Belgian National Bank
Headquarters | Brussels , Belgium |
founding | May 5, 1850 |
president | Pierre wish |
country | Belgium |
currency | |
ISO 4217 | EUR |
Website | |
successor |
European system of central banks (since 1999) |
List of central banks |
The Belgian National Bank (Dutch: Nationale Bank van België , French: Banque nationale de Belgique ) is the central bank of Belgium and a member of the European System of Central Banks .
legal form
The National Bank of Belgium is a public limited company with a share capital of ten million euros . There are four hundred thousand shares, of which two hundred thousand are inalienable registered shares subscribed by the state at par and two hundred thousand are registered or bearer shares.
However, the National Bank is subject to the “Law on the Principles of the National Bank of Belgium”, which sets out essential organizational principles.
Thus the governor and directors of the National Bank are appointed by the king .
organization
The organs of the bank are the governor, the board of directors, the council of regents and the college of censors.
governor
The governor is appointed by the king for a term of five years. A reappointment is possible. He can only be dismissed from his office by the king (taking into account the ECB statutes) if he no longer fulfills the requirements for the exercise of his office or if he has committed serious misconduct. The following people have held the office of governor so far:
- François-Philippe de Haussy (1850–1869)
- Eugène Prévinaire (1870–1877)
- André-Eugène Pirson (1877-1881)
- Alexandre Jamar (1882-1888)
- Eugène Anspach (1888–1890)
- Victor Van Hoegaerden (1891–1905)
- Théophile de Lantsheere (1905-1918)
- Leon Van der Rest (1918-1923)
- Fernand Hautain (1923-1926)
- Louis Franck (1926-1937)
- Georges Janssen (1938–1941)
- Albert Goffin (1941)
- Georges Theunis (1941–1944)
- Maurice Frère (1944–1957)
- Hubert Ansiaux (1957–1971)
- Robert Vandeputte (1971–1975)
- Cecil de Strycker (1975-1982)
- Jean Godeaux (1982-1989)
- Alfons Verplaetse (1989–1999)
- Guy Quaden (1999-2011)
- Luc Coene (2011-2015)
- Jan Smets (2015-2019)
- Pierre Wunsch (2019– ...)
Directory
The board of directors consists of the governor and a minimum of five and a maximum of seven directors. The board of directors is composed equally of Dutch-speaking and French-speaking members. The board of directors manages the bank and sets the guidelines for its policy.
Censors
The censors college consists of ten members. It also has an equal number of Dutch-speaking and French-speaking members. The college of censors has the task of supervising the establishment and implementation of the budget. The censors are elected for three years by the general assembly.
Council of Regency
The Council of Regency is a professional body. The regents are elected by the general assembly for a term of three years. Your mandate can be renewed. Two regents are selected on the proposal of the employee organizations with the largest number of members. Three regents are selected on the basis of proposals from the organizations with the largest number of members in industry and trade, as well as agriculture and the middle class. Five regents are selected on the proposal of the finance minister.
The task of the Council of Regency is to approve the annual report on the business and financial statements of the National Bank and to finalize the distribution of profits. This is a task that would otherwise be the responsibility of the company's general meeting.
tasks
The bank has been responsible for printing and issuing banknotes in the Belgian franc and euro since 1851 . In addition to maintaining monetary stability , the bank is also committed to maintaining an efficient and high-quality financial system. It is the main bank of the Belgian state and the treasury and intervenes in the issue of government bonds .
The National Bank is also responsible for the daily administration of the pension fund .
The National Bank manages a securities settlement system, the deposit guarantee fund and the guarantee fund for financial instruments and, since 2003, the central bank for loans to private individuals. This records all consumer and mortgage loans and is intended to protect consumers from over-indebtedness.
museum
Since 1982 there has been a museum that deals with money as a means of payment and the economy in general, but also presents the history of the National Bank of Belgium and its buildings.
See also
Web links
- Homepage of the National Bank of Belgium
- nbbmuseum.be (The history of the Belgian National Bank building in German)
- Early documents and newspaper articles about the Belgian National Bank in the 20th Century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Law on the Principles of the National Bank of Belgium (PDF; 311 kB)
- ↑ Depositobescherming - FSMA. In: fsma.be. Accessed March 31, 2019 .
- ↑ nbbmuseum.be