Michel Tison

De Wet Financiële Zekerheden en de notariële praktijk

WP 2007-09

The European Directive 2002/47EC on financial collateral arrangements has been implemented into Belgian law by the Law of 15 December 2004. From a domestic law point of view, this law has revolutionized the law on security interests in various respects: First, it validates in general the transfer of property as security interest for financial collateral. Furthermore, it facilitates the perfection of security interests, by eliminating the a priori consent by a court. Finally, it validates in general netting and close-out agreements. In view of the wide scope of the Belgian implementing legislation, which, contrary to the Directive, also includes natural persons, the law on financial collateral is likely to affect the security interests in notarial lending agreements with both professional and private borrowers. In this paper, we analyse in particular the practical implications of the Law of 15 December 2004 on mortgage credits granted to private individuals, as regulated by the Mortgage Credit Act of 4 august 2002. This raises specific issues in view of the priority of consumer protection regulation on the provisions of the Financial collateral Law.