Country Manual Private Banking
Belgium
out of Bank’s Country of Establishment (Def, RS, BT & RT)
| Source of changes | Answers |
|---|---|
| Law / Regulation | No |
| New Position of the Authorities | No |
| Evolution of Expert’s Interpretation | No |
Regulatory Template, Regulatory Summary and Behaviour Template
Material changes
The documents have been reviewed following consultation with our local counsels, and we can confirm that there have been no relevant regulatory changes since the last update of this Country Manual.
Non-material changes
Some BT conditions have been amended, without this leading to material changes. For example, the condition “No prior targeted approach towards the target market” has been taken out for clarity purposes. Indeed, this condition is a prerequisite for providing both banking and investment services based on reverse solicitation.
Further non-material amendments and developments have been made throughout the documents without having any material implications.
The exception applicable to marketing activities for banking services to 50 persons or less is still in force. However, we choose not not repeat it throughout the whole Regulatory Template. The Country Manual assumes that banking activities are directed at 50 persons or more.
Implications for business relations with third parties
It has been confirmed that Belgian third parties should limit their activity for a foreign Bank to those of a client introducer (apporteur de client), i.e. mere referral activities. Especially, only the identity of the prospect should be communicated, to the exclusion of any other information.
Any further activity would qualify the third party as an intermediary in banking and investment services, which is a regulated activity. The underlying risk for the Bank is to be deemed to have a representative/agent in Belgium and risk establishing a de facto permanent establishment.
Regulatory Summary
This document has now a more user-friendly layout and reflects the changes contained in the RT.
BT Short Comparison
This document allows users to quickly identify the modifications made compared to the previous version of the PB Manual (BT Short Comparison). The BT Short Comparison can be found on BRP’s platform (mybrponline) in the Search tab by entering in the Document Field “CM PB BT SHORT COMP” and “BELGIUM” in the Target Country Field.
The BT Short Comparison should be read as follows:
The first column contains a short description of the activity in question. The second column contains the answers of the previous version of the Country Manual (online until the day of the alert). The third column contains the new answers of the most recent version of the Country Manual. Only the modified answers are displayed (in color). If the answers in the new version are unchanged compared to the previous version, they are shaded in grey.
For more information, please contact us: info@brpsa.com
Geneva, September 1st, 2025