2019-09-30
The Board of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo issued this Regulation to establish a centralized Credit Registry that systematically collects and distributes credit information among licensed financial institutions. It mandates credit providers to report accurate, timely data, obtain explicit borrower consent for processing personal information, and adhere to standardized reporting procedures. The framework grants data subjects the right to access, dispute, and correct their credit records while imposing administrative penalties on institutions for non-compliance or unauthorized disclosure.
1 of 9 Pursuant to Article 35, paragraph 1, sub-paragraph 1.1, Article 24 and Article 65, paragraph 1, of Law No. 03/L-209 on Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo (Official Gazette of the Republic of Kosovo, No. 77/ 16 August 2010), the Board of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo in its meeting held on 30 September 2019 adopted: REGULATION ON CREDIT REGISTRY CHAPTER I – GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1 Purpose
2 of 9 “credit” shall not include interbank loans, purchases of government debt securities and purchases of all debt securities in the secondary market. 1.2. Credit provider - any licensed bank, licensed microfinance institution, non-bank microfinance institution licensed for special credit activity, or an insurance company licensed for special credit activity. 1.3. Natural person – means an individual. 1.4. Personal data - means any information regarding an identified or identifiable natural person (“data subject”); an identifiable natural person is one who can, directly or indirectly, be identified, especially with reference to an identifier based on a name, identification number, location information, an online identifier, or one or more factors specific to the physical, psychological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person; 1.5. Sensitive personal data - means any personal information that reveals racial or ethnic origin, political or philosophical views, religious beliefs, membership in trade unions, or any data on health condition, sexual orientation, any entry and deletion from the criminal or administrative offense records, pursuant to the law. Biometric characteristics are also considered as sensitive personal data if they enable identification of a data subject in relation to any circumstances mentioned in the above subparagraph; 1.6. Legal entity – means any organization, business organization, corporation, branch of a foreign trade company operating in Kosovo, office of a foreign trade company in Kosovo, publicly owned enterprises under the applicable Law on Publicly Owned Enterprises, and socially owned enterprises under the administration of the Privatization Agency of Kosovo. 1.7. Business organization - is a general term that means and includes any type of business organization established in Kosovo under the Law on Business Organizations or any other law as defined in Article 5, paragraph 3, of the Law on Business Organizations, including individual businesses, general partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability companies and joint stock companies. 1.8. Corporate - means a Joint Stock Company or Limited Liability Company registered in Kosovo. 1.9. Branch of a foreign trade company - means the business entity registered in Kosovo for the exercise of lawful economic activity by a Foreign Trade Company established under a law of a jurisdiction outside Kosovo. 1.10. Legal entity data - means any information related to a legal entity. 1.11. Credit report - means any communication, written or electronic, of any information from the Credit Registry related to the credit state or exposure of a natural person or legal entity. 1.12. Borrower - means a natural person or a legal entity undertaking a credit obligation. 1.13. Co-borrower - means a natural person or a legal entity that assumes a credit obligation together with another natural person or legal entity. 1.14. Guarantor - means a natural person or a legal entity that undertakes a legal obligation to return the loan in case of failure of loan repayment by the primary borrower. 1.15. Data subject - means a natural person or a legal entity in respect of which Credit Registry
3 of 9 information is collected and a credit report is compiled. The data subject is also referred to as a client – one who has used credit services or applied for a credit, including borrowers and co-borrowers, guarantors and other related persons. 1.16. Consent - means the free expression of a freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous will of the data subject through which he or she, with a declaration or a clear affirmative action, expresses his or her consent to the processing of his/her personal data. 1.17. Processing - means any action or series of actions performed on personal data by automatic or nonautomatic means, such as: collecting, recording, organizing, structuring, storing, adapting or modifying, retreating, consulting, using, publishing by broadcasting, distributing or providing, unifying or combining, restricting, deleting or destruction. 1.18. Negative information - means information relating to a delay in repayment of a credit by the borrower and any other form of violation of obligations related to the loan. 1.19. Positive information - means information relating to the repayment of the credit on time by the borrower and fulfilling the obligations related to the loan. 1.20. Instruction - means a written recommendation issued by the Central Bank that is of general application and is binding in its entirety and directly applicable. 1.21. Exposure - means any off-balance sheet asset or item, including without limitation any direct or indirect cash loan or commitment in exchange for the right to recover the amount paid and outstanding and for payment of interest or other expenses relating to this amount, any postponement of the debt repayment date, any guarantees or letters of credit issued, debt securities and similar forms of bank lending or commitment of credit to the client, as well as shares, shareholding in equity and other types of investments in a legal entity by the bank; 1.22. Alternative data - means other data on the borrower's solvency that are relevant to the lending process, including but not limited to data on payments for utilities, taxes, fees electricity, telephony and court records. CHAPTER II – CREDIT REGISTRY OPERATION AND THE NATURE OF CREDIT INFORMATION Article 4 Credit registry operation
4 of 9 in cases when the information is inaccurate, incomplete or delayed as a consequence of such reporting by credit providers. Article 5 Permissible and Prohibited Collection of Credit Information
5 of 9 Article 7 Reporting credit information and reporting standard
6 of 9 Article 10 Exchange of Credit Information Exchange of credit information with relevant institutions at interstate level may take place in accordance with Article 74 of the Law on Central Bank and with the relevant laws applicable in the Republic of Kosovo, if the Central Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding or other information exchange agreement with a respective institution in that foreign country. CHAPTER V – RIGHTS OF DATA SUBJECTS Article 11 Rights of data subjects
7 of 9 5.1.2. Data subject will confirm the agreement or the disagreement with the answer of the credit provider. 5.2. If the resolution according to paragraph 5, sub-paragraph 5.1.1., of this Article is unsatisfactory to data subject, the credit provider shall inform the Central Bank. In such cases, the data subject may also notify the Central Bank on the request and/or claim. The Central Bank shall review the case and respond to the data subject in accordance with the CBK Regulation on the Internal Complaints Handling Process. 5.3. If the data subject is unsatisfied with the final resolution from paragraph 5, sub-paragraph 5.2., of this Article, and/or if his/her request and/or claim is not subject to review by the CBK, the data subject may use relevant legal remedies provided for by applicable legislation. 5.4. The Central Bank shall maintain a record of all credit information disputes. 6. While awaiting a response to the request for the resolution of a dispute, the respective credit report should have a note identifying the contested information under investigation in compliance with the terms of the respective instruction issued by Central Bank. 7. This Article does not eliminate or supersede the disclosure requirements of any other law or rule with respect to data subjects. CHAPTER VI – FEES Article 12 Fees
8 of 9 2.1. failure to report credit information; 2.2. delayed reporting of credit information; 2.3. reporting inaccurate credit data; 2.4. misuse of credit reports by credit providers; 2.5. unauthorized disclosure of credit information. 3. The penalties provided for in this Article shall not preclude the conduct of criminal or administrative proceedings under the legislation in force. CHAPTER VIII - TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS Article 14 Transitional provisions The provisions of the Credit Registry Guidelines adopted on 30 April 2018, which are not contrary to this Regulation, shall apply mutatis mutandis until the issuance of the new Credit Registry Guidelines. Article 15 Publications The Central Bank, for statistical and research purposes, may publish, partially or fully, the information contained in the Credit Registry, by guaranteeing its anonymity, without specifying certain credit providers or borrowers. Article 16 Instruction The Central Bank shall issue an Instruction to implement its responsibilities under this Regulation. Article 17 Repeal Upon entry into force of this Regulation, the Regulation on Credit Register, adopted on 24 February 2012, shall be repealed. Article 18 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force fifteen (15) days after its approval.
9 of 9 Flamur Mrasori Chairperson of the Board, Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo