A new law introducing a banker’s oath and deontological regime for directors and certain bank employees was published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 15 January 2024.
The oath requires directors and certain bank employees to make an individual declaration, by which they undertake to respect, in the exercise of their professional activities, some important new deontological rules.
The Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority has introduced stricter rules for commercializing virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin or Ether, among consumers in Belgium. Among others, advertisements must contain the disclaimer “Virtual currencies, real risks. The only guarantee in crypto is risk.” In addition, mass advertising campaigns to more than 25,000 people must be notified to the regulator 10 days in advance.
Belgium has finalized the basic banking service framework for companies, among others, by creating the long-awaited basic banking service chamber, as a result of which the new rules can now finally take effect.
On 23 February 2022, the Belgian Royal Decree of 8 February 2022 on the status and supervision of service providers for the exchange of virtual currency and fiat currency and custodian wallet providers (“Virtual Currency Royal Decree”) was published in the Belgian State Gazette. The Virtual Currency Royal Decree introduces registration requirements and operating conditions for virtual currency service providers into Belgian law. The Virtual Currency Royal Decree will enter into force on 1 May 2022, with a grandfathering regime for existing service providers.
On 22 December 2020, the Belgian legislator adopted a royal decree containing Brexit transitional measures for the United Kingdom insurance industry aimed at temporarily ensuring the continuity of existing insurance policies as from 1 January 2021.