EN ECB-PUBLIC  
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 30 October 2012 
on the checking of cash  
(CON/2012/82) 
 Introduction and legal basis 
On 4 October 2012, the European Central Bank (E CB) received a request from the Deutsche Bundesbank 
for an opinion on a draft regulation on the checking of cash (hereinafter the ‘draft regulation’).  
The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Article 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 
Functioning of the European Union and the first, sec ond and third indents of Ar ticle 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 provisions1, as the draft legislation concerns currency matters, 
means of payment and the Deutsche Bundesbank. In acco rdance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of 
the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Ba nk, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 
 1.  Legal basis und purpose of the draft regulation 
1.1 The draft regulation is based on Section 36a of the Law on the Deutsche Bundesbank in 
conjunction with Section 1 of the Regulation on the delegation of power to the Bundesbank to 
adopt regulations pursuant to Section 36a  of the Law on the Deutsche Bundesbank
2. According to 
these provisions, the Deutsche Bundesbank’s Executiv e Board is empowered to adopt regulations 
relating to cash checking which are subject to  the approval of the Ministry of Finance.  
1.2 The purpose of the draft regulation is to impl ement requirements provided for in Article 6 of 
Regulation (EC) No 1338/20013 and in Decision ECB/2010/144. The draft regulation establishes 
detailed rules concerning the taking of samples during on-site inspecti ons of entities subject to the 
obligations laid down in Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001, and relating to the scope and 
manner of the reporting obligations of those entities in the context of euro banknote authentication 
and fitness checking. Furthermore, the draft regula tion lays down the minimum information to be 
                                                 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
2  BGBl. I p. 1507. 
3  Council Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 of 28 June 2001 laying down measures necessary for the protection of the euro 
against counterfeiting (OJ L 181, 4.7.2001, p. 6). 
4  Decision ECB/2010/14 of 16 September 2010 on the authenticity  and fitness checking and recirculation of euro 
banknotes (OJ L 267, 9.10.2010, p. 1). 
ECB-PUBLIC  
2 included in reports which must be submitted under Section 36 of the Law on the Deutsche 
Bundesbank and which concern counterfeit euro banknotes and coins, or euro banknotes and coins 
suspected of being counterfeit, and other items sp ecified in Section 35 of the Law on the Deutsche 
Bundesbank. 
 2.  General observations 
2.1 The ECB welcomes the draft regulation and the fact that the Deutsche Bundesbank exercises its 
delegated power, in accordance with Secti ons 36a and 37a of the Law on the Deutsche 
Bundesbank, to adopt detailed provisions concerning the checking of cash and related reporting 
obligations. It is important that the Deutsch e Bundesbank is in a position to monitor the 
authentication and fitness checking of euro ba nknotes pursuant to Decision ECB/2010/14. In 
general, the ECB is confident that the provisions of the draft regulation will help to protect the 
integrity of euro banknotes in circulation, r esulting in continued public confidence in euro 
banknotes
5. 
2.2 In particular, the draft regulation provides in Sec tion 1 that, in the course of its inspections of staff-
operated banknote processing systems pursuant to Section 37(a)(2) of the Law of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the Deutsche Bundesbank may take samples of euro banknotes that have been 
processed and are deemed fit for recirculation. It  also provides that the party obliged to take 
measures shall deposit the sample with a branch of the Deutsche Bundesbank within five business 
days. The ECB notes that the draft regulation refe rs to, and even goes beyond, Article 10(2) of 
Decision ECB/2010/14 by providing for an obliga tion to deposit samples of processed euro 
banknotes at the Deutsche Bundesbank. Article 10(2) of Decision ECB/2010/14 stipulates that, subject to national law requirements, NCBs are authorised to take samples of processed euro 
banknotes to check them at their own premises. The ECB welcomes the fact that the Deutsche Bundesbank has made use of its competence to adopt a specific national rule which is in accordance with Article 10(2) of Decision ECB/20 10/14. The provisions of Section 1 enable the 
entities involved to check whether euro banknot es were processed in accordance with Decision 
ECB/2010/14. The ECB also welcomes the fact that the objective of Section 1 is to maintain the 
high quality of euro banknotes in circulation and to  enable the entities referred to in Article 6 of 
Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 to detect counterfeits as quickly as possible. 
2.3 Section 2 of the draft regulation is aimed at improving and harmonising the transmission of data 
concerning counterfeit money. The ECB welcomes the fact that under this provision more detailed 
information is required for the reports accompanyi ng the submission of counterfeit money, in order 
to enable judicial authorities to  take measures to prosecute offe nders and to issue warnings to 
groups likely to be targeted by di stributors of counterfeit money.  
 
                                                 
5  Paragraph 2.1 of Opinion CON/2010/90.  All ECB opinions are published on th e ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu.  
ECB-PUBLIC  
3 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 
  Done at Frankfurt am Main, 30 October 2012. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Mario DRAGHI