The Financial Services and Markets Authority (abbreviated as FSMA) is a public interest body that regulates the Belgian financial sector. As part of its mission, it controls financial service providers and intermediaries. Our legal expert examines the contours of this new competence.
New Competence of the FSMA
Since November 1, 2015, the control of access to the profession of lender and intermediary in mortgage credit and consumer credit will no longer be a competence of the SPF Economy but of the FSMA.
This will not have any impact on consumers as the ongoing contracts will not be modified. However, the targeted professionals will be required to apply for approval or registration with the FSMA.
To do this, the concerned professionals can submit their approval or registration file via an online application from Monday, November 2, 2015.
The FSMA has already specified that this is the only valid channel to submit a file. To obtain approval, professionals must meet various conditions, such as the existence of a capital set at €25,000 or €2,500,000 depending on whether it is a consumer credit contract, a mortgage credit, or a credit line.
However, the SPF Economy retains the competence to examine credit contract models, including amortization tables, to check if they comply with all legal provisions.
Any modification to the contract models is also subject to prior approval by the SPF Economy. To obtain registration, professionals must meet various conditions, such as having professional liability insurance, enjoying professional honorability, and adhering to an extrajudicial regulation.
Current lenders and credit intermediaries benefit from a transitional period of 18 months to submit their approval or registration application.
Sanctions
The FSMA has a wide range of coercive measures against the professionals it controls, including publishing a warning to the public.
It can also impose various corrective measures and conduct inspections anonymously.
Finally, it can take administrative measures such as revoking approval or deregistering from the register, as well as imposing fines or penalties.