EN ECB-PUBLIC 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 10 February 2012 
on the system for monitoring tran sactions in book-entry securities 
(CON/2012/8) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 27 January 2012, the European Central Bank (ECB)  received a request from the Greek Ministry of 
Finance for an opinion on a set of draft legislative pr ovisions (hereinafter the ‘draft provisions’) amending 
Law 2198/19941 in relation to the entry of financial instru ments and interests therein in the system for 
monitoring transactions in book-entry securities. 
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 third and fifth indent of Article 2(1) of Council 
Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consu ltation of the European Central Bank by national 
authorities regarding draft legislative provisions2, as the draft law relates to the Bank of Greece and to 
payment and settlement systems. In accordance with the firs t sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of 
Procedure of the European Central Bank, th e Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 
 1.  Purpose of the draft provisions 
1.1 The draft provisions aim at enhancing the le gal framework governing the operation of the system 
for monitoring transactions in book-entry securiti es (hereinafter the ‘System’) established by 
Law 2198/1994 to monitor transactions in book-en try securities, in particular as regards the 
possibility for financial instruments other than  Greek government bonds to be entered in the 
System. The Bank of Greece manages the System. The proposed measures introduce new categories of financial instruments that may be en tered into the System (hereinafter the ‘financial 
instruments’)
3 and provide four main possibilities for such  instruments and interests therein to be 
entered into the System. 
1.2 Draft Article 11(1) provides the possibility for fi nancial instruments to be issued for the first time 
in the System by Greek or foreign issuers. Draf t Article 11(2) provides the possibility for financial 
instruments already issued by Greek or foreign issu ers outside the System, and for interests therein, 
                                                 
1  FEK A 43, 22.3.1994. 
2  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
3  These are the transferable securities provided for in Arti cle 2(13) of Law 3607/2007, with the exception of shares in 
companies, and money market inst ruments provided for in Article 2(14). Law 3606/2007 (FEK 175A, 17.8.2007) 
transposes into Greek law Directive 2004/39/EC of the Eur opean Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on 
markets in financial instruments ame nding Council Directives 85/611/EEC and 93/6/EEC and Directive 2000/12/EC of 
the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 93/22/EEC (OJ L 145, 30.4.2004, p. 1). 
ECB-PUBLIC  
2 to be issued in book entry form  also in the System as book-en try securities representing the rights 
in the underlying instruments. In this latter case,  according to draft Article 11(3)(a) and (b), the 
issuer of the financial instruments or interests th erein in the System may be (a) the issuer of the 
underlying instruments; (b) a System participant or (c) any other entity specified in draft Article 11(3)(a)(ii). Draft Article 11(3) to (9) regulates in detail the claims deriving from such securities and the rights and obligations of the par ties involved. Draft Article 11(10a) provides to 
the Bank of Greece the possibility to hold in securities accounts outside the System financial instruments already issued by Greek  or foreign issuers outside the Sy stem and interests therein, and 
to issue book-entry securities for these instrume nts and interests in the System. Draft 
Article 11(10b) provides the possibility for financ ial instruments already issued by Greek or 
foreign issuers outside the System to be held with the System, by means of the Bank of Greece holding such securities through a securities account w ith another, i.e. foreign, central securities 
registry or depository, hereby acting as a custodian for its System participants. 
 
2.  General observations 
2.1 The ECB welcomes the general objective of the draft provisions, which the ECB understands is to 
enhance the System’s capabilities for the entry into it of financial instruments issued in another 
central securities registry or depository and interest s therein, in line with current practice across the 
European Union. For the sake of legal certainty , those capabilities could be set out in a more 
straightforward manner in the draft provisions, in order to enhance clarity as to their scope and 
purposes. 
2.2 In the same vein, the legitimate purpose of updating the legal framework governing the System 
could be served more efficiently if the sequence under which the various new capabilities feature in 
the draft provisions corresponded to the extent of  their use in European securities markets. In 
particular, the ECB understands that Article 11( 10b) aims at reflecting in Greek legislation 
prevailing practice in the Union, i.e. the possibilit y for instruments already issued in other systems 
to be held with the System through accounts provided by the Bank of Greece as a custodian via a link. Despite the frequency of its use, this particul ar capability only appears at the end of the draft 
provisions, which emphasise other less extensively used capabilities. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.   Done at Frankfurt am Main, 10 February 2012. 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Mario DRAGHI