EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 15 September 2005  
at the request of Lietuvos bankas 
on draft general provisions on payment inst ruments statistical reporting requirements 
(CON/2005/32) 
 
Introduction 1. On 5 August 2005 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Lietuvos bankas for 
an opinion on Mokėjimo priemoni ų statistin ės atskaitomyb ės reikalavim ų bendrųjų nuostatų 
projektas  (draft general provisions on payment inst ruments statistical reporting requirements) 
(hereinafter the ‘draft rules’).  
2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the fourth indent 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 rules relate to the collection, 
compilation and distribution of banking and payment systems statistics. In ac cordance with the first 
sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedur e of the European Central Bank, the Governing 
Council has adopted this opinion. 
3. Under the draft rules, banks, foreign bank branches and Lietuvos paštas  (the Lithuanian Post 
Office) will be required to report data on payment instruments to Lietuvos bankas. The annex to the 
draft rules contains the new Payment Instrument s Statement Form 0607 (hereinafter ‘Form 0607’) 
to be used by reporting agents. In general terms,  the data to be reporte d concern reporting agents’ 
offices, deposit accounts, payment transactions, bank cards and terminals. The draft rules also provide that data on Lithuanian credit unions will be evaluated on the basis of an annual survey 
conducted by Lietuvos bankas. 
4. The draft rules are based on Article 8(1)(9) a nd Article 54 of the Lietuvos bankas Act, which 
empower Lietuvos bankas to collect monetary, banking and balance of payments statistics, 
Lithuanian financial and related statistical data, and oblige state institutions and other legal entities 
to submit to Lietuvos bankas all information required for the performan ce of its functions. 
                                                     
 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
2 The ECB understands that the draft rules will repl ace the existing Form 0607, which only applies 
to banks and was adopted by the Board of Lietuvos bankas in November 20002. 
5. Article 5.2 of the Statute of the European System  of Central Banks and of the European Central 
Bank provides that the national central banks (NCBs ) carry out, to the extent possible, the tasks 
described in Article 5.1 of the Statute, i.e. the collection of the statistical information necessary in 
order to undertake the tasks of the European Syst em of Central Banks (ES CB). Moreover, Article 4 
of Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of 
statistical information by the ECB3 requires that ‘Member States shall organise themselves in the 
field of statistics and shall fully cooperate with the ESCB in order to ensure the fulfilment of the 
obligations arising out of Article 5 of the Statute’. Whilst the ECB’s statistical reporting 
requirements are not identical for participating a nd non-participating Member States, Article 5 of 
the Statute applies to both. This implies an oblig ation to ‘design and implement at the national level 
all the measures that Member States consider approp riate in order to carry out the collection of the 
statistical information needed to fulfil the ECB’ s statistical reporting requirements and the timely 
preparations in the field of statistics in order for them to become participating Member States’4.  
General comments and assumptions 6. The draft rules appear to be generally consistent with the current reporting requirements in relation 
to payment systems statistics to be published in the ECB’s ‘Blue Book’
5, and would help to ensure 
completeness and high quality of  data submitted by Lithuania. C onsequently, the ECB welcomes 
the draft rules.  
At the same time, the ECB notes that the collection of statistical information for the Blue Book is 
based on specifications agreed at the technical level by the ECB and the euro area NCBs. Such 
specifications are currently being revised so that  they can be included in a binding legal act. 
Therefore, changes in the requirements cannot be ruled out at this stage.  The ECB’s comments in 
this opinion are meant to serve as a guide, en abling Lietuvos bankas to shape its statistical 
reporting requirements in line with those of the Eu rosystem in preparation for the introduction of 
the euro in Lithuania. 
7. The ECB understands that other da ta required for the Blue Book may be collected on the basis of 
different statistical reporting requirements and/or  from different reporting agents, and that as a 
result such additional requirements have not been included in the draft rules.  
In particular the ECB’s comments are based on th e following underlying assumptions. First, data 
required for the Blue Book (Tables 2 to 4 and, in pa rt, Table 5) with respect to balance sheet items 
                                                      
2 Pursuant to Lietuvos bankas Board Resolution No 158 of 30 November 2000, as amended by Board Resolution No 158 
of 28 November 2002. 
3  OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. 
4  Recital 17 to Regulation (EC) No 2533/98. 
5  ‘Payment and securities settlement  systems in the European Union’.  Third edition published June 2001. Addendum 
incorporating 2003 figures published August 2005. 
3 and banknotes and coins, would either be collect ed separately on introduction of the euro in 
Lithuania pursuant to Regulation (EC) No  2423/2001 of the European Central Bank of 
22 November 2001 concerning the cons olidated balance sheet of the monetary financial institutions 
sector (ECB/2001/13)6, or are already available at Lietuvos bankas. Second,  data required for the 
Blue Book (Tables 9 and 10) with respect to i ndicators of various cashless payment instruments 
would be collected separately from the systems th emselves, namely large value payments systems 
and retail payment systems. Third, data required fo r the production of statistical tables with regard 
to securities settlement systems would also be collect ed separately, as they are outside the scope of 
Form 0607. Finally, the remaining data required for the production of the Blue Book (Tables 5 to 8) would be collected on the basis of Form 0607. 
8. It would be appropriate to consider including in the population of reporting agents any other 
institutions providing payment services in Lithuani a. It is noted that a discussion at Community 
level concerning new legislation in the field of payment systems is currently underway.  
Technical observations with respect to the draft rules 9. In the following paragraphs, the ECB comments on: (i ) the general provisions of the draft rules and 
the population of reporting agents (Sections I to IV ); (ii) the definitions of statistical reporting 
indicators (Section V); and (iii) Form 0607 (attached to the draft rules). References to paragraphs and sections are to be understood as references to th e relevant paragraphs and sections of the draft 
rules and sections of Form 0607, unless otherwise indicated.  
10. The ECB has not reviewed the time series codes gi ven in Form 0607, as these are considered to be 
outside the scope of this consultation. Furthermor e, details of the key family structure and code 
lists pertaining to the series keys have not been provided. 
General provisions of the draft rules and reporting agents 11. The ECB notes that the statistical reporting freque ncy proposed in the draft rules is quarterly 
(Paragraph 3.2), with a timeliness of 25 days af ter the end of the reporting period (Paragraph 9), 
and that this exceeds the current requirements in respect of frequency and timeliness in the Blue 
Book (Tables 6 to 10), which are annual with a timeliness of a few months. In this context, 
however, an explicit reference to ‘calendar quart erly’ in the draft rules and/or Form 0607 would 
provide more clarity. 
12. Considering that Lietuvos bankas, reside nt foreign bank branches and credit unions
7 are included in 
the list of monetary financial institutions (MFIs) for Lithuania and that all undertakings satisfying 
the definition of MFIs should be subject to statistical reporting, the ECB would propose to provide in the draft rules that the population of reporting ag ents (Paragraph 6) consists of all undertakings 
which satisfy the definition of MFIs, including  without limitation Lietuvos bankas, resident banks , 
                                                     
 
6  OJ L 333, 17.12.2001, p. 1. 
7  With regard to credit unions establis hed in Lithuania, reference is made to  ECB Opinion CON/2005/8 of 1 April 2005 at 
the request of Lietuvos bankas on draft rules on mini mum reserve requirements for credit institutions. 
4 foreign bank branches and credit unions, and Lietuvos paštas . The ECB does not, however, object 
to evaluating the data relating to credit unions on a basis of annual surveys.  
13. The ECB understands that Lietuvos bankas may, in accordance with Article 541 of the Lietuvos 
bankas Act, impose fines and penalty interest on fi nancial institutions for breaches of statistical 
reporting requirements. Lietuvos bankas would th erefore have appropriate powers to impose 
sanctions on financial institu tions, although the ECB notes that there is a risk that Lietuvos paštas  
might fall outside the scope of such sanctions regime.  
Definitions of statistical reporting indicators 14. Regarding the definitions of statistical reporting indicators (Section V), the ECB notes that some of 
these definitions, e.g. ‘virtual cards’ and ‘card im printers’, are not currently provided for in 
technical agreements between the ECB and the N CBs, whilst certain other definitions, e.g. ‘bank 
cards’, ‘joint cards’, ‘cards with a credit func tion’, ‘ATMs with a cash deposit function’, ‘e-money 
card accepting terminals’, ‘e-money card loading/un loading terminals’, are referred to in these 
technical agreements albeit in different terms. The ECB understands that the inconsistencies are 
due to differences between languag es and national legal systems. 
15. The ECB notes that cashless payments transactions (Paragraph 16) should be reported on the basis 
of data recorded at the time a transaction is in itiated (the sending side), with the exception of cross-
border payment transactions received (as provi ded for in Paragraph 22). The ECB suggests 
clarifying this issue in Paragraph 16. 
16. Credit transfers (Paragraph 17) are separated in the Blue Book tables and in the ECB’s technical 
documentation into paper-based and non-paper base d transfers. The breakdown as envisaged in 
Paragraph 17 may not, however, cover all possible variations. Consequently, the ECB suggests 
including a breakdown into paper-based and non-pape r based credit transfers in both Paragraph 17 
and Form 0607, with the possibility of breaking these categories down further. 
17. With regard to Paragraph 21, the ECB notes that  the cash transactions mentioned therein are 
directly linked to clients’ accounts with a client  service office. However, where cash transactions 
occur at a client service office for accounts other th an clients’ accounts, such transactions involve 
internal or external transfers of funds and shoul d therefore be accounted for as credit transfers. The 
ECB suggests clarifying this in Paragraph 21. 
18. The ECB understands that data on bank cards (P aragraph 23 and items 14 to 22 and 28 to 36 in 
Form 0607) relate to cards issued  by resident credit institutions rather than cards used in Lithuania. 
The ECB recommends specifying this in Paragra ph 23. In addition, it recommends extending the 
scope of this definition to include ‘schemes’ and ‘members of schemes’ as possible issuers of the cards. The latter comment would also apply to the definition of cards with a credit function 
(Paragraph 28). Lietuvos bankas could also consider  using the more general term ‘cards (payment 
cards)’ rather than ‘bank cards’.  
5 19. In the definition of ‘joint cards’ (Paragraph 24) , the ECB recommends including the function of 
‘delayed debit’ as this currently appears to be missing. 
20. With regard to ‘virtual cards’ (Paragraph 30), the ECB understands that transactions initiated with 
such cards are reported for the purposes of the Blue Book in the same category as credit transfers. The ECB invites Lietuvos bankas to clarify this issue in the draft rules. 
21. With regard to ‘POS (point of sale) termin als’ (Paragraph 35), the ECB assumes that the cash 
withdrawals mentioned in this definition refer ex clusively to cash advances, i.e. cash withdrawals 
which cardholders perform in combination with and at the same time as a payment transaction at a 
commercial or service company. The ECB recommends defining the term ‘cash advances’ in Paragraph 35.  
Also, the ECB assumes that the Blue Book category ‘EFTPOS terminal s’ is calculated by taking 
into account POS terminals and subtracting card im printers. For the sake of completeness and ease 
of reference, the ECB suggests defining EFTPOS termin als in Paragraph 35 and also including this 
item in Form 0607. 
22. With regard to ‘e-money card loading terminal s’ (Paragraph 39), the ECB recommends amending 
the term to state ‘e-money card loading/unloading te rminals’ to make it clear that such terminals 
may also provide a facility for unloading monetary value. 
Form 0607 23. The ECB notes that Lithuanian litas is indicated as the reporting currency in Form 0607. However, 
the draft rules do not lay down how transactions ex ecuted in another currency are to be recalculated 
in Lithuanian litas. The ECB recommends clarifying this issue in the draft rules, in particular by 
referring to the official litas/euro exchange rate  and, to the extent av ailable, other reference 
exchange rates published by Lietuvos bankas or, afte r the introduction of the euro in Lithuania, by 
the ECB. The least burdensome method would be to  calculate the total amount of transactions per 
currency for the reporting period by using the average exchange rate over this period. 
24. The ECB also has the following specific comments with regard to Form 0607. With respect to 
cashless payments and ‘over the counter’ cash trans actions at client service offices (Section II), the 
ECB recommends introducing general items entitled ‘paper based’ and ‘non-paper based’ such as 
are included in the Blue Book. 
25. With regard to the number of ATMs and term inals in the country and transactions processed 
(Section IV), the ECB recommends including the te rm ‘of which EFTPOS terminals’ (as specified 
in Table 6 of the Blue Book), as a component breakdown of POS terminals (item 41). 
6  
26. The ECB notes that the items ‘(Number/value of) tran sactions at terminals in the country by cards 
issued in the country’ and ‘(Number/value of) tran sactions at terminals in the country by cards 
issued outside the country’ (as specified in Tables 7 and 8 of the Blue Book), are not listed in Form 0607. Similarly, the item ‘(Number/value of) transact ions at terminals outside the country by cards 
issued in the country’ (as specified in Tables 7 and 8 of the Blue Book), is also not listed in Form 
0607. 
27. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 
  Done at Frankfurt am Main, 15 September 2005. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET