemes

The European Banking Authority (EBA) publishes today a binding mediation decision between two deposit guarantee schemes (DGSs), the Spanish Deposit Guarantee Fund for Credit Institutions and the Belgian Deposit Guarantee Fund for Financial Services. The decision stipulates that the Belgian DGS should transfer to the Spanish DGS the last contribution it has received from a credit institution that had changed its DGS affiliation.

The EBA was requested by the Spanish DGS to assist in settling a disagreement with the Belgian DGS. The disagreement concerned differences in view over the contributions that should be considered as paid to the Belgian DGS in the twelve months prior to the change of affiliation and which the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive (DGSD) requires to be transferred to the Spanish DGS. The EBA’s decision aims at settling the dispute by determining an appropriate amount of contributions to be transferred between the DGSs given the circumstances of the case and the requirements of the DGSD.

The decision requires the Belgian DGS to transfer to the Spanish DGS an amount corresponding to the last annual contribution that the credit institution was obliged to pay during the 12-month period preceding the end of membership of the BE DGS. The EBA considered that the period to which the last contribution relates to was a more important factor than when the contribution was actually paid by the credit institution.

Furthermore, the EBA considered that deficiencies in cooperation and information sharing between the parties resulted in the DGSs only addressing the need for a transfer of contributions long after the move of the credit institution had taken place. The decision, therefore, also requires the DGSs to develop and implement enhancement plans in this area.

The EBA will monitor the application of the decision within one month from the date of its adoption and subsequently on a quarterly basis until completion of the enhancement plans.

Legal basis and background

The EBA’s mediation role in disagreements between DGSs is set out in the second subparagraph of Article 14(5) of the DGSD. This states, in relation to cross-border cooperation, that if DGSs cannot reach an agreement or if there is a dispute about the interpretation of a cooperation agreement, either party may refer the matter to EBA in accordance with Article 19 of the EBA’s founding regulation and the EBA shall act in accordance with that Article. The Spanish and Belgian DGS have both subscribed to a cooperation agreement, Part III of which covers transfer of DGS contributions.

In accordance with Article 19 of the EBA’s founding regulation, where such a request for assistance is made to the EBA, there is an initial period within which the EBA seeks to facilitate conciliation between the competent authorities.  If no agreement is reached within that conciliation period, Article 19 empowers the EBA to take a decision requiring the competent authorities to take specific action or to refrain from action in order to settle the matter, with binding effects for the authorities concerned, in order to ensure compliance with Union law.