CRD VI: Belgium Adopts New Rules For Third-country Branches Banking Activities

The Belgian legislator has adopted the law transposing Directive (EU) 2024/1619 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2024 amending Directive 2013/36/EU as regards supervisory powers, sanctions, third-country branches, and environmental, social and governance risks (the “CRD VI”) into Belgian law (the “Belgian CRD VI Law”). The law was passed by the Chamber of Representatives on 16 July 2026 and is still to be published in the Belgian Official Gazette (Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad).

Among other reforms, it implements the new harmonised regime imposing the establishment of a branch authorised by the National Bank of Belgium (the “NBB”) for non-EEA (third country) undertakings to provide core banking services in Belgium. While the Belgian text largely mirrors the CRD VI Directive, it embeds a number of national specificities. With the law now adopted, in-scope institutions should move from monitoring to action ahead of the 11 January 2027 application date for