EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 18 November 2005 
at the request of Sveriges Riksbank 
on draft regulations on interest cost remuneration  for cash that has been separated and stored 
under a special arrangement 
(CON/2005/48)  
 1. On 6 October 2005 the European Central Bank (E CB) received a request from Sveriges Riksbank 
for an opinion on draft Riksbank re gulations on interest cost remuneration for cash that has been 
separated and stored under a special arrangeme nt (hereinafter the ‘draft regulations’). 
2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the second and third indents of 
Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European 
Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions
1, as the draft regulations 
concern means of payment and Sveriges Riksba nk. 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. 
3. The draft regulations contain the conditions fo r providing interest cost remuneration to 
undertakings which, either for themselves or on be half of others, separate  and store banknotes and 
coins. The remuneration is payable to defined deposito ry owners that have entered into an interest 
cost remuneration agreement with Sveriges Riksba nk. The level of remuneration is based on the 
depository owners’ daily reports to Sveriges Riksba nk on the nominal value of cash stored in the 
depository.  
4. Sweden is a Member State with a derogation a nd the ECB requirements regarding the organisation 
of national cash cycles in Member States that have  adopted the euro do not currently apply to 
Sveriges Riksbank. However, since these requireme nts will apply to Sveriges Riksbank as soon as 
Sweden adopts the euro and Sverig es Riksbank becomes a fully integr ated part of the Eurosystem, 
the ECB wishes to take this opportunity to i ndicate the status of cash handling within the 
Eurosystem.  
 
                                                      
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
2 5. In Opinion CON/2004/282, the ECB commented, inter alia , on a proposal to amend the Sveriges 
Riksbank Act by introducing a clarification that Sveriges Riksbank could carry out its tasks with 
regard to the distribution of banknotes and coins in cooperation with third parties. Moreover, the 
amendments to the Sveriges Riksbank Act include d an enabling provision to the effect that 
Sveriges Riksbank could compensate or provide cred it free of charge to en tities that separate and 
store banknotes and coins in accordance with its instructions. The draft regulations now under 
consideration are intended to promote the separa tion and storage of cash in bank-owned depots, 
which is expected to reduce the number of trans ports to Sveriges Riksbank and thereby make cash 
handling in Sweden more efficient and safer (due to the reduction of the risk of robbery). The ECB 
understands that the proposed interest cost rem uneration from Sveriges Riksbank to the banks that 
separate and store banknotes is an essential incentiv e for these banks to open the depots and carry 
out this activity.  
6. Within the Eurosystem, Article 106 of the Tr eaty establishing the European Community and 
Article 16 of the Statute of the European System  of Central Banks and of the European Central 
Bank attribute to the ECB and the national central  banks (NCBs) of the Eurosystem the task of 
issuing euro banknotes. This task is not limited to the act of putting euro banknotes into circulation, 
but extends to any act which has a bearing on the circulation of banknotes. When fulfilling this task, Article 105(1) of the Treaty and Article 2 of  the Statute require the Eurosystem to act in 
accordance with the principle of an open market economy with free competition, favouring an 
efficient allocation of resources. The Eurosystem is currently in the process of elaborating and 
establishing a common policy regarding various res ponsibilities of the NCBs with regard to the 
cash cycle. As part of this process, existing national practices concerning the issue of banknotes will be taken into account as far as possible, in acco rdance with Article 16 of the Statute, as will the 
principle of decentralisation, in accordance with Ar ticle 12.1 of the Statute. Article 12.1 provides 
that, to the extent deemed possible and appropria te, the ECB shall have recourse to the NCBs to 
carry out Eurosystem operations. The elaborati on and establishment of the common policy must 
also ensure that the ability of an NCB to carry out the operations forming part of the core tasks 
assigned to the Eurosystem under the Treaty will not be undermined. Consequently, as regards 
arrangements similar to the one to be introduced in Sweden by the draft regulations, the guiding 
principle is that within the Eurosystem, it must always be ensured (e.g. by regulatory or other 
effective means) that the central bank is, and remains, in a position to perform its tasks, in 
particular to ensure the smooth and efficient supply of euro banknotes and to maintain their 
integrity (including ensuring the quality and authenticity of euro banknotes in circulation), in line with the common Eurosystem po licy currently established.  
7. Under Article 7 of the draft regul ations, depository owners must carry out authenticity checks on 
all cash in their depositories (other than new cash ). The ECB understands that these authenticity 
                                                     
 
2  ECB Opinion CON/2004/28 of 31 August 2004 at the request of  Sveriges Riksbank on two dr aft legal acts amending the 
Sveriges Riksbank Act conc erning certain matters related to the circulation of banknotes and coins. 
3 checks concern cash in its capacity as balances in  the depositories, and that Sveriges Riksbank 
remains the authority of last resort  for authenticating Swedish banknotes.  Regarding the 
Eurosystem, in December 2004 the Governing Counc il endorsed a Framework for the detection of 
counterfeits and fitness sorting3. Whilst this Framework sets out, inter alia , certain harmonised 
standards on authentication and fitness checking to be applied by credit institutions and other 
professional cash handlers, Article 106 of the Treat y requires the Eurosystem central banks to 
remain the authorities of last resort for authenti cating euro banknotes. In the Eurosystem this task 
cannot be assigned to any third party and the EC B therefore welcomes the fact that Sveriges 
Riksbank remains the authority of last reso rt for the authentication of Swedish banknotes.  
8. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.  
  Done at Frankfurt am Main, 18 November 2005. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET 
                                                     
 
3  ‘Recycling of euro banknotes: Framework for the detection of  counterfeits and fitness sorting by credit institutions and 
other professional cash handlers’, published in January 2005; available on the ECB’ s website at www.ecb.int.