Proposition 53K3219

Projet de loi modifiant la loi du 24 juillet 1921 relative à la dépossession involontaire des titres au porteur, la loi du 14 décembre 2005 relative à la suppression des titres au porteur et le chapitre V de la loi du 24 juillet 2008 portant des dispositions diverses (I), en ce qui concerne les coffres dormants.

General information ¶

Submitted by

PS | SP the Di Rupo government

Submission date

Nov. 29, 2013

Official page

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Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

securities financial instrument personal property

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld MR

Voted to reject

∉ N-VA LDD VB

Party dissidents ¶

• Peter Luykx (CD&V) voted to reject.

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Discussion ¶

Dec. 12, 2013 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Secretary of State, first and foremost, I would like to thank the Secretaries of the Committee on Finance for ensuring in this busy period in such a short period that we could find a preliminary written report at our banks. We would like to thank the Secretariat for this.

The present bill consists of two major parts. The first part concerns an amendment to the law of 14 December 2005 on the abolition of the securities on toonder. This law is better known in financial circles as the Dmat project. The core idea of the dematerialization is that all effects on toonder must be converted into listings by name or dematerialized and that before 1 January 2014.

The second part of the draft law concerns the amendments to Chapter V of the Act of 24 July 2008 containing various provisions concerning sleeping safes. The government has opted to include the amendments to both laws in the same draft law because the two themes – the effects of toonder and the sleeping safes – are clearly connected. For example, a sleeping safe can also contain paper effects.

The Deposito and Consignateka Box plays a very important role in all this, both for the effects of toonder and for the sleeping safes. In the margin, therefore, in Article 2 of the draft law, the law of 24 July 1921 on the unintentional outsourcing of the titles on tower is updated, and that in order to take into account that from 1 January 2014 no more effects on tower can exist and that therefore new opposition to those securities becomes irrelevant. Resistance submitted before that date remains valid.

The Dematerialization Act in 2005 sought to modernise the trading of securities in Belgium while at the same time stopping the abuses that were possible with the effects of tinder, for example in the case of inheritance. Several resolutions of the international anti-money laundering organization GAFI were followed.

According to this Act, the securities on toonder must be converted by their titularis by 31 December 2013 at the latest into nominal securities or in dematerialized securities. The exercise of the rights associated with non-converted securities shall be suspended until a person obtains that the securities in his or her name are registered on a securities account or that they are registered in a register of securities in his or her name ⁇ ined by the issuer. The holder will also contact the issuer to collect any interest or dividends that have been suspended for a period.

In order to avoid the persistence of securities whose holders remain unknown for an indefinite period of time, the mechanism of forced sale of securities was established. From 1 January 2015, the issuer will have to arrange a sale so that the issuer can finally end the situation in which securities whose owner remains unknown are registered on his name. The proceeds of that sale and possibly the securities for which no buyer has been found shall be deposited at the Deposito- and Consignatiekasa, until a person obtains the refund.

Over the course of 2015, issuers will need to ensure that a commissioner, corporate auditor or certified external auditor confirms that the issuer has taken the necessary measures in the framework of the dematerialization process of the securities in the stock. As of January 1, 2016, a fine will be imposed by the greenhouse. The fine shall be due by any person who requests the refund of the securities or the amounts derived from the sale of the securities of which he claims to be the owner. All these points require an adjustment of the law.

Chapter V of the Act of 24 July 2008 concerning various provisions relating to sleeping safes regulates only the transfer of data to the Deposito- and Consignatiekasa. In 2008, the legislature did not determine the fate of the contents of the sleeping safe. It also showed that a number of other legislative adjustments were needed. These are primarily very practical aspects of the handling of the contents of the sleeping coffers, as well as the storage of the accounts by the Deposit and Consignation Coffers for thirty years in accordance with the normal legal principles. After 30 years, the State becomes the owner of the content.

During the general and article-based discussion, colleagues Devlies, Gilkinet, Gerkens and myself spoke. On detailed questions, the Minister provided us with some very interesting figures.

The number of securities already dematerialized is unknown, but the income from the tax on the conversion of the securities to toonder amounted to EUR 1 183 million in 2012. For 2013 the revenue is currently estimated at 3,851 million euros.

The modalities for the transfer of the contents of the sleeping coffers – which is the second piece – to the Deposito- and Consignatiekasa must still be fixed by royal decree. In total, it would be about 800 to 1 000 cubic meters of sleeping safe content. The Royal Coin would have sufficient capacity to store the contents of those coffers.

During an additional meeting, the Minister provided additional information on the possible succession rights and on the succession procedure if such effects would be recovered at a later date.

The outcome of the vote was as follows: 10 members were for and 1 member was against.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Secretary of State, colleagues, this bill is, of course, in line with the law of 2005, which abolished the effects of tounder. The abolition of securities – do not misunderstand us – is a positive evolution, both for investors and banks and for the government. It, of course, provides, first and foremost, a more modern management of securities, and we cannot, of course, oppose this. The time of cutting coupons has long been behind and the costs of management are decreasing as a result.

The measure will also combat a lot of inheritance disputes and fraud. This also tries to prevent money laundering, because of course the proof of transfer now becomes much easier.

Unfortunately, this bill confirms the policy choice made in 2005, resulting in the exhaustion of the securities on toonder eventually resulting in the expropriation of all securities that have not been converted in time, and therefore not before the end of the year.

I think, among other things, of the effects that were accidentally hidden by the holder too well and which he, for example, can no longer find. It can, of course, also be about an heir who finds such assets in a bank cage or ⁇ under the mattress of his grandmother. Such matters will usually be discussed.

In 2005, the Minister of Justice announced that the government would organize an information campaign on the abolition of the effects of tower, so that the citizen would be fully informed. In addition to the government, financial institutions should also start conducting such information campaigns. However, that announcement occurred in 2005.

When the current government-Di Rupo took office, the government took as one of its first decisions the introduction of a tax on the conversion of securities to toner, which was just something different from an information campaign, which the legislator in 2005 however had in mind. However, the majority of citizens had a legitimate expectation, namely that they would have at least until the end of 2013 time to convert their assets into tounder, preferably without a tax, which had absolutely not been announced.

What will happen now? From 2014 onwards, the forced sale of the securities not yet converted to toonder, both the listed and the non-listed securities, will be introduced.

The fact that it is taken into account that not all of these securities are likely to be sold, let alone that a fair price will be paid for them, demonstrates the absurdity of this sale procedure. This means for companies that this forced sale is an unnecessary burden that will cost money in addition. Fortunately, this bill has already stopped publication in the press. In this way, money can already be saved. But what is happening now? In contrast, this government again creates new costs for the issuers, because one has to have an additional audit performed by a numerical professional, a corporate auditor. We all know that this costs a lot of money.

Instead of expropriating the holders, it would have been sufficient to simply suspend the rights attached to those securities on toonder that had not yet been converted.

As if that forced sale is not yet sufficient, the sale price deposited at the Deposito- and Consignatiekasa will not incur interest. In addition, from 2016 the holder of the securities will have to pay a fine of 10 % per year of delay. This means that after ten years, the State acquires the full value. If in 2026 you still find assets in toner, they are therefore still worth 0 euros.

This method is in sharp contrast to the way the rules around the sleeping bench locks have been developed. In fact, the Minister stated in the committee that the defenders of the right of ownership with regard to the content of those sleeping bank cages have taken it on the administrators of the Deposito- and Consignateka. With a little more political will, it would have been possible to retain the ownership rights of the holders of untimely converted securities.

We therefore regret that the bill confirms the forced sale with associated costs for the companies, the interest-free investment at the Deposito- and Consignatiekasa, a fine of 10 % per year and a reduced limitation period of ten years instead of thirty years.

We will vote against this bill.