On 22 May 2026, the Belgian government published a draft for consultation introducing a title 5 into Book 7 “Special Contracts” of the Civil Code, which will overhaul the existing regime on a “loan with interest” (lening op interest/prêt à intérêt).
As a general principle, the new legal framework should be characterized as suppletive law (unless stated otherwise) and is not meant to displace financial regulatory provisions which continue to prevail as lex specialis, e.g. consumer credit and mortgage credit regulation, as foreseen under the Belgian Code of Economic Law.
Whereas, under the current regime, a “loan with interest” is formed from the moment of disbursement of the borrowed funds, the draft for consultation introduces the overarching principle that money loans (and loans in general) are to be qualified as contracts formed upon agreement and not upon disbursement. This fundamental shift paves the way for abolishing the existing (artificial) distinction between a “credit” and a “loan”.
The draft for consultation codifies key principles for interest clauses frequently negotiated in finance documents, such as interest rates accrue only on drawn amounts and are payable annually unless agreed otherwise. Furthermore, variable interest rates must be clearly defined by reference to a formula and benchmark.
The regime on early repayment and related indemnities (“funding loss”/“break costs”) has also been substantially revised, whereby different requirements apply depending on the type of money loan. As a general principle, for fixed-term, interest-bearing loans, borrowers no longer have a statutory right to prepay unless contractually agreed or where specific exceptions apply (such as the exception in the law on financing for Belgian SMEs).
Also, the draft for consultation introduces safeguards regarding default and enforcement, e.g. any contractual increase in interest for late payment is capped at 2% per annum over the outstanding amount.
A final point of interest for institutional finance is the proposed framework for perpetual money loans to preserve flexibility for instruments issued by regulated financial institutions and to keep pace with evolving prudential requirements.
Overall, the draft for consultation is a significant development for lenders using Belgian-law agreements in a B2B context, with a welcome removal of the distinction between credits and loans and removal of certain old-fashioned restrictions. The law on the financing of SMEs would not be affected by this reform.
The consultation period will continue until 20 July 2026.
For more information, contact your CMS client partner or CMS experts within the Banking & Finance team.
