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As from 1 April 2017, any statement of claim as part of bankruptcy proceedings should be submitted online to the Central Solvency Register (Registre Central de la Solvabilité / Centraal Register Solvabiliteit) via the website www.regsol.be.

The Central Solvency Register (the "Register") was created by the law of 1 December 2016 amending the Judicial Code and amending the law of 8 August 1997 on bankruptcies for the purpose of introducing a Central Solvency Register. It is an online database in which bankruptcy files are registered and kept, thus replacing the paper files kept at the tribunals of commerce. Creditors have direct access to the Register online and therefore do not have to go to the clerk's office of the tribunal to consult a bankruptcy file.

The use of the Register is mandatory, except for legal persons located outside Belgium and except for natural persons who are not represented by a lawyer or a trade union. Those persons can submit their claims either directly online to the Register, or in writing to the bankruptcy trustee who will submit the claims to the Register.

In addition to the statements of claims, the Register contains, most notably, the judgment declaring the merchant bankrupt, inventory reports, reports on the verification of claims and ordinances of the bankruptcy judge, etc.

A €6 fee is requested per statement of claim. This fee is not requested if the claim is submitted by a public institution or by the trustee (i.e., the statements of claim of legal persons located outside Belgium, and natural persons who are not represented by a lawyer or trade union and who do not submit their claims themselves).

Furthermore, an annual lump sum contribution per bankruptcy case is borne by the bankruptcy estate. Such contribution amounts to €25 a year if the gross asset reaches between €1,501 and €5,000 and to €295 a year if the gross asset exceeds €5,000.

Any bankruptcy proceedings opened prior to 1 April 2017 and not terminated on that date, do not need to be inserted in the Register as the documents previously incorporated in the file will remain on paper. However, the new documents must be recorded online in the Register as from 1 April 2017, and not at the clerk's office of the tribunal.

This computerized Register, which represents a major step toward simplifying the administrative management of bankruptcy cases, is a joint initiative of the Minister of Justice and the Belgian bar associations.