EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 12 June 2006 
at the request of Sveriges Riksbank on draft regulations on cash provision  
(CON/2006/30)  
 Introduction and legal basis
 
On 8 May 2006 the European Central Bank (ECB) re ceived a request from Sveriges Riksbank for an 
opinion on draft Sveriges Riksbank’s regulations on cash  provision (hereinafter the ‘draft regulations’). 
The ECB’s competence to de liver an opinion is based on Article 105(4) of the Treaty establishing the 
European Community and 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 Ce ntral Bank by national authorities regarding draft 
legislative provisions1, as the draft law relates to means of payment and Sveriges Riksbank. In accordance 
with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rule s of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the 
Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 
 1. Purpose of the draft regulations 
The draft regulations contain the conditions for an institution’s right to purchase cash from and return 
cash to Sveriges Riksbank. The institutions defined in Ar ticle 2 in the draft regulations that have entered 
into a cash provision agreement with Sveriges Riksba nk have the right to purchase and return cash. At 
present, cash handling is regulated by way of cash provision agreements betw een Sveriges Riksbank and 
the commercial banks that wish to purchase cash fro m and return cash to Sveriges Riksbank. Since 2004, 
Sveriges Riksbank has had the power to issue re gulations in the field of cash handling. In 
November 2005, Sveriges Riksbank issued regulations pr oviding for interest cost remuneration in respect 
of cash that has been separated and stored in bank-owned depots
2. Sveriges Riksbank now considers that 
the purchase and return of cash should be regulated  by the same type of legal act, which would be 
complemented by contractual arrangements. The consu lting authority has informed the ECB that the draft 
regulations do not entail any change to the substance of the cash provisi on agreements that are already in 
force. The proposal to issue regulations is thus me rely a change of form from a detailed agreement 
between the parties, to statutory regulations th at will be supplemented by shorter agreements. 
                                                      
1 OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
2  See ECB Opinion CON/2005/48 of 18 November 2005 at the re quest of Sveriges Riksbank on draft regulations on 
interest cost remuneration for cash that has been separated and stored under a special arrangement.  
2  
2.  General observations 2.1 Sveriges Riksbank is in the process of establis hing a new cash provision regime aiming at making 
cash management in Sweden safer and more e fficient and the ECB understands that the draft 
regulations are the next step in the establishmen t of this regime. The ECB supports the objectives 
of the new cash provision regime and generally  welcomes the draft regulations, including the 
proposed change from agreements to regulations in  the area of cash provision. The definition of 
‘institutions’ that have the right to return and purchase cash in Article 2 of the draft regulations
3 is 
important for the new cash provision regime, and Sveriges Riksbank may wish to reflect further on the formulation of this provision with a view to  selecting the most appropriate objective criteria 
required by the purpose of the draft regulations of attaining safety and efficiency.  
2.2 Whilst Sweden is a Member State with a de rogation and the ECB requirements regarding the 
organisation of national cash cycles in Member States that have adopted the euro currently do not apply to Sveriges Riksbank, these requirements will apply to Sveriges Riksbank once Sweden 
adopts the euro and Sveriges Riksbank becomes a fu lly integrated part of the Eurosystem. As a 
general comment, therefore, the ECB notes that Sv eriges Riksbank’s cash provision practices differ 
to some extent from Eurosystem practices and th at these practices will have to be aligned with 
Eurosystem practices once Sweden adopts the euro. 
2.3 The ECB would also like to emphasise again, as it did in Opinion CON/2005/48, that the guiding 
principle within the Eurosystem is that the central  bank must be and remain 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 au thenticity of euro banknotes in circulation), in 
line with the common Eurosystem policy. 
 
                                                     
 
3  This definition is the same as the definition of ‘depository  owners’ in Article 2 of Sveriges Riksbank’s regulations on 
interest cost remuneration for cash that has been sepa rated and stored under a special arrangement (RBFS 2005:1).  
3 3. Resolution of disputes regarding differentials 
Article 22 of the draft regulations deals with the in vestigation of disputes re garding differences between 
the stated and actual value of the cash in questi on, but it does not provide for the resolution of cases 
where the parties disagree on the outcome of such  investigations. The ECB suggests clarifying how 
disputes would be resolved in such cases in the draft regulations. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.    Done at Frankfurt am Main, 12 June 2006. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET