Article 2

1. This Directive shall apply to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions. 2. It shall not apply to: - the central banks of Member States, post office giro institutions, in Belgium, the communal savings banks ("caisses d'épargne communales - gemeentelijke spaarkassen"), the "Institut de Réescompte et de Garantie - Herdiscontering- en Waarborginstituut", the "Société nationale d'Investissement - Nationale Investeringsmaatschappij", the regional development companies ("sociétés de développement régional - gewestelijke ontwikkelingsmaatschappijen"), the "Société nationale du Logement - Nationale Maatschappij voor de Huisvesting" and its authorized companies and the "Société nationale terrienne - Nationale Landmaatschappij" and its authorized companies, in Denmark, the "Dansk Eksportfinansieringsfond" and "Danmarks Skibskreditfond", in Germany, the "Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau", undertakings which are recognized under the "Wohnungsgemeinnützigkeitsgesetz" (non-profit housing law) as bodies of state housing policy and are not mainly engaged in banking transactions and undertakings recognized under that law as non-profit housing undertakings, in France, the "Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations", the "Crédit Foncier" and the "Crédit National", in Ireland, credit unions, in Italy, the "Cassa Depositi e Prestiti", in the Netherlands, the "NV Export-Financieringsmaatschappij", the "Netherlandse Financieringsmaatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden NV", the "Nederlandse Investeringsbank voor Ontwikkelingslanden NV", the "Nationale Investeringsbank NV", the "NV Bank van Nederlandse Gemeenten", the "Nederlandse Waterschapsbank NV", the "Financieringsmaatschappij Industrieel Garantiefonds Amsterdam NV", the "Financieringsmaatschappij Industrieel Garantiefonds' s-Gravenhage NV", the "NV Noordelijke Ontwikkelings Maatschappij", the "NV Industriebank Limburgs Instituut voor ontwikkeling en financiering" and the "Overijsselse Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij NV", in the United Kingdom, the National Savings Bank, the Commonwealth Development Finance Company Ltd, the Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Ltd, the Scottish Agricultural Securities Corporation Ltd, the Crown Agents for overseas governments and administrations, credit unions, and municipal banks. 3. The Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, which, for this purpose, shall consult the Committee referred to in Article 11 (hereinafter referred to as "the Advisory Committee") shall decide on any amendments to the list in paragraph 2. 4. (a) Credit institutions existing in the same Member State at the time of the notification of this Directive and permanently affiliated at that time to a central body which supervises them and which is established in that same Member State, may be exempted from the requirements listed in the first, second and third indents of the first subparagraph of Article 3 (2), the second subparagraph of Article 3 (2), Article 3 (4) and Article 6, if, no later than the date when the national authorities take the measures necessary to translate this Directive into national law, that law provides that: - the commitments of the central body and affiliated institutions are joint and several liabilities or the commitments of its affiliated institutions are entirely guaranteed by the central body, the solvency and liquidity of the central body and of all the affiliated institutions are monitored as a whole on the basis of consolidated accounts, the management of the central body is empowered to issue instructions to the management of the affiliated institutions. Credit institutions operating locally which are affiliated, subsequent to notification of this Directive, to a central body within the meaning of subparagraph (a) may benefit from the conditions laid down in subparagraph (a) if they constitute normal additions to the network belonging to that central body. In the case of credit institutions other than those which are set up in areas newly reclaimed from the sea or have resulted from scission or mergers of existing institutions dependent or answerable to the central body, the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, which shall, for this purpose, consult the Advisory Committee, may lay down additional rules for the application of subparagraph (b) including the repeal of exemptions provided for in subparagraph (a), where it is of the opinion that the affiliation of new institutions benefiting from the arrangements laid down in subparagraph (b) might have an adverse effect on competition. The Council shall decide by a qualified majority. 5. Member States may defer in whole or in part the application of this Directive to certain types or groups of credit institutions where such immediate application would cause technical problems which cannot be overcome in the short-term. The problems may result either from the fact that these institutions are subject to supervision by an authority different from that normally responsible for the supervision of banks, or from the fact that they are subject to a special system of supervision. In any event, such deferment cannot be justified by the public law statutes, by the smallness of size or by the limited scope of activity of the particular institutions concerned. Deferment can apply only to groups or types of institutions already existing at the time of notification of this Directive. 6. Pursuant to paragraph 5, a Member State may decide to defer application of this Directive for a maximum period of five years from the notification thereof and, after consulting the Advisory Committee may extend deferment once only for a maximum period of three years. The Member State shall inform the Commission of its decision and the reasons therefor not later than six months following the notification of this Directive. It shall also notify the Commission of any extension or repeal of this decision. The Commission shall publish any decision regarding deferment in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Not later than seven years following the notification of this Directive, the Commission shall, after consulting the Advisory Committee, submit a report to the Council on the situation regarding deferment. Where appropriate, the Commission shall submit to the Council, not later than six months following the submission of its report, proposals for either the inclusion of the institutions in question in the list in paragraph 2 or for the authorization of a further extension of deferment. The Council shall act on these proposals not later than six months after their submission. TITLE II Credit institutions having their head office in a Member State and their branches in other Member States

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-01 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.