EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 27 November 2009  
on foreign trade reporting requirements 
(CON/2009/97) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 10 November 2009, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the German Ministry 
for Economic Affairs and Technology for an opinio n on the 89th Regulation amending the Regulation on 
foreign trade (hereinafter the ‘draft regulation’). 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an  opinion is based on Article 105(4) of the Treaty establishing the 
European Community and the fourth indent of Ar ticle 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 
provisions1, as the draft regulation relates to the collection and distribution of balance of payments 
statistics. In accordance with the fi rst sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European 
Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 
 1.  Purpose of the draft regulation 
1.1 The draft regulation will adapt the reporting requirements under the Regulation on foreign trade 
(Außenwirtschaftsverordnung , hereinafter the ‘AWV’) to intern ational standards for the inclusion 
of assets and liabilities arising from derivatives and to the calculation of direct investment. In 
addition, it will repeal the reporting of the fo reign assets and liabiliti es of natural persons. 
1.2 The Regulation also enables the Bundesbank to  fulfil its obligation under Guideline ECB/2004/15 
of 16 July 2004 on the statistical reporting requireme nts of the European Central Bank in the field 
of balance of payments and international inv estment position statistics, and the international 
reserves template
2. The Deutsche Bundesbank is obliged under this Guideline, when providing the 
ECB with data on the international investment  position, to provide information on assets and 
liabilities with non-euro area residents arisin g from financial derivatives. The Deutsche 
Bundesbank is also obliged to inform the Intern ational Monetary Fund acco rdingly. Collecting and 
reporting this data will in future ta ke place in accordance with the AWV. 
1.3 In addition, it implements the Organisati on for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 
Benchmark Definition of Foreign Direct Investment (4th edition). Germany is also obliged as an 
                                                 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
2  OJ L 354, 30.11.2004, p. 34. 
2 OECD member to collect data on direct investment, including all cross-border capital movements 
relating to direct investment. For this, it is n ecessary to record separately cross-border assets for 
sister companies. Therefore, in the reporting of su rveys of stocks for direct investments, individual 
balance sheet positions are additionally broken down. 
1.4 Furthermore, the draft regulation will repeal certain reporting requirements concerning capital and 
payment movements and amend certain reporting templates. 
 2. General observation  The ECB generally welcomes this draft regulation which will ensure consistency with the reporting 
requirements under Guideline ECB/2004/15 that follo ws the basic principles of the ECB Statistics 
Quality Framework
3. The main purpose of euro area balance of  payments and international investment 
position statistics is to support the ECB’s monetary policy and other Eurosystem tasks. Moreover, as 
stated in the Eurosystem’s mission statement and the public commitment4, accountability, transparency 
and good governance are important values supporting the in tegrity of the statistical functions defined by 
Article 5 of the Statute of the European System  of Central Banks and the European Central Bank 
(hereinafter the ‘Statute of the ESCB’). 
 3. Frequency of reporting In accordance with Article 14.3 of the Statute of  the ESCB, NCBs must act in accordance with the 
guidelines of the ECB. The draft regulation envisages th at corporations other than monetary financial 
institutions will report on an annual basis assets and liabilities with non-euro area residents arising from 
financial derivatives. Nonetheless, quarterly positi ons on financial derivatives are required under 
Guideline ECB/2004/15. From the reports of transacti ons in financial derivatives, it can however be 
derived that corporations other than monetary fi nancial institutions are not  significantly engaged in 
activities in financial derivatives with non-euro area residents. Moreover, to avoid a disproportionate 
increase in the reporting burden of German corporati ons other than monetary financial institutions, an 
annual report is appropriate. Developments in the activ ities of corporations other than monetary financial 
institutions in financial derivatives with non-euro area residents should be regularly monitored; if those 
activities acquire statistical significance, the co rresponding positions should be reported quarterly. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.  Done at Frankfurt am Main, 27 November 2009.  [signed] 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET 
                                                 
3  Available on the ECB’s we bsite at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
4  Available on the ECB’s we bsite at www.ecb.europa.eu.