(1)

Pursuant to Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98, the European Central Bank (ECB) may impose sanctions on reporting agents for failure to comply with statistical reporting requirements.

(2)

Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2532/98 provides that, in determining whether to impose a sanction and in determining the appropriate sanction, the ECB must be guided by the principle of proportionality. In addition, Article 2(3) of that Regulation sets out a non-exhaustive list of circumstances which the ECB must take into consideration, where relevant, in a specific case.

(3)

European Central Bank Regulation (EC) No 2157/1999 (ECB/1999/4) (3) sets out the procedure for the submission of a proposal by the ECB’s investigating unit or the competent national central bank to the Executive Board of the ECB for the purposes of determining whether a reporting agent has committed an alleged infringement and specifying the proposed amount of the sanction to be imposed, and allows for a simplified infringement procedure for the sanctioning of minor infringements.

(4)

In the interest of equal treatment of reporting agents, and as required by Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2022/1917 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2022/31) (4), the ECB should establish the methodology to be followed by competent Eurosystem central banks in calculating the proposed amount of the sanction. The calculation should be done in two stages. First, a baseline amount is calculated on the basis of quantitative aspects of the alleged infringement and, second, other relevant circumstances and information are taken into consideration as a result of which the baseline amount may be adjusted.

(5)

For that reason, and in order to ensure the transparency and impartiality of the ECB’s decisions when imposing sanctions on reporting agents, that methodology should detail the quantitative aspects used in calculating the baseline amount. In addition, that methodology should provide guidance in relation to the circumstances and information that should be taken into consideration, where relevant, by a competent Eurosystem central bank in calculating the proposed amount of the sanction.

(6)

Although, in general, the total assets of a reporting agent should be used to determine the economic size of a reporting agent which fails to comply with statistical reporting requirements, when determining the economic size of a reporting agent which fails to comply with certain types of reporting requirements, for example on payment statistics set out in Regulation (EU) No 1409/2013 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2013/43) (5) and on securities in custody set out in Regulation (EU) No 1011/2012 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2012/24) (6), the total number of its clients, the total value of its payment transactions or the total value of securities deposited with the custodian are more appropriate measures of its economic size for the purposes of calculating the base amount. For these purposes, it is also appropriate to consider the economic size of a reporting agent which fails to comply with statistical reporting requirements relative to the economic size of, in the case of money market statistics set out in Regulation (EU) No 1333/2014 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2014/48) (7), the reference reporting population or, in any other case, the relevant actual reporting population.

(7)

For the purposes of the regular production of money market statistics as required by Regulation (EU) No 1333/2014 (ECB/2014/48), errors in the data on the unsecured market segment that are not corrected before the transmission deadline set by the ECB or the NCB, may be sanctioned because it is critical to receive timely, accurate and complete statistical information on the unsecured segment that complies with high standards of integrity for the performance of the ECB’s tasks in the field of monetary policy. For this reason, and to ensure consistency with the application of Regulation (EU) 2022/1917 (ECB/2022/31), it is suitable and appropriate for Eurosystem central banks to apply this Decision three months following notification in cases of non-compliance with the statistical reporting requirements under Regulation (EU) No 1333/2014 (ECB/2014/48).

(8)

In order to ensure the coherent application of harmonised rules, NCBs and the ECB should comply with this Decision from the same date as the relevant date of application of Regulation (EU) 2022/1917 (ECB/2022/31).

(9)

However, in order to ensure continuity and clarity, it is appropriate to provide that the competent NCBs and the ECB should continue to comply with the requirements of Decision ECB/2010/10 (8) in cases of alleged infringements which occur prior to the relevant date of application of this Decision, including in cases of repeated non-compliance where one or more instances of non-compliance occur before and after the relevant date of application of this Decision.

(10)

The principles followed by the ECB to calculate sanctions from the reference period December 2004 for monthly reporting requirements and fourth quarter 2004 for quarterly reporting requirements for infringements of balance sheet statistical reporting requirements due to failure to comply with the minimum standards laid down in Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 2423/2001 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2001/13) (9) were set out in the Notice of the European Central Bank on the imposition of sanctions for infringements of balance sheet statistical reporting requirements (10). In the interests of legal certainty, it is appropriate that the Notice be withdrawn,

(a)

the good faith and the degree of openness of the reporting agent in the interpretation and fulfilment of statistical reporting requirements, including by reference to the circumstances in which the alleged infringement was identified, such as whether this was through voluntary notification by the reporting agent or as a result of investigatory action;

(b)

the degree of diligence and cooperation shown by the reporting agent, including by reference to the conduct of the reporting agent, such as its participation in, and assistance with, any infringement procedures or any procedures of the competent Eurosystem central bank which relate to ensuring compliance with statistical reporting requirements, and its readiness to remedy the alleged infringement;

(c)

the seriousness of the effects of the infringement, including by reference to the consequences of the alleged infringement such as the impact that the alleged infringement has on the relevant statistical outputs, or on the use of the statistical information for the tasks of the European System of Central Banks pursuant to the Treaty, or any detrimental third-party effect;

(d)

the repetition of the infringement, including by reference to any failure of the reporting agent to comply with its statistical reporting requirements on a repeated basis outside of the period of non-compliance to which the alleged infringement relates, which has not been the subject of another infringement procedure.