Full licence and partial licence

Factsheet

Read aloud

Banks have the option of applying for a partial licence rather than a full bank licence.

Published: 01 April 2017

Annex 1 to the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) has a list of possible bank activities. A full licence includes all of these activities. A partial licence pertains to a limited number of these activities. If you want to apply for a partial licence, then at least the activities listed under 1 and 2 must be part of your intended activities. These activities include inviting deposits and other repayable funds and granting credits on own account.

Partial licence

A partial licence may be an attractive option if a bank does not intend to perform all activities subject to a licence and regulations, or not immediately so. This may be a temporary situation, e.g. because the institution's operational management is not yet equipped to perform all activities. A partial licence may also be permanent, e.g. if the institution is a niche player.

Towards a full licence

If a partially licensed institution wants to expand its activities, it can apply for a licence for these additional activities only. In this way, institutions can grow towards a full licence.

Information licence application for a bank

Licence as a bank - overview

License or no license

Definition of a bank

Activities requiring a licence

Exemption from licence requirement: central corporate treasuries

Full licence and partial licence

Licence application

Licence application

Application process (12 steps)

Application process timeline

Application fees

Application success factors

Background information

PSD2

Prohibition on operating as a bank without a licence

Dispensation from prohibition on takingrepayable funds

Public register

Foreign banks

Statutory framework governing market access for banks

Discover related articles

Factsheet

Market access

Banks

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