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Document 32012A1016(01)

    Commission Opinion of 15 October 2012 on a draft regulation of the European Central Bank concerning statistics on holdings of securities

    OJ C 312, 16.10.2012, p. 1–2 (BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)

    16.10.2012   

    EN

    Official Journal of the European Union

    C 312/1

    COMMISSION OPINION

    of 15 October 2012

    on a draft regulation of the European Central Bank concerning statistics on holdings of securities

    2012/C 312/01

    1.   Introduction

    1.1.

    On 9 August 2012, the Commission received a request from the European Central Bank (ECB) for an opinion on a draft ECB regulation concerning statistics on holdings of securities (hereinafter the ‘draft regulation’).

    1.2.

    The Commission welcomes this request in accordance with the obligation to consult the Commission as laid down in Article 5(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the ECB.

    2.   Specific observations

    2.1.

    The Commission welcomes the reference to Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community (ESA 95). The Commission considers that mention should also be made in the recitals to the ongoing revision of ESA 95 in the form of the ESA 2010 (Commission proposal COM(2010) 774 final).

    2.2.

    Greater prominence should be given to monetary policy in the motivation for the draft regulation, e.g. by the reinforcing the related wording in recital No 2.

    2.3.

    When applied, the new data collection set out in the draft regulation should ensure a more harmonised set of statistics on holdings of euro-area securities and better information on the holdings of securities by large banking and insurance groups. Attention should be paid that the system of derogations and thresholds provided for in the draft regulation does not affect the quality of information which may be used in the context of the analysis and the assessment of EU financial stability.

    2.4.

    The availability of the data collected under the draft regulation is likely to be important also for other institutions beyond the ECB. Therefore, the Commission considers that the ECB should undertake to make these statistics available to other institutions or publish them in adequate form, while observing confidentiality restrictions.

    2.5.

    As reference is made to the ESA in this regulation, the ECB should check that consistency with ESA definitions is ensured as appropriate. In particular, the following corrections could be made in:

     

    The operative part of the draft regulation:

    In footnote 11 relating to Article 1(9) it would be more precise to use the ESA terminology and to refer to ‘coding’ instead of ‘numbering’.

     

    Annex 2, part 1:

    For the sake of clarity, it may be useful to complete the first paragraph to read as follows: ‘The following definitions and descriptions are of financial instruments. When a transaction is being recorded, the code used is F. When the underlying stock level or position of an asset or liability is being recorded, then the coding is AF.’ The reason is that, in Annex 1, part 1, paragraphs 1(b), 2(b) and 2(c) refer to positions (code AF), and not transactions (code F).

     

    Annex 2, part 2:

    Money market funds (MMFs) (S. 123), second sentence: ‘Their business is to issue investment fund shares or units as close substitutes for deposits from institutional units …’ instead of: ‘Their business is to receive issue investment fund shares or units as close substitutes for deposits from institutional units …’.

    Non-MMF investment funds (S. 124), second sentence: ‘Their business is to issue investment fund shares or units which are not close substitutes for deposits, and, on their own account, to make investments primarily in financial assets other than short-term financial assets and in non-financial assets (usually real estate).’ instead of: ‘Their business is to receive, from institutional units, investment fund shares or units which are not close substitutes for deposits and, on their own account, to make investments primarily in financial assets other than short-term financial assets and in non-financial assets (usually real estate).’

     

    Annex 2, part 3, No 2, second paragraph:

    Add ‘on the basis of commercial considerations’ at the end of this second paragraph.

    2.6.

    Since the Commission is required to be consulted on the draft regulation, a citation to that effect should be inserted in the draft regulation.

    3.   Conclusion

    3.1.

    The Commission generally supports the draft regulation insofar as it provides better information on the financial sector in the euro area, in support of sector analysis and financial stability assessment. However, the Commission is of the opinion that the draft regulation could be more specific on the issues raised above.

    3.2.

    The Commission will welcome any future consultations on relevant draft ECB regulations.

    Done at Luxembourg, 15 October 2012.

    For the Commission

    Algirdas ŠEMETA

    Member of the Commission

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