text: OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 2 See ECB Opinion

text: of 22 September 2004 at the request of Národná banka Slovenska on a draft law on supervision of the financial market and on amendments to certain laws.

text: This provision implements Articles

text: and

text: of Council Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 of 28 June 2001 laying down measures necessary for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting (OJ L 181, 4.7.2001, p. 6).

text: See Article 21(1) of the State Treasury Act. 6 See

text: Article 6(1)

text: (n) of the State Treasury Act. 7 See Article 12(4) of the State Treasury Act. 8 See

text: Article 17

text: (n) of the State Treasury Act. 9 See Article 19(2) of the State Treasury Act. 10 See Article 21(1) of the State Treasury Act. 11 See Article 11(2) of the State Treasury Act. 12 More detailed provisions defining the scope of the Treaty prohibition on monetary financing, including with respect to the performance of a NCB’s fiscal agency function, are contained in

text: Council Regulation (EC) No 3603/93 of 13 December 1993

text: specifying the definitions for the application of the prohibition referred to in Articles

text: and

text: b(1) of the Treaty (OJ L 332, 31.12.1993, p. 1).

title: Opinion of the European Central Bank of 4 August 2005 at the request of Národná banka Slovenska on a draft law amending the Act No 566/1992 Coll. On Národná banka Slovenska, as amended, and on amendments to certain laws (CON/2005/26)

text: OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 4 August 2005 at the request of Národná banka Slovenska on a draft law amending the Act No 566/1992 Coll. on Národná banka Slovenska, as amended, and on amendments to certain laws (

text: 1. On 20 June 2005 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Národná banka Slovenska (NBS) for an opinion on a draft law amending the Act No 566/1992 Coll. on Národná banka Slovenska, as amended, and on amendments to certain laws (hereinafter the ‘draft law’).

text: 2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the first and third indents of

text: Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998

text: on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions , as the draft law contains provisions concerning currency matters and a national central bank (NCB). In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.

text: 3. According to the general part of the proposal report accompanying the draft law, the draft law’s main objective is to reflect the change in NBS’s competence in relation to integrated supervision of the whole financial market in the Slovak Republic. This aim is to be achieved in particular by amending the Act No 566/1992 Coll. on Národná banka Slovenska, as amended (hereinafter the ‘NBS Act’). In this regard it is recalled that the ECB was consulted and issued an opinion in 2004 on the transfer of responsibility for the supervision of the non-banking financial sector (capital markets, insurance and pensions) from the Slovak Financial Market Authority to NBS from 1 January 2006 . Furthermore, the draft law contains miscellaneous (in some cases recasted) provisions of the NBS Act relating to, inter alia: (i) the submission by NBS of periodic reports on monetary developments to the National Council of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter the ‘National Council’); (ii) the designation of NBS as the Slovak national centre for the analysis and monitoring of counterfeit euro banknotes and coins; (iii) the conduct of open market operations and the collateralisation of credit operations by NBS; (iv) the performance of fiscal agency functions by NBS for the Slovak Republic; and (v) certain initial preparations for the future introduction of the euro as the currency of the Slovak Republic.

text: 4. Under existing provisions of Slovak law, NBS has the task of supervising the safe functioning of the banking system and of contributing to the stability of the financial system as a whole. In line with NBS’s wider supervisory responsibilities, the draft law provides that, in the area of the financial market, NBS will contribute to the stability of the financial system as a whole as well as to the secure and sound functioning of the financial market in the interests of sustaining the credibility of the financial market, the protection of clients and respect for competition rules. As noted in paragraph 10 of ECB Opinion

text: , the ECB ‘favours recognising in the supervisory framework the clear distinction between the two goals of financial stability and investor protection.’ The ECB therefore welcomes these provisions of the draft law, which will adequately balance NBS’s macro and micro-prudential responsibilities in the areas of financial stability and the protection of investors.

text: 5. The ECB takes note that the draft law further adjusts the competences and composition of NBS’s Bank Board (hereinafter the ‘Board’), increasing the number of Board members from eight to eleven in order to broaden the representation of specialists from the field of supervision of the capital market, insurance and pensions, and widening the Board’s competences to include the supervision and regulation of the Slovak financial market.

text: 6. The draft law amends Article 3 of the NBS Act relating to the submission by NBS of semi-annual and annual reports on monetary developments to the National Council. The ECB understands that the reports are submitted to the National Council for information purposes only, and that the deliberations of the National Council thereon do not imply that the reports are required to be adopted or approved by the National Council.

text: 7. The ECB notes that pursuant to the draft law, Article 7(9) of the NBS Act will stipulate that unless Article 14.2 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank provides otherwise, a member of the Board may only be removed from office in the event that: (a) they have been legally sentenced by a court for an intentional criminal offence; (b) they no longer fulfil the preconditions for performing the office of a member of the Board; or (c) they have taken up an office, occupation, employment, or activity that is incompatible with membership of the Board or have otherwise breached the provisions of the NBS Act governing conflicts of interest.

text: 8. As noted on page 27 of the ECB Convergence Report 2004, ‘NCB statutes must ensure that Governors may not be dismissed for reasons other than those mentioned in Article 14.2 of the Statute. […] The NCB statutes should either contain grounds for dismissal which are compatible with those laid down in Article 14.2 of the Statute, or omit any mention of grounds for dismissal since

text: Article 14.2

text: is directly applicable.’ The report goes on to say that ‘Personal independence would be jeopardised if the same rules for the security of tenure of office of Governors were not also applied to other members of the decision-making bodies of NCBs involved in the performance of ESCB-related tasks. Various Treaty and Statute provisions require comparable security of tenure. Article 14.2 of the Statute does not restrict the security of tenure of office to Governors, whilst Article 108 of the Treaty and Article 7 of the Statute refer to any members of decision-making bodies of NCBs rather than to Governors specifically. This applies in particular where a Governor is primus inter pares between colleagues with equivalent voting rights or where such other members may have to deputise for the Governor.’ Therefore, the ECB would strongly recommend referring to Article 14.2 of the Statute when stating the reasons for dismissal of a Board member.

text: 9. The ECB also takes note of the provisions of the draft law pursuant to which NBS will fulfil the functions and tasks of national centres for the analysis and monitoring of counterfeit euro banknotes and coins . In this regard the ECB notes that NCBs in certain other Member States have also been given this particular task.

text: 10. Regarding the conduct of open market operations and the collateralisation of central bank credit operations, the ECB notes that NBS is currently only entitled to purchase from (or sell to) banks bills of exchange maturing within six months and government bonds (or other securities guaranteed by the Government), which it may hold for a maximum period of one year, and to provide banks with loans secured by such securities. Under the draft law NBS will be entitled to deal in any securities it has specified with banks, foreign banks and other financial institutions. NBS will also be entitled to accept assets it has specified as security in its credit operations. The ECB welcomes this more flexible statutory framework, which is more in line with the statutory framework for the Eurosystem’s monetary policy and intraday credit operations. In this regard, it is noted that Article 18.1 of the Statute provides that the NCBs may operate in the financial markets by buying and selling outright (spot and forward) or under repurchase agreement and by lending or borrowing claims and marketable instruments, and may conduct credit operations with credit institutions and other market participants, with lending being based on adequate collateral.

text: 11. The ECB takes note that the draft law amends the provisions of the NBS Act regarding the operations of NBS with the Slovak Republic. In particular the draft law provides that NBS may maintain the accounts of the State Treasury and provide additional services to, and cooperate with, the State Treasury and the Agency for Debt and Liquidity Management, subject to more detailed regulation contained in separate legislation, primarily Act No 291/2002 on the State Treasury and on amendments to certain laws (hereinafter the ‘State Treasury Act’). Article 11(1) of the State Treasury Act provides that NBS maintains the ‘single account’ of the State Treasury, which is a memorandum account containing a summary of the balances of all accounts of the State Treasury held with NBS. NBS also maintains a State Treasury settlement account to cover and meet liabilities arising from participation in the payment system pursuant to Act No 510/2002 Coll. on the payment system and on amendments to certain laws, as amended, and the State Treasury’s foreign exchange accounts, including the account holding funds of the European Communities, the balances of which are recorded in the single account . NBS is also authorised: (i) to carry out cross- 6 7 border transfers for, and to enable cash withdrawals and deposits by, clients of the State Treasury; (ii) to provide additional services to, and to cooperate with, the State Treasury and the Agency for Debt and Liquidity Mangement in their respective fields of competence ; and (iii) to carry out foreign currency transfers for the Agency for Debt and Liquidity Mangement on behalf of the State Treasury . Finally, the State Treasury Act provides that agreements between the State Treasury and NBS govern the holding of accounts of the State Treasury with NBS, clearing on such accounts and the conduct of additional services by NBS for the State Treasury, including the conditions and means of remuneration on credit balances of the State Treasury’s accounts held with NBS and recorded in the single account .

text: 12. The operations conducted by NBS with the Slovak Republic are, generally speaking, operations of a kind that are performed by most, if not all, NCBs within the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). This is is in accordance with Article 21.2 of the Statute, which provides that the ECB and the NCBs may act as fiscal agents for Community institutions or bodies, central governments, regional, local or other public authorities, other bodies governed by public law, or public undertakings of Member States. The ECB notes that both the draft law and the State Treasury Act contain important safeguards ensuring the compatibility of such operations with the prohibition on monetary financing contained in Article 101(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community. In particular, the draft law provides that NBS may execute payments from the accounts of the State Treasury only up to the amount of any credit balance on such accounts. In addition, the State Treasury Act provides that the accounts of the State Treasury held with NBS must have a credit balance . The ECB welcomes these provisions, which exclude the possibility of contravening the Treaty prohibition on overdraft facilities or any other type of credit facility by NBS in favour of the State Treasury as laid down in

text: Article 102

text: . Regarding additional services provided by NBS to the State Treasury and the Agency for Debt and Liquidity Management, the ECB notes that these activities are permissible insofar as they form part of an NCB’s fiscal agency function under Article 21.2 of the Statute, together with the other relevant provisions of Community law . The ECB notes that the services currently provided by NBS to the State Treasury and the Agency for Debt and Liquidity Management do not appear to go beyond the scope of what is permissible. Finally, regarding the detailed contractual provisions agreed between the State Treasury and NBS on the holding, clearing and remuneration of the State Treasury’s accounts with NBS, the ECB understands that these contracts fully comply with the abovementioned safeguards and provisions of Community law.

text: 13. The ECB takes particular note of the draft law’s provisions regarding the future introduction of the euro as the currency of the Slovak Republic. In particular, the ECB welcomes the fact that NBS has been given the task of ensuring the performance of preparatory activities for the introduction of the euro as the monetary unit and legal tender in the Slovak Republic. The ECB emphasises the strong synergy between this task of NBS under Slovak law and the responsibility of the ECB’s General Council (of which the Governor of NBS is a member) under Article 47.3 of the Statute to contribute to the necessary preparations for irrevocably fixing the exchange rates of the currencies of Member States with a derogation against the euro. The ECB also notes that, under the draft law, NBS must ensure that the Slovak side of euro coins contains the inscription ‘Slovakia’ or ‘Slovak Republic’. This provision is in line with the recent conclusions of the Council (ECOFIN) at its meeting held in Luxembourg on 7 June 2005, which concluded that since euro coins circulate throughout the euro area, Member States should put a clear indication of the issuing Member State on the national side of euro coins by means of a Member State’s name or an abbreviation of it. Finally, the ECB notes that the draft law excludes the application to euro banknotes and coins of certain provisions of national law that would otherwise apply to banknotes and coins, such as

text: Article 3(6)

text: (i) of Act No 63/1993 Coll. on state symbols of the Slovak Republic and their use.

text: 14. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. Done at Frankfurt am Main, 4 August 2005. [signed] The President of the ECB Jean-Claude TRICHET


publisher: Europeiska centralbanken

sprak: en

title: Opinion of the European Central Bank of 9 August 2005 at the request of De Nederlandsche Bank on a draft mandate order on financial institutions’ sector accounts and a draft cooperation agreement between the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek and De Nederlandsche Bank on sector accounts (CON/2005/27)

serie: con

text: OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 9 August 2005 at the request of De Nederlandsche Bank on a draft mandate order on financial institutions’ sector accounts and a draft cooperation agreement between the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek and De Nederlandsche Bank on sector accounts (

type: rubrik

text: 1. On 27 June 2005 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) for an opinion on a draft mandate order on financial institutions’ sector accounts (hereinafter the ‘Mandating Order’) and a draft cooperation agreement between the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS) and DNB on sector accounts (hereinafter the ‘Cooperation Agreement’).

type: stycke

text: 2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the fourth indent of

text: Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998

text: on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions , as the legislative proposal contains provisions concerning the collection, compilation and distribution of monetary, financial, banking, payment systems and balance of payments statistics. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.

text: 3. The ECB welcomes this consultation on the two connected measures implementing this transfer of competences and obligations between the two authorities. The Cooperation Agreement establishes a cooperation framework between DNB and the CBS in the field of financial and non-financial national accounts by institutional sector defining their respective responsibilities in terms of data collection, compilation of the accounts, exchange of data and fulfilment of international obligations. The Mandating Order is a draft legislative provision which mandates DNB to collect such data from financial institutions on behalf of the CBS for the compilation of accounts and to impose administrative measures in the event of failure to comply with the corresponding reporting obligations, currently a CBS exclusive competence under the Wet op het Centraal bureau voor de statistiek (Statistics Netherlands Act) and the Besluit gegevensverwerving CBS (Statistics Netherlands Data Collection Order).

text: 4. The ECB welcomes the initiative laid down in the Mandating Order and the Cooperation Agreement as it will help to ensure the compilation of high quality quarterly financial accounts required under Guideline ECB/2002/7 of 21 November 2001 on the statistical reporting requirements of the European Central Bank in the field of quarterly financial accounts (hereinafter the ‘MUFA Guideline’). It is noted that the Cooperation Agreement complies with the provisions of Article 5 of the MUFA Guideline. The ECB also welcomes the fact that the Cooperation Agreement provides for the compilation of integrated financial and non-financial accounts, in line with ECB requirements for euro area accounts by institutional sector.

text: 5. The Cooperation Agreement provides that DNB will entrust the CBS with the task of reporting to the ECB data on financial accounts compiled by the CBS on the basis of data reported to both DNB and the CBS. The ECB does not object in principle to DNB outsourcing its reporting obligations towards the ECB, provided certain legal requirements are met. In particular, DNB must retain full responsibility for all such activities, including the data’s overall consistency and the transmission of all relevant data to the ECB. Therefore, DNB must be able to check that the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements laid down in the MUFA Guideline are being fully met. In this context, DNB has to ensure that any future reporting requirements under the MUFA Guideline are met without any delay. In particular, the ECB notes that under Article 2(3) of the MUFA Guideline, DNB, or if so agreed the CBS, is obliged to report to the ECB readily available information on single major events and on reasons for revisions, in addition to data for financial assets and liabilities. It is therefore DNB’s responsibility to ensure that the Mandating Order and the Cooperation Agreement meet this requirement.

text: 6. The ECB takes note of the division of labour between the two institutions in respect of data collection as laid down in Sections 3 and 4 of the Cooperation Agreement and in the Mandating Order. Further to the Mandating Order, all financial institutions will submit their statistical data to a single institution, namely DNB. This may further streamline the burden on the institutions concerned, in view of the arrangements between DNB and the CBS that have already been established in the fields of balance of payments and monetary statistics reporting.

text: 7. Section 7.1 of the Cooperation Agreement, in conjunction with Section 7.3, and

text: Article 3(1)

text: (g) of the Mandating Order, set out the confidentiality regime to be applied to the data collected by the respective institutions. In particular, Section 7.1 provides that ‘micro information shall be secret and shall not be provided to any third party’. With respect to data handling and its transmission between the two institutions, the ECB welcomes proper protection of confidential statistical information.

text: 8. Finally, under the ESCB’s internal arrangements it is not possible to share agendas and reports of meetings of ESCB advisory committees with third parties. The final sentence of Section 10.2 of the Cooperation Agreement needs to be amended to reflect this.

text: 9. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. Done at Frankfurt am Main, 9 August 2005. [ signed ] The President of the ECB Jean-Claude TRICHET

type: vagledning

utgivare: ecb


text: OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. OJ L 166, 11.6.1998, p. 45.

title: Opinion of the European Central Bank of 10 August 2005 at the request of the Central Bank of Cyprus on a draft law amending the Settlement Finality in Payment Systems and Securities Settlement Systems Law of 2003 (CON/2005/28)

text: OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 10 August 2005 at the request of the Central Bank of Cyprus on a draft law amending the Settlement Finality in Payment Systems and Securities Settlement Systems Law of 2003 (

text: 1. On 15 July 2005, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) for an opinion on a draft law amending the Settlement Finality in Payment Systems and Securities Settlement Systems Law of 2003 (hereinafter the ‘draft law’).

text: 2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the third and fifth indents of

text: on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions and Article 25.1 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, as the draft law relates to: (i) the CBC, a national central bank; (ii) payment and settlement systems; and (iii) the scope and implementation of Community legislation relating to the stability of the financial system. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.

text: 3. The ECB notes that the main purpose of the draft law is to address a number of discrepancies between Directive

text: of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 1998 on settlement finality in payment and securities settlement systems (hereinafter the ‘Directive’) and certain provisions of the Settlement Finality in Payment Systems and Securities Settlement Systems Law of 2003 (hereinafter the ‘SFL’), implementing the Directive into Cypriot law. The discrepancies addressed by the draft law relate to the SFL’s coverage of: (i) voluntary winding-up of participants in a payment and securities settlement system; and (ii) systems governed by the law of another Member State and operating in another Member State. The ECB notes that these discrepancies have previously been identified and welcomes the action of the CBC to address them.

text: 4. Section 4 of the draft law provides that, in the event of voluntary liquidation proceedings, the moment of the opening of such proceedings is to be the moment when the voluntary winding-up resolution is adopted, thereby bringing voluntary liquidation proceedings within the scope of the SFL. Moreover, the draft law provides that, following the adoption of a voluntary winding-up resolution, the participant subject to liquidation proceedings shall immediately notify such resolution to the competent authority, which shall inform the ECB and the competent authorities of the other Member States.

text: 5. Sections 3 and 5 of the draft law, read in conjunction with Section 2, provide that the SFL shall apply to any payment and securities settlement system governed by the law of a Member State and operating in any currency or in various currencies which the system converts one against another. This unequivocally extends the coverage of the SFL to payment and securities settlement systems which are governed by the law of another Member State and which have not been designated by the CBC but instead by the competent authority of another Member State.

text: 6. On the basis of the above, the ECB welcomes the core objective of the draft law, which is to amend the SFL in the interests of achieving legal certainty and eliminating the legal risks inherent in the participation of institutions established in Cyprus in payment and securities settlement systems. The Directive represents an important step towards providing certainty with regard to the determination of the applicable law and to the insulation from insolvency proceedings of transactions and assets provided as collateral within a payment and securities settlement system. The ECB welcomes measures taken by Member States for the proper application of the provisions of the Directive and for securing the achievement of its aims.

text: 7. The ECB further notes that, while it does not comment in detail on individual provisions of the draft law, these do not appear to raise concerns of substance, as they are generally consistent with the purpose of the draft law as well as with the provisions and purposes of the Directive.

text: 8. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. Done at Frankfurt am Main, 10 August 2005. [ signed ] The President of the ECB Jean-Claude TRICHET


text: OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 2 See also Recital 9 to

text: Council Regulation (EC) No 3603/93 of 13 December 1993

text: specifying definitions for the application of the prohibitions referred to in Articles

text: and

text: b(1) of the Treaty (OJ L 332, 31.12.1993, p. 1), which provides that notwithstanding the role assigned to the Commission pursuant to Article 169 of the Treaty, it is for the ECB to ensure that the NCBs honour the obligations laid down by the Treaty.

title: Opinion of the European Central Bank of 11 August 2005 at the request of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance concerning a draft Federal law on the payment of a contribution by Austria to the trust fund administered by the International Monetary Fund for low income developing countries affected by natural disasters (CON/2005/29)

text: OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 11 August 2005 at the request of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance concerning a draft Federal law on the payment of a contribution by Austria to the trust fund administered by the International Monetary Fund for low income developing countries affected by natural disasters (

text: 1. On 25 July 2004 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance for an opinion on a draft Federal law on the payment of a contribution by Austria to the trust fund administered by the International Monetary Fund for low income developing countries affected by natural disasters (hereinafter the ‘draft law’).

text: 2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the third indent of

text: Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998

text: on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions , as the draft law contains provisions concerning a national central bank (NCB). In addition, the ECB notes that it is necessary to ascertain whether the draft law complies with the prohibition on monetary financing laid down in Article 101 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, since ensuring compliance with that prohibition is part of the ECB’s role under

text: Article 237

text: (d) of the Treaty to ensure that the NCBs fulfil their Treaty obligations . In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.

text: 3. The draft law authorises the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (hereinafter the ‘OeNB’) to make a deposit on a special account with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the amount of up to seven million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), i.e. EUR 8.4 million. In the wake of the tsunami disaster, on 21 January 2005 the IMF’s Executive Board resolved to create a trust fund to be administered by the IMF to aid Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility eligible countries that had been affected by natural disasters by granting them ‘soft’ loans at below market rates.

text: 4. It is intended that the loan portfolio which the IMF is aiming to raise of around 45 to 65 million SDRs, or approximately EUR 54.4 to 78.6 million, will be raised by capital contributions from IMF members. These are the amounts calculated on the basis of the demand from countries that have been affected by the tsunami disaster (e.g. the Maldives and Sri Lanka), the debts of countries that have been affected by disasters in recent years and from anticipated natural disasters. The OeNB will contribute to the subsidies by making a deposit on a special IMF account that will invest the funds in the market. The OeNB will in return receive deposit interest of 0.5% per annum and the IMF’s Natural Disaster Emergency Assistance subsidy account, which is an extension of the IMF’s Emergency Post Conflict Assistance account, will receive any net income from investment of the funds. The deposit will have a maximum term of five years. The costs to Austria will be incurred indirectly due to a reduction in the OeNB’s profits as a result of depositing funds with the IMF at a deposit rate which is below the market rate.

text: 5. As mentioned briefly in paragraph 2, the draft law should be examined to determine its conformity with the prohibition on monetary financing contained in Article 101 of the Treaty, which prohibits, inter alia, overdraft facilities or any other type of credit facility with the NCBs in favour of central governments. This prohibition is subject to certain limited exemptions contained in Article 101(2) of the Treaty and in

text: Regulation (EC) No 3603/93

text: . In particular,

text: Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 3603/93

text: provides that ‘The financing by the … national central banks of obligations falling upon the public sector vis-à-vis the International Monetary Fund … shall not be regarded as a credit facility within the meaning of Article 104 of the Treaty’. Recital 14 to

text: Regulation (EC) No 3603/93

text: sets out the rationale behind this exemption, stating that it is appropriate to authorise the financing by the central banks of obligations falling upon the public sector vis-à-vis the IMF as this financing results in foreign claims which have all the characteristics of reserve assets. The ECB considers that the OeNB’s financing of the abovementioned IMF-administered initiative falls within the scope of this exemption, and should not therefore be regarded as a form of monetary financing prohibited by the Treaty.

text: 6. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. Done at Frankfurt am Main, 11 August 2005. [signed] The President of the ECB Jean-Claude TRICHET


text: ECB Opinion CON/99/16 of 28 October 1999 at the request of the Banco de España on a draft Royal Decree on the arrangements for the payment of the Banco de España’s profits to the Treasury and ECB Opinion

text: of 25 April 2002 at the request of the Spanish Secretary of State for the Economy, Energy and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises on a draft Royal Decree on the arrangements for the payment of the Banco de España’s profits to the Treasury. 4 Page 295 of the EMI’s Convergence Report, March 1998. 5 See Paragraph 6 of ECB Opinion

text: of 15 October 2003 at the request of the Finnish Ministry of Finance on a draft government proposal to amend the Suomen Pankki Act and other related acts. 6 See page 28 of the ECB’s Convergence Report 2004.

text: See page 29 of the ECB’s Convergence Report 2004 and Paragraph 6 of ECB Opinion

title: Opinion of the European Central Bank of 11 August 2005 at the request of the Spanish Secretary of State for the Economy on a draft royal decree on the arrangements for the payment of the Banco de España’s profits to the Treasury (CON/2005/30)

text: OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 11 August 2005 at the request of the Spanish Secretary of State for the Economy on a draft royal decree on the arrangements for the payment of the Banco de España’s profits to the Treasury (

text: 1. On 26 July 2005, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Spanish Secretary of State for the Economy for an opinion on a draft royal decree on arrangements for the payment of the Banco de España’s profits to the Treasury (hereinafter the ‘draft royal decree’).

text: 2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Article 105(4) of the Treaty establishing the European Community and on the third indent of

text: on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions as the draft royal decree concerns a national central bank (NCB). In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.

text: 3. The draft royal decree is based on the power granted to the Government by the second final provision of Law 12/1998 of 28 April amending the Law of Autonomy of the Banco de España to determine, by way of government regulation, the rules for the payment of the Banco de España’s profits to the Spanish Treasury.

text: 4. The draft royal decree would replace Royal Decree 1080/2002 of 22 October which applied from the financial year 2002 until the financial year 2004. Royal Decree 1080/2002 in turn replaced Royal Decree 1746/1999 of 19 November, which applied until the financial year 2001. The provisional nature of these Royal Decrees was a precaution triggered by the need to evaluate the application of Decision ECB/2001/16 of 6 December 2001 on the allocation of monetary income of the national central banks of participating Member States from the financial year 2002 .

text: 5. Both Royal Decree 1746/1999 and Royal Decree 1080/2002 were the subject of consultation with the ECB. They established the same schedule for payment to the Treasury of profits accrued to the Banco de España and recorded by it, as follows: - In November of each year, 70% of the profits accrued and recorded by 30 September of the same financial year. - In February of each year, 90% of the profits accrued and recorded by 31 December of the preceding financial year, discounting the instalment paid in November. - The remaining profits, following approval by the Government of the Banco de España’s accounts for the financial year.

text: 6. The ECB has already had the opportunity to comment on the rules for the distribution of the Banco de España’s profits to the Treasury in ECB Opinions CON/99/16 and

text: 7. The draft royal decree introduces two changes to the current arrangements for the payment of the Banco de España’s profits to the Treasury, as follows: (i) the second payment of profits to the Treasury would be delayed from February to March; and (ii) profits could be excluded from payment to the Treasury upon authorisation by the Council of Ministers.

text: 8. The ECB notes that the deferral to March of the following financial year of the second payment of profits to the Treasury is a change of a purely technical nature that would nevertheless relieve operational pressures relating to closure of the Banco de España’s accounts.

text: 9. The ECB welcomes the amendment proposed by the draft royal decree to enable the Council of Ministers to authorise the exclusion from payment to the Treasury of part of the Banco de España’s profits. In this respect, the ECB recalls that according to the doctrine expressed by the European Monetary Institute (EMI) and the ECB in their convergence reports, the principle of financial independence of central banks requires that the ‘NCBs should be in a position to avail themselves of the appropriate means to ensure that their ESCB-related tasks can be properly fulfilled .’ The NCBs must also, at all times, have sufficient financial means to carry out their other functions, i.e. to perform their national tasks, to meet their international obligations and cover properly their administrative and operational expenses . It should be noted that

text: Article 28.1

text: and Article 30.4 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank provide for further calls on the NCBs to make further contributions to the capital of the ECB and to make further transfer of foreign reserves. The principle of financial independence requires that compliance with these provisions leaves an NCB’s ability to perform its functions unimpaired . Therefore, the ECB welcomes the flexibility afforded by the draft royal decree which would allow the Banco de España to be able to retain part of its profits, thereby enabling it to build up financial reserves that should help to guarantee the availability of appropriate independent financial means to meet its obligations.

text: 10. The ECB notes that the draft royal decree establishes no procedures in relation to the authorisation to retain part of the Banco de España’s profits. In this respect, the ECB has expressed the view in a previous opinion that financial independence requires that rules on the distribution of NCBs’ profits should not afford ad hoc discretion to third parties, and in particular to political authorities . The ECB therefore welcomes the inclusion of a safeguard clause in Article 2(2) of the draft royal decree, which states that the rules laid down in the draft royal decree ‘shall not limit in any way the appropriate performance of tasks attributed to the Banco de España within the European System of Central Banks.’ Nevertheless, the ECB suggests that the provisions on the exclusion of part of the Banco de España’s profits from distribution to the Spanish Treasury should be made more specific. It would, in particular, be appropriate if they establish the procedure leading to authorisation by the Council of Ministers, including the role of the Banco de España in initiating such procedure in order to create additional legal certainty and avoid any exercise of discretion in this context.

text: 11. As stated by the ECB in its previous opinions on this matter, the proposed measures do not conflict with the current ECB regime for the issue of euro banknotes and the allocation of monetary income of NCBs of the participating Member States, established under Decision ECB/2001/15 of 6 December 2001 on the issue of euro banknotes and Decision ECB/2001/16.

text: 12. Decision ECB/2001/16 lays down a transitional period for the allocation of monetary income to the NCBs, which lasts until the financial year 2007. The ECB notes that the draft royal decree will apply until 2007, in order to reflect the duration of such transitional period.

text: 13. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. Done at Frankfurt am Main, 11 August 2005. [signed] The President of the ECB Jean-Claude TRICHET


text: For the ECB’s views on the Law of 28 February 2002 regulating the compilation of the balance of payments and the international investment position of Belgium and amending the Decree Law of 6 October 1944 on foreign exchange control and various legal provisions (hereinafter the ‘Law of 28 February 2002’) see ECB Opinion

text: of 30 August 2001 at the request of the Belgian Minister of Finance on a draft law on the compilation of the balance of payments and the international investment position of Belgium and amending the Decree Law of 6 October 1944 on foreign exchange control and various legal provisions.

text: See ECB Opinion

text: of 14 January 2002 at the request of the Governor of the Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique on a draft royal decree and draft accompanying regulations on the compilation of the balance of payments and the international investment position of Belgium.

title: Opinion of the European Central Bank of 29 August 2005 at the request of the Belgian Ministry of Finance on a preliminary draft law that amends the Law of 28 February 2002 regulating the compilation of the balance of payments and the international investment position of Belgium and amending the Decree Law of 6 October 1944 on foreign exchange control and various legal provisions (CON/2005/31)

text: OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 29 August 2005 at the request of the Belgian Ministry of Finance on a preliminary draft law that amends the Law of 28 February 2002 regulating the compilation of the balance of payments and the international investment position of Belgium and amending the Decree Law of 6 October 1944 on foreign exchange control and various legal provisions (

text: 1. On 17 June 2005, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Belgian Ministry of Finance for an opinion on a preliminary draft law that amends the Law of 28 February 2002 regulating the compilation of the balance of payments and the international investment position of Belgium and amending the Decree Law of 6 October 1944 on foreign exchange control and various legal provisions (hereinafter the ‘draft law’) .

text: 2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Article 105(4) of the Treaty establishing the European Community and on the third and fourth indents of

text: Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998

text: on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions , since the draft law concerns the collection, compilation and distribution by the Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique (NBB) of monetary, financial, banking, payment systems and balance of payments statistics. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.

text: 3. Besides inserting into the Law of 28 February 2002 references to the statistical data covered by

text: Regulation (EC) No 184/2005

text: of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 January 2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment , the draft law also makes substantive amendments to the Law of 28 February 2002, concerning a number of which the ECB has the following comments.

text: 4. The ECB welcomes the fact that

text: Article 5

text: (a) of the draft law enables the NBB to implement the compilation methods for portfolio investment statistics provided for in Guideline ECB/2004/15 of 16 July 2004 on the statistical reporting requirements of the European Central Bank in the field of balance of payments and international investment position statistics, and the international reserves template .

text: 5. The ECB also welcomes the fact that the draft law introduces the possibility of a direct reporting system (see

text: Article 5

text: (b) of the draft law), as opposed to the current system whereby statistical data are primarily collected through the intermediation of the banking sector, and notes that similar direct reporting systems have also been implemented in other Member States. Whilst reducing the reporting burden on the monetary financial institutions sector and other financial intermediaries, a direct reporting system should ensure the high quality of data contributed to euro area cross-border statistics. The ECB understands that the direct reporting system is considered as an alternative to the existing indirect reporting system but does not preclude use of indirect reporting in the future, for instance as a ‘fall-back’ method in relation to certain categories of transactions for which direct reporting proves unsatisfactory. Finally, the ECB understands that the insertion of an explicit reference to

text: Article 3

text: , §1 of the Law of 28 February 2002 into

text: Article 3

text: , §2 thereof – which precisely delimits the transactions about which the NBB is entitled to receive information – does not restrict the NBB’s existing powers. The ECB indeed understands that such delimitation already derives from the general reference in the second paragraph of Article 2 of the Law of 28 February 2002 to

text: Articles 3

text: to 7 thereof.

text: 6. In order to facilitate the operation of the direct reporting system, the draft law introduces two new data collection methods into the Law of 28 February 2002, namely (i) sample surveys (pursuant to the second paragraph of

text: Article 5

text: (b) of the draft law); and (ii) ‘secondary data collection’, i.e. the collection of already available data from public authorities and professional bodies (pursuant to the third paragraph of

text: Article 5

text: (b) of the draft law). The ECB notes that the possibility of sample surveys in certain cases is already currently provided for in the last paragraph of Article 4 of the Royal Decree of 19 March 2002 regarding the compilation of the balance of payments and the international investment position of Belgium (the decree that implemented the Law of 28 February 2002), and that this is now generalised under the draft law. Considering the importance for the accuracy of sample surveys of properly defining the categories of reporting agents covered by the surveys, with these reporting agents having precisely the same probability of being obliged to provide the information (see the second paragraph of

text: Article 5

text: (b) of the draft law), the ECB welcomes the additional provision inserted by the draft law into the Law of 28 February 2002 to the effect that the NBB may also be entrusted by royal decree with the task of delimiting how and when the sample surveys will be implemented (

text: Article 5

text: (d) of the draft law). The ECB expects that the Belgian authorities will also consult it in relation to such decree. The ECB also notes regarding the secondary data collection method provided for under the draft law, that the NBB can oblige public authorities to report their data, whereas professional bodies only report their data on a voluntary basis. While the ECB welcomes the possibility of secondary data collection, the ECB would like to note that if professional bodies were not to report relevant data available to them to the NBB, the NBB would have to collect these data in another way, which might prove less efficient and more costly to reporting agents. Therefore, the ECB would like to encourage the conclusion of cooperation agreements between the NBB and the relevant professional bodies laying down the modalities for data transmission by the latter to the NBB. This could be ensured either through a provision in the draft law or through a statement to this effect in the explanatory memorandum.

text: Article 4

text: , §1 of the Law of 28 February 2002 currently refers in the context of the NBB’s use of data to the NBB’s compliance with its obligations in connection with the tasks falling upon the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), and

text: Article 4

text: , §2 currently separately refers in the context of the NBB’s data communication to the communication of individual data by the NBB to the ECB. For consistency reasons, the draft law moves the reference to the ESCB’s tasks from

text: Article 4

text: , §1 to

text: Article 4

text: , §2, but at the same time deletes the reference to communication of the data to the ECB from

text: Article 4

text: , §2. While the ECB acknowledges the reason for moving the reference to the ESCB, the ECB also understands that deleting the reference to communication of the data to the ECB will not limit existing data communication possibilities from the NBB to the ECB under the Law of 28 February 2002 and applicable Community legislation.

text: 8. Finally, the draft law allows the NBB to communicate individual data to the Commissie voor het Bank, Financie- en Assurantiewezen/Commission bancaire, financière et des assurances (CBFA) (the Belgian Banking, Finance and Insurance Commission), provided that the CBFA is itself authorised to process such data in the context of its prudential supervision tasks (final paragraph of

text: Article 6

text: (b) of the draft law). In order to lay down unambiguously the conditions for such communication, it might be appropriate to mention explicitly in the draft law that the CBFA should be ‘authorised to directly collect and process’ the data instead of merely mentioning this in the explanatory memorandum to the draft law (see the penultimate paragraph on page 8 of the explanatory memorandum).

text: 9. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. Done at Frankfurt am Main, 29 August 2005. [signed] The President of the ECB Jean-Claude TRICHET


text: Pursuant to Lietuvos bankas Board Resolution No 158 of 30 November 2000, as amended by Board Resolution No 158 of 28 November 2002. 4 Recital 17 to

text: Regulation (EC) No 2533/98

text: . 5 ‘Payment and securities settlement systems in the European Union’. Third edition published June 2001. Addendum incorporating 2003 figures published August 2005.

text: With regard to credit unions established in Lithuania, reference is made to ECB Opinion

text: of 1 April 2005 at the request of Lietuvos bankas on draft rules on minimum reserve requirements for credit institutions.

title: Opinion of the European Central Bank of 15 September 2005 at the request of Lietuvos bankas on draft general provisions on payment instruments statistical reporting requirements (CON/2005/32)

text: OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 15 September 2005 at the request of Lietuvos bankas on draft general provisions on payment instruments statistical reporting requirements (

text: ) Introduction

text: 1. On 5 August 2005 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Lietuvos bankas for an opinion on Mokėjimo priemonių statistinės atskaitomybės reikalavimų bendrųjų nuostatų projektas (draft general provisions on payment instruments statistical reporting requirements) (hereinafter the ‘draft rules’).

text: 2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the fourth indent of

text: Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998

text: on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions , as the draft rules relate to the collection, compilation and distribution of banking and payment systems statistics. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.

text: 3. Under the draft rules, banks, foreign bank branches and Lietuvos paštas (the Lithuanian Post Office) will be required to report data on payment instruments to Lietuvos bankas. The annex to the draft rules contains the new Payment Instruments Statement Form 0607 (hereinafter ‘Form 0607’) to be used by reporting agents. In general terms, the data to be reported concern reporting agents’ offices, deposit accounts, payment transactions, bank cards and terminals. The draft rules also provide that data on Lithuanian credit unions will be evaluated on the basis of an annual survey conducted by Lietuvos bankas.

text: 4. The draft rules are based on

text: Article 8(1)

text: (9) and Article 54 of the Lietuvos bankas Act, which empower Lietuvos bankas to collect monetary, banking and balance of payments statistics, Lithuanian financial and related statistical data, and oblige state institutions and other legal entities to submit to Lietuvos bankas all information required for the performance of its functions. The ECB understands that the draft rules will replace the existing Form 0607, which only applies to banks and was adopted by the Board of Lietuvos bankas in November 2000 .

text: 5. Article 5.2 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank provides that the national central banks (NCBs) carry out, to the extent possible, the tasks described in Article 5.1 of the Statute, i.e. the collection of the statistical information necessary in order to undertake the tasks of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). Moreover,

text: Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998

text: concerning the collection of statistical information by the ECB requires that ‘Member States shall organise themselves in the field of statistics and shall fully cooperate with the ESCB in order to ensure the fulfilment of the obligations arising out of Article 5 of the Statute’. Whilst the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements are not identical for participating and non-participating Member States, Article 5 of the Statute applies to both. This implies an obligation to ‘design and implement at the national level all the measures that Member States consider appropriate in order to carry out the collection of the statistical information needed to fulfil the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements and the timely preparations in the field of statistics in order for them to become participating Member States’ .

text: General comments and assumptions

text: 6. The draft rules appear to be generally consistent with the current reporting requirements in relation to payment systems statistics to be published in the ECB’s ‘Blue Book’ , and would help to ensure completeness and high quality of data submitted by Lithuania. Consequently, the ECB welcomes the draft rules. At the same time, the ECB notes that the collection of statistical information for the Blue Book is based on specifications agreed at the technical level by the ECB and the euro area NCBs. Such specifications are currently being revised so that they can be included in a binding legal act. Therefore, changes in the requirements cannot be ruled out at this stage. The ECB’s comments in this opinion are meant to serve as a guide, enabling Lietuvos bankas to shape its statistical reporting requirements in line with those of the Eurosystem in preparation for the introduction of the euro in Lithuania.

text: 7. The ECB understands that other data required for the Blue Book may be collected on the basis of different statistical reporting requirements and/or from different reporting agents, and that as a result such additional requirements have not been included in the draft rules. In particular the ECB’s comments are based on the following underlying assumptions. First, data required for the Blue Book (Tables 2 to 4 and, in part, Table 5) with respect to balance sheet items and banknotes and coins, would either be collected separately on introduction of the euro in Lithuania pursuant to

text: Regulation (EC) No 2423/2001

text: of the European Central Bank of 22 November 2001 concerning the consolidated balance sheet of the monetary financial institutions sector (ECB/2001/13) , or are already available at Lietuvos bankas. Second, data required for the Blue Book (Tables 9 and 10) with respect to indicators of various cashless payment instruments would be collected separately from the systems themselves, namely large value payments systems and retail payment systems. Third, data required for the production of statistical tables with regard to securities settlement systems would also be collected separately, as they are outside the scope of Form 0607. Finally, the remaining data required for the production of the Blue Book (Tables 5 to 8) would be collected on the basis of Form 0607.

text: 8. It would be appropriate to consider including in the population of reporting agents any other institutions providing payment services in Lithuania. It is noted that a discussion at Community level concerning new legislation in the field of payment systems is currently underway.

text: Technical observations with respect to the draft rules

text: 9. In the following paragraphs, the ECB comments on: (i) the general provisions of the draft rules and the population of reporting agents (Sections I to IV); (ii) the definitions of statistical reporting indicators (Section V); and (iii) Form 0607 (attached to the draft rules). References to paragraphs and sections are to be understood as references to the relevant paragraphs and sections of the draft rules and sections of Form 0607, unless otherwise indicated.

text: 10. The ECB has not reviewed the time series codes given in Form 0607, as these are considered to be outside the scope of this consultation. Furthermore, details of the key family structure and code lists pertaining to the series keys have not been provided. General provisions of the draft rules and reporting agents

text: 11. The ECB notes that the statistical reporting frequency proposed in the draft rules is quarterly (Paragraph 3.2), with a timeliness of 25 days after the end of the reporting period (Paragraph 9), and that this exceeds the current requirements in respect of frequency and timeliness in the Blue Book (Tables 6 to 10), which are annual with a timeliness of a few months. In this context, however, an explicit reference to ‘calendar quarterly’ in the draft rules and/or Form 0607 would provide more clarity.

text: 12. Considering that Lietuvos bankas, resident foreign bank branches and credit unions are included in the list of monetary financial institutions (MFIs) for Lithuania and that all undertakings satisfying the definition of MFIs should be subject to statistical reporting, the ECB would propose to provide in the draft rules that the population of reporting agents (Paragraph 6) consists of all undertakings which satisfy the definition of MFIs, including without limitation Lietuvos bankas, resident banks, foreign bank branches and credit unions, and Lietuvos paštas. The ECB does not, however, object to evaluating the data relating to credit unions on a basis of annual surveys.

text: 13. The ECB understands that Lietuvos bankas may, in accordance with Article 54 of the Lietuvos bankas Act, impose fines and penalty interest on financial institutions for breaches of statistical reporting requirements. Lietuvos bankas would therefore have appropriate powers to impose sanctions on financial institutions, although the ECB notes that there is a risk that Lietuvos paštas might fall outside the scope of such sanctions regime. Definitions of statistical reporting indicators

text: 14. Regarding the definitions of statistical reporting indicators (Section V), the ECB notes that some of these definitions, e.g. ‘virtual cards’ and ‘card imprinters’, are not currently provided for in technical agreements between the ECB and the NCBs, whilst certain other definitions, e.g. ‘bank cards’, ‘joint cards’, ‘cards with a credit function’, ‘ATMs with a cash deposit function’, ‘e-money card accepting terminals’, ‘e-money card loading/unloading terminals’, are referred to in these technical agreements albeit in different terms. The ECB understands that the inconsistencies are due to differences between languages and national legal systems.

text: 15. The ECB notes that cashless payments transactions (Paragraph 16) should be reported on the basis of data recorded at the time a transaction is initiated (the sending side), with the exception of crossborder payment transactions received (as provided for in Paragraph 22). The ECB suggests clarifying this issue in Paragraph 16.

text: 16. Credit transfers (Paragraph 17) are separated in the Blue Book tables and in the ECB’s technical documentation into paper-based and non-paper based transfers. The breakdown as envisaged in Paragraph 17 may not, however, cover all possible variations. Consequently, the ECB suggests including a breakdown into paper-based and non-paper based credit transfers in both Paragraph 17 and Form 0607, with the possibility of breaking these categories down further.

text: 17. With regard to Paragraph 21, the ECB notes that the cash transactions mentioned therein are directly linked to clients’ accounts with a client service office. However, where cash transactions occur at a client service office for accounts other than clients’ accounts, such transactions involve internal or external transfers of funds and should therefore be accounted for as credit transfers. The ECB suggests clarifying this in Paragraph 21.

text: 18. The ECB understands that data on bank cards (Paragraph 23 and items 14 to 22 and 28 to 36 in Form 0607) relate to cards issued by resident credit institutions rather than cards used in Lithuania. The ECB recommends specifying this in Paragraph 23. In addition, it recommends extending the scope of this definition to include ‘schemes’ and ‘members of schemes’ as possible issuers of the cards. The latter comment would also apply to the definition of cards with a credit function (Paragraph 28). Lietuvos bankas could also consider using the more general term ‘cards (payment cards)’ rather than ‘bank cards’.

text: 19. In the definition of ‘joint cards’ (Paragraph 24), the ECB recommends including the function of ‘delayed debit’ as this currently appears to be missing.

text: 20. With regard to ‘virtual cards’ (Paragraph 30), the ECB understands that transactions initiated with such cards are reported for the purposes of the Blue Book in the same category as credit transfers. The ECB invites Lietuvos bankas to clarify this issue in the draft rules.

text: 21. With regard to ‘POS (point of sale) terminals’ (Paragraph 35), the ECB assumes that the cash withdrawals mentioned in this definition refer exclusively to cash advances, i.e. cash withdrawals which cardholders perform in combination with and at the same time as a payment transaction at a commercial or service company. The ECB recommends defining the term ‘cash advances’ in Paragraph 35. Also, the ECB assumes that the Blue Book category ‘EFTPOS terminals’ is calculated by taking into account POS terminals and subtracting card imprinters. For the sake of completeness and ease of reference, the ECB suggests defining EFTPOS terminals in Paragraph 35 and also including this item in Form 0607.

text: 22. With regard to ‘e-money card loading terminals’ (Paragraph 39), the ECB recommends amending the term to state ‘e-money card loading/unloading terminals’ to make it clear that such terminals may also provide a facility for unloading monetary value. Form 0607

text: 23. The ECB notes that Lithuanian litas is indicated as the reporting currency in Form 0607. However, the draft rules do not lay down how transactions executed in another currency are to be recalculated in Lithuanian litas. The ECB recommends clarifying this issue in the draft rules, in particular by referring to the official litas/euro exchange rate and, to the extent available, other reference exchange rates published by Lietuvos bankas or, after the introduction of the euro in Lithuania, by the ECB. The least burdensome method would be to calculate the total amount of transactions per currency for the reporting period by using the average exchange rate over this period.

text: 24. The ECB also has the following specific comments with regard to Form 0607. With respect to cashless payments and ‘over the counter’ cash transactions at client service offices (Section II), the ECB recommends introducing general items entitled ‘paper based’ and ‘non-paper based’ such as are included in the Blue Book.

text: 25. With regard to the number of ATMs and terminals in the country and transactions processed (Section IV), the ECB recommends including the term ‘of which EFTPOS terminals’ (as specified in Table 6 of the Blue Book), as a component breakdown of POS terminals (item 41).

text: 26. The ECB notes that the items ‘(Number/value of) transactions at terminals in the country by cards issued in the country’ and ‘(Number/value of) transactions at terminals in the country by cards issued outside the country’ (as specified in Tables 7 and 8 of the Blue Book), are not listed in Form 0607. Similarly, the item ‘(Number/value of) transactions at terminals outside the country by cards issued in the country’ (as specified in Tables 7 and 8 of the Blue Book), is also not listed in Form 0607.

text: 27. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. Done at Frankfurt am Main, 15 September 2005. [signed] The President of the ECB Jean-Claude TRICHET


text: EGT L 257, 27.10.1995, s. 1.

sprak: sv

title: Europeiska centralbankens yttrande av den 4 oktober 2005 på begäran av Europeiska gemenskapernas kommission över ett utkast till kommissionens förordning om genomförandet av rådets förordning (EG) nr 2494/95 avseende den gemensamma referensperioden för harmoniserat index över konsumentpriser (CON/2005/33)

text: 1. Den 5 september 2005 mottog Europeiska centralbanken (ECB) en begäran från Europeiska gemenskapernas kommission om ett yttrande över ett utkast till kommissionens förordning om fastställande av närmare bestämmelser för genomförandet av

text: rådets förordning (EG) nr 2494/95

text: avseende den gemensamma referensperioden för harmoniserat index över konsumentpriser, och om ändring av

text: kommissionens förordning (EG) nr 2214/96

text: (nedan kallad den föreslagna förordningen).

text: 2. ECB:s behörighet att avge ett yttrande grundar sig på

text: artikel 105.4

text: . första strecksatsen i Fördraget om upprättandet av Europeiska gemenskapen och

text: artikel 5.3 i rådets förordning (EG) nr 2494/95 av den 23 oktober 1995

text: om harmoniserade konsumentprisindex. I enlighet med

text: artikel 17.5

text: första meningen i arbetsordningen för Europeiska centralbanken har detta yttrande antagits av ECB-rådet.

text: 3. Målet med den föreslagna förordningen är att revidera den gemensamma indexreferensperioden för alla harmoniserade index för konsumentpriser (HIKP) från 1996 = 100 till 2005 = 100 och att fastställa förfarandet för framtida uppdaterande av indexreferensperioder. Vidare fastställer den föreslagna förordningen tekniska specifikationer för genomförandet av den nya indexreferensperioden och behandlingen av nya delindex i HIKP.

text: 4. ECB välkomnar den föreslagna förordningen. Uppdateringen påverkar inte den beräknade årliga HIKP-inflationstakten förutom avrundningseffekterna, vilka förväntas vara små. ECB har inga kommentarer till de tekniska specifikationerna i den föreslagna förordningen.


text: OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.

text: ECB Opinion

text: of 11 May 2004 at the request of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance on a draft law on the protection of savings.

title: Opinion of the European Central Bank of 6 October 2005 at the request of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance on an amendment to the draft law on the protection of savings concerning the Banca d’Italia (CON/2005/34)

text: OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 6 October 2005 at the request of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance on an amendment to the draft law on the protection of savings concerning the Banca d’Italia (

text: 1. On 13 September 2005 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance for an opinion on a draft article that will be inserted in the draft law on the protection of savings (hereinafter the ‘draft article’).

text: 2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the third indent of

text: Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998

text: on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions , as the draft article contains provisions concerning a national central bank (NCB). In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.

text: 3. The ECB notes that in 2004 it already provided an opinion on a previous draft of this law and welcomes the Italian Government’s decision to consult the ECB again on this new draft article. It stands ready to comment on any further amendment to the draft law, whether concerning the Banca d’Italia or any other matter in which the ECB has a specific interest.

text: 4. Paragraph 1 of the draft article mirrors Article 14.3 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (hereinafter the ‘Statute’), pursuant to which the NCBs are an integral part of the ESCB and act in accordance with the guidelines and instructions of the ECB. The ECB welcomes this paragraph, which is of declaratory value only.

text: 5. Paragraph 2 of the draft article stipulates that the Banca d’Italia is a body governed by public law and the State holds the majority of the shares in its subscribed capital, while only other public bodies may hold the remainder. Currently private commercial banks hold a large part of the shares. Therefore, pursuant to the paragraph 9 of the draft article, a Government regulation adopted within three months from entry into force of the law will specify this provision’s method of implementation. The Fund for the amortisation of government bonds (Fondo per l’ammortamento dei titoli di Stato) will bear the costs arising from this operation, pursuant to paragraph 10 of the draft article.

text: 6. The ECB notes that the Treaty establishing the European Community is silent on the ownership structure and internal governance of NCBs, which are therefore left to each Member State’s autonomous determination. However, the ECB has the following comments on the compatibility of both the financing of the planned transfer of the Banca d’Italia’s shares to the State and of the Banca d’Italia overall structure with the principles established by the Treaty.

text: 7. First, the ECB notes that, pursuant to paragraph 9 of the draft article, a Government regulation adopted within three months from entry into force of the law will specify the procedure for the Banca d’Italia’s shares to be transferred. The Fund for the amortisation of government bonds (Fondo per l’ammortamento dei titoli di Stato) will bear the costs arising from this operation, pursuant to paragraph 10 of the draft article. The voting rights pertaining to the shares in the subscribed capital will be automatically suspended and exercised by the State until they have been transferred to the State and the other public bodies. In this respect, the compatibility with international conventions and Community law of such automatic attribution of the voting rights to the State pending the transfer of the shares should be carefully assessed.

text: 8. As there are currently no indications of the modalities of such transfer, the consistency of this operation with the Treaty provisions on monetary financing (Article 101 of the Treaty) and fiscal policies (

text: Article 104(2)

text: (b) of the Treaty) cannot be ascertained at this stage. Therefore the ECB stands ready to provide an assessment in a future opinion on a draft Government regulation on the transfer of shares.

text: 9. Second, the ECB notes that Article 108 of the Treaty requires independence for NCBs when exercising the powers and carrying out the tasks and duties conferred upon them by the Treaty and the Statute. This entails the absence both of shareholders’ influence on decision-making in these fields and of a conflict of interests. In this respect, the ECB welcomes the proposed change and the confirmation in paragraph 3 of the draft article that primary and secondary Italian legislation will ensure the independence of the Banca d’Italia and of the members of its decision-making bodies. Additionally, pursuant to paragraph 8 of the draft article, the implementation of the draft article will determine whether the Banca d’Italia’s Statutes need to be modified within two months from entry into force of the law. The ECB highlights that the amendments to be introduced in the Banca d’Italia’s Statutes must respect the Treaty and in particular continue to safeguard central banking independence, with particular regard to the aspects mentioned below, and is ready to provide its opinion on the amendments to the Statutes.

text: 10. Once the draft article has been fully implemented, the State will be the majority and perhaps almost the sole shareholder. According to the Statutes, the shareholders currently appoint, at separate meetings at the Banca d’Italia’s main branches, the 13 members of the Board of Directors, one for each main branch. In the light of the changes to the shareholder’s composition introduced by the draft article, it would be helpful to clarify and perhaps simplify the election procedure for these members. Moreover, the change in the shareholders’ structure has two consequences. First, the role of the Board of Directors will need to be reviewed, including in relation to the procedure for the appointment and dismissal of the Governor and the other members of the Directorate, consistently with Article 14.2 of the Statute. Second, the Banca d’Italia’s financial independence, which is currently guaranteed by the provisions of the Statutes on the independence of the members of the Board of Directors and on the limits to the distribution of profits to shareholders, needs to be preserved. Therefore, Article 54 of the Statute needs to be modified to ensure that, as in the current situation, a sufficient amount of ordinary reserves and, if needed, extraordinary reserves, can be constituted to ensure that the Banca d’Italia has the financial means to perform its statutory tasks.

text: 11. The ECB notes that paragraph 7 of the draft article provides that the Governor will have a sevenyear term of office, without possibility of renewal. The draft article complies with the Treaty. However, the ECB notes that the Treaty provisions protecting the Governor’s security of tenure of office also apply to other members of the decision-making bodies of NCBs involved in the performance of ESCB-related tasks. This applies in particular where such other members may have to deputise for the Governor. It is noted that there are currently no limits to the mandate of the other members of the Directorate. In light of the powers attributed to the Directorate, the introduction of a similarly limited mandate would be advisable. Any such change will of course need to comply with the Treaty.

text: 12. Furthermore, the ECB notes that the draft law is silent on the application of the new rules to the Banca d’Italia’s current Governor. In this context it would like to reiterate its previous opinion that any transitional regime would need to be compatible with Article 14.2 of the Statute.

text: 13. According to paragraph 4 of the draft article, the Banca d’Italia must respect the principle of transparency in carrying out its functions, in particular that of supervision, and will report every six months to the Italian Parliament and the Government on its activities. The ECB understands that ESCB activities are excluded from this reporting obligation. However, an express mention of this exclusion would be welcome, in particular to ensure the respect of the obligation of professional secrecy enshrined in Article 38.1 of the Statute. The same principle should apply to the minutes of the meetings of the collegial bodies, mentioned in paragraph 5 of the draft article.

text: 14. The ECB welcomes the draft article’s intention of increasing the transparency of the exercise of the functions assigned to the Banca d’Italia. The ECB notes that paragraph 6 of the draft article requires the Governor to consult the Directorate on measures related to non-ESCB tasks falling within the Governor’s competence. However, in light of the widespread practice in the European Union for decision-making in supervisory matters a modification of the current draft to allow for collegiality would be desirable.

text: 15. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. Done at Athens, 6 October 2005. [signed] The President of the ECB Jean-Claude TRICHET


text: OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 1. 4 See ECB Opinion

text: of 30 May 2005 at the request of the Central Bank of Cyprus on a draft directive on the reporting by monetary financial institutions of their monthly balance sheets. 5 As in the case of Regulation ECB/2000/11 of 2 November 2000 concerning transitional provisions for the application of minimum reserves by the European Central Bank following the introduction of the euro in Greece (OJ L 291, 18.11.2000, p. 28).

text: N.66(I)/1997, Ar.3168, 18.7.97, as amended. 7 Cap.113, as amended.

text: Annex VII to the Act of Accession (entitled’ List referred to in Article 24 of the Act of Accession: Cyprus’), provides under Title 2 (Freedom to Provide Services) as follows: ‘In Cyprus, Directive

text: shall not apply to the Cooperative Credit and Savings Societies, in so far as they are not in conformity with the provisions of this Directive, until 31 December 2007. As from the date of accession and until the end of the above period the Cypriot authorities shall inform the Commission at the beginning of each year about the number of non-conforming Cooperative Credit and Savings Societies which continue to be excluded, as well as the market share that they represent.’

title: Opinion of the European Central Bank of 10 October 2005 at the request of the Central Bank of Cyprus on a draft directive on the maintenance of minimum reserves with the Central Bank of Cyprus (CON/2005/35)

text: OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 10 October 2005 at the request of the Central Bank of Cyprus on a draft directive on the maintenance of minimum reserves with the Central Bank of Cyprus (

text: ) Introduction

text: 1. On 8 August 2005 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) for an opinion on a draft directive on the maintenance of minimum reserves with the Central Bank of Cyprus (hereinafter the ‘draft directive’).

text: 2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on

text: Article 2(2) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998

text: on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions , as the draft directive relates to an instrument of monetary policy, i.e. minimum reserves, of a non-participating Member State. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.

text: 3. The purpose of the draft directive is to amend the CBC’s minimum reserve regime with a view to the future application of the ECB’s minimum reserve requirements in Cyprus on adoption of the euro. The draft directive lays down detailed rules on, inter alia, (a) the scope of application of the obligation to hold minimum reserves with the CBC, including exemptions from that obligation; and (b) the reserve base, the reserve ratios and the procedure for calculating minimum reserves and notifying banks and designated financial institutions thereof; and (c) the periods over which compliance with reserve requirements will be calculated; and (d) the remuneration to be paid on minimum reserves held by banks and designated financial institutions with the CBC; and (e) the infringement procedure and sanctions to be imposed for breach of the CBC’s minimum reserve requirements.

text: Legal framework and general observations

text: 4. The legal framework underlying the Eurosystem’s minimum reserve regime is laid down in (i) Article 19 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and the European Central Bank; (ii)

text: Council Regulation (EC) No 2531/98 of 23 November 1998

text: concerning the application of minimum reserves by the European Central Bank ; and (iii) Regulation ECB/2003/9 of 12 September 2003 on the application of minimum reserves . The purpose of this legal framework, which is directly applicable to and binding on euro area credit institutions, is to ensure that the terms and conditions of the Eurosystem’s minimum reserve regime are uniformly applied throughout the euro area.

text: 5. First, in the course of preparing for the introduction of the euro in Cyprus, the CBC will need to examine whether the Eurosystem’s minimum reserve requirements can be effectively fulfilled in Cyprus and whether all necessary measures have been adopted to ensure that the competent authorities have the legal power to assist and cooperate with the ECB on the collection and verification of the information necessary for the operation of the Eurosystem’s minimum reserve regime. The ECB understands that the CBC is currently reviewing its Statutes to inter alia ensure that it will be in a position to meet the Eurosystem’s requirements, also with regard to minimum reserves.

text: 6. Second, because the Eurosystem’s minimum reserve regime is highly dependent for its data on the Eurosystem’s statistical reporting regime and because any changes to this regime would have implications for minimum reserve holdings, the CBC is advised that a key element for achieving consistency between the Cypriot minimum reserve regime and that of the Eurosystem is the incorporation into Cypriot law of statistical reporting requirements corresponding to those of the Eurosystem and their correct application. A recent general assessment by the ECB of the CBC’s statistical preparedeness suggests a convergence between the CBC’s statistical reporting requirements and those of the ECB .

text: 7. Third, the ECB may have to consider introducing certain transitional arrangements for the application of the Eurosystem’s minimum reserve regime on the introduction of the euro in Cyprus such as, for instance, a transitional maintenance period for credit institutions located in Cyprus to meet the ECB’s minimum reserve requirements.

text: 8. Without prejudice to these general observations, the ECB welcomes the CBC’s initiative to review the Cypriot minimum reserve regime with a view to bringing it into line with that of the Eurosystem. Although non-participating Member States retain their powers in the field of monetary policy, it is nevertheless beneficial for them gradually to achieve consistency with Eurosystem standards so that credit institutions operating in their territory can already prepare for the minimum reserve requirements that will apply once the euro has been introduced.

text: Technical comments

text: 9. Section 13 of Part V of the draft directive effectively restricts a credit institution’s ability to revise its data on the reserve base or on the required reserves, by only allowing one business day for revisions to be communicated to the CBC. Noting the role of timely revisions in improving the quality of minimum reserve related data, the ECB invites the CBC to consider extending the deadline in Section 13, Part V of the draft directive for the communication by credit institutions to the CBC of data revisions.

text: 10. The second sentence of Section 8 of Part III of the draft directive appears to be misleading. This sentence concerns the standard deduction applicable in cases where the actual amount of debt securities issued with an agreed maturity of up to two years and held by other Cypriot credit institutions cannot be proved. It should be noted that the standard deduction mentioned in this section is not applicable to the whole of the reserve base (deposits and debt securities issued) but only to the total outstanding amount of debt securities issued with an agreed maturity of up two years.

text: 11. Finally, the ECB notes that the definition of winding-up proceedings in Section 2 of the draft directive appears to disregard the fact that Part XIII of the Cypriot Banking Law (hereinafter the ‘Banking Law’) specifically regulates such proceedings in the case of banks and electronic money institutions. The CBC is therefore invited to reconsider the draft directive’s definition of windingup proceedings, which currently refers to the Cypriot Companies Law instead of referring, as it should, to the lex specialis provisions of Part XIII of the Banking Law.

text: 12. Without prejudice to the preceding observations, the ECB considers that the draft directive is otherwise generally consistent with Regulation ECB/2003/9.

text: Applicability of minimum reserve requirements to cooperative credit societies

text: 13. The ECB notes that the draft directive applies the CBC’s minimum reserve requirements to all credit institutions operating in Cyprus except for cooperative credit institutions (hereinafter ‘cooperatives’) which, unlike other credit institutions operating in Cyprus, are not supervised by the CBC. Moreover, the ECB notes that the explanatory memorandum to the draft directive states that cooperatives ‘may be incorporated in the CBC’s minimum reserve system at a later stage’.

text: 14. Concerning the applicability of the Eurosystem’s minimum reserve requirements to cooperatives on the introduction of the euro in Cyprus, the ECB notes that Article 2(1) of Regulation ECB/2003/9 provides that the following categories of institutions are subject to minimum reserve requirements (a) credit institutions, as defined in the first subparagraph of

text: Article 1(1) of Directive 2000/12/EC

text: of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 March 2000 relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions (hereinafter the ‘Consolidated Banking Directive’), other than participating national central banks (NCBs); and (b) branches of credit institutions, as defined in

text: Article 1(3)

text: thereof, other than participating NCBs. The first subparagraph of Article 1(1) of the Consolidated Banking Directive defines a credit institution as ‘an undertaking whose business is to receive deposits or other repayable funds from the public and to grant credits for its own account’. Article 2(3) of the Consolidated Banking Directive exempts certain institutions from its scope of application including, in particular, NCBs, post office giro institutions and specific national institutions.

text: 15. The ECB notes that cooperatives have been granted a derogation from the scope of application of the Consolidated Banking Directive until 31 December 2007 . However, this temporary derogation does not automatically entail their exemption from the Eurosystem’s minimum reserve requirements that were established for monetary policy purposes. Indeed, the ECB considers that, for the purposes of deciding on the applicability of the Eurosystem’s minimum reserve requirements to an institution or group of institutions, it is necessary to test whether that institution or institutions fulfil the criteria laid down in the first subparagraph of Article 1(1) of the Consolidated Banking Directive, i.e. whether their business is to (i) receive deposits or other repayable funds from the public; and (ii) grant credits for their own account. Furthermore, the ECB notes that cooperatives are treated as credit institutions for the purposes of Cypriot law, although they are not subject to the provisions of the Banking Law. Therefore, the ECB supports the CBC’s intention, as indicated in the explanatory memorandum to the draft directive, to already consider incorporating cooperatives into the CBC’s minimum reserve regime, as this would smoothen their transition to the Eurosystem’s minimum reserve framework.

text: 16. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. Done at Frankfurt am Main, 10 October 2005. [signed] The President of the ECB Jean-Claude TRICHET