EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 21 May 2010 
on statistics, cross-border cash movements and Българска  народна  банка  (Bulgarian National 
Bank) competences 
(CON/2010/43) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 7 April 2010 the European Central Bank (ECB) r eceived a request from the Bulgarian Minister of 
Finance for an opinion on a draft law amending the Law on the currency1 and the Law on measures 
against money laundering2 (hereinafter the ‘draft law’). 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an  opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 
Functioning of the European Union and the first, sec ond, third and fourth 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 provisions3, as the draft law relates to currency matters, 
means of payment, Българска  народна  банка  (Bulgarian National Bank) (BNB) and the collection of 
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 law The draft law will amend certain provisions of th e Law on the currency, among other things to:  
(a) regulate the controls of cross-border cash move ments between Bulgaria and other Member States 
or third countries; 
(b) introduce rules on the collection, maintenance and reporting of balance of payments and 
international investment position statistics, provide definitions of certain terms in this field, and 
extend BNB’s competences; 
(c) bring the terminology of the Law on the currency and the Law on measures against money 
laundering into line with the terminology of Bulgarian and Union legislation. 
 
                                                 
1 Published in Darjaven vestnik No 83,  21.9.1999. 
2 Published in Darjaven vestnik  No 85, 24.7.1998. 
3 OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
2 2. Specific observations 
2.1 Controls of cross-border cash movements between  Bulgaria and other Member States or third 
countries  
The ECB understands that the proposed amendments  are aimed at aligning the Law on the currency 
with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 188 9/2005 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 26 October 2005 on controls of  cash entering or leaving the Community4.  
2.2 Balance of payments and international investment position statistics  
The ECB welcomes the proposed amendments to the Law on the currency and the aim of achieving 
the required level of statistical legal convergence with the relevant Union framework and the Sixth 
Edition of the IMF’s Balance of Payments a nd International Investment Position Manual. 
The ECB welcomes the removal of the referen ce to the quarterly reporting requirement in 
proposed Article 10(1) of the Law on the currency, in order to allow the monthly collection and processing of statistics. For the same reason, it is  advisable to make the reporting requirement in 
relation to resident natural pers ons, under proposed Article 10(2) of  the Law on the currency, more 
frequent than once a year. Therefore, the ECB s uggest deleting the words ‘on an annual basis by 
31 March each year’ in proposed Article 10(2) of the Law on the currency. 
2.3 BNB’s competences concerning statistics  
The ECB welcomes the extension of BNB’s comp etences, which will entitle BNB to: (a) require 
from any person information relevant to the international investment position of Bulgaria
5; 
(b) access public administration databases containi ng information necessary for the production, 
development and distribution of European statistics6; (c) conduct other regular statistical surveys7; 
and (d) verify and compulsorily collect statisti cal information pursuant to Article 6 of Council 
Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of statistical 
information by the European Central Bank8. 
 
                                                 
4 OJ L 309, 25.11.2005, p. 9. 
5 See the proposed amendment to Article 8(1) of the Law on the currency. 
6 See the proposed amendment to Article 8(3) of the Law on the currency. 
7 See the proposed amendment to Article 10(3) of the Law on the currency. 
8 OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. See th e proposed amendment to Article 17(2)(a) of the Law on the currency. 
3 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.  
  Done at Frankfurt am Main, 21 May 2010. 
[signed] 
  
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET