BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Dominique Blommaert, Jens Benoot, Fryderyk de Peslin Lachert and Lydie Van Muylem, Janson
Janson Chaussée de La Hulpe 187 1170 Brussels Belgium
Tel: +32 2 675 30 30 Fax: +32 2 675 30 31 Email: info@janson.be Web: www.janson.be
1. Identifying Assets in the Jurisdiction 1.1 Options to Identify Another Party’s Asset Position Asset disclosure orders are not available in Belgium. However, there are several options for creditors to obtain information on the asset position of a debtor in Belgium. Bank Account Information Creditors can request to obtain information on the Belgian bank accounts of their debtors. The condi - tions and formalities applicable to such request were modified following the act of 15 May 2024. Previ - ously, requests for bank account information were available only for creditors who had already obtained an enforceable title against their debtor (old Article 1447/1 of the Belgian Judicial Code (BJC)). Under the modified law, creditors without enforceable title can include a request for bank account information in their application for a conservatory third-party attachment with the enforcement judge (Article 1447, 3° of the BJC). For creditors that do have an enforceable title, the procedure has been simplified: they no longer have to file an application with the enforcement judge but can obtain the information through a bailiff directly (new Article 1539bis of the BJC). Central Register for Debt Recovery The central register for debt recovery contains infor - mation regarding attachment measures taken against debtors. Creditors can obtain access to the informa - tion on their debtor in the register either through a
bailiff or through a lawyer. The information collected in the register includes: • the identity of the creditor that filed the attachment against the debtor; • the amount of the debt for which the attachment was filed; • the type of attachment measure (see 2.2 Enforce- Under Belgian law, attachment measures are collec - tive in nature. This implies that the proceeds of an attachment against a debtor are to be distributed between all known creditors of that debtor, taking into account the security position, preferential rights and quantum of each of the creditors’ claims (“pro - portionate distribution”). The central register for debt recovery enables creditors to identify pending attach - ment measures so they can notify the acting bailiff of the existence of their claim, in order to benefit from the distribution. Real Estate Information on a debtor’s real estate assets can be obtained through the real estate register ( Kantoor rechtszekerheid/Bureau Sécurité Juridique ) of the Federal Public Service. This is generally conducted by a bailiff on the instruction of the creditor’s counsel. Pledge Register ment of Domestic Judgments ); and • a description of the assets seized. The pledge register of the Federal Public Service con - tains information on securities and retention of title regarding moveable assets. The pledge register is an online portal that is publicly accessible (subject
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