THE moratorium on listing those who have issued bounced cheques came to an end yesterday when the Central Bank (CBC) said the registry was reopening.
The Central Information Registry (CIR), which lists the names of those who have bounced cheques, was stopped in the wake of the capital controls and banking chaos which ensued after the bailout in March.
At the time, the CBC said the list was unfair because circumstances in the wake of the Eurogroup decision made it all too easy for account holders to unwittingly bounce cheques.
But yesterday the CBC announced the CIR will now be reactivated and updated gradually during the current week until September 6.
“This has been deemed necessary to implement the relevant directives for its reactivation, with temporarily modified instructions, which take into account the current economic situation and sensitivities of the business community as a whole,” the CBC said.
According to the CBC, the procedure will take into account the problems arising from capital controls and the measures dealing with the resolution of the banks and stressed the CIR will treat people in a transparent, fair and equitable way.
The new procedures will also simplify the process of settling bounced cheques and getting removed from the CIR.
A person or a company’s name will be placed on the CIR’s blacklist if in the space of three months, three of their cheques bounced, irrespective of the amount, or if a cheque of over €2,000 bounces.
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