EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 21 January 2010 
on the second prolongation of the State recapitalisation scheme 
(CON/2010/11) 
 Introduction and legal basis
 
On 13 January 2010 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Swedish Ministry of 
Finance for an opinion on a draft ordinance (herei nafter the ‘second amending Ordinance’) amending the 
Ordinance on capital contributions to solvent ba nks and others (SFS 2009:46) (hereinafter the 
‘Ordinance’). 
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 sixth indent  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 amending ordinance relates to rules applicable to financial institutions 
insofar as they materially influence the stability of fi nancial institutions and markets. In accordance with 
the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Pr ocedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing 
Council has adopted this opinion. 
 1.  Background 1.1 On 16 February 2009 the ECB received a request  from the Swedish Ministry of Finance for an 
opinion on a draft version of the Ordinance, which entered into force on 17 February 2009. Due to 
this late consultation by the Swedish Ministry of  Finance, the ECB was not afforded sufficient time 
to adopt an opinion on the Ordinance. 
1.2 The Ordinance was intended to contribute capital to solvent banks with the objective of facilitating 
the provision of credit to the real economy. The Swedish State may provide capital to fundamentally sound banks: 
1) either through a market transaction where th e State subscribes up to 70% of a private issue 
on the same terms as other investors; or  
2) for subscriptions of more than 70% of an issue, through an instrument and on terms 
determined by the State. 
                                                 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
2  Until now, the State has used the recapitalisati on scheme only for Nordea Bank AB in the spring of 
2009, subscribing to its pro rata share, in accordance with its ownership, of the bank’s rights issue. 
1.3 On 30 June 2009 the ECB received a request from the Swedish Ministry of Finance for an opinion 
on a first prolongation of the Ordinance (hereinaft er the ‘first amending Ordinance’) extending its 
validity by six months from 17 August 2009 until 17  February 2010. On 14 July 2009 the ECB 
adopted its Opinion CON/2009/58 on the first amending Ordinance. 
 2.  Purpose of the second amending ordinance 
The current second amending Ordinance’s sole purpose is to extend the validity of the Ordinance by 
another six months from 18 Fe bruary until 17 August 2010. 
 3. General observations 3.1 In its Opinion CON/2009/58, the ECB alread y commented on the Ordinance and on the first 
amending Ordinance. To the extent relevant, th e observations made in Opinion CON/2009/58 also 
apply to the proposed second amending Ordinance. 
3.2 In particular, the ECB reiterates that any initiatives put in place by the competent national 
authorities to restore confidence in the financial markets should be coordi nated and should aim to 
implement common principles in a spirit of close cooperation with other Member States and the Union institutions since significant differences in  national implementation could create distortions 
in global banking markets. In this regard, the ECB emphasises that coordination of the duration of 
national financial support schemes across the Union is  of crucial importance in order to ensure a 
level playing field
2. In addition, the ECB notes the need for national support measures to be 
temporary in nature3.  
3.3 The consulting authority has informed the ECB th at the draft law is to be adopted by 21 January 
2010. In view thereof, the consulting authority wo uld seem to invoke the exemption provided for in 
Article 3(2) of Council Decision 98/415/EC, whic h allows for a reduction of the minimum time 
limit for submission of ECB opinions of one month in case of extreme urgency. The ECB wishes to 
draw the consulting authority’s attention to th e fact that the second sentence of Article 4 of 
Decision 98/415/EC states that the ECB must be consulted ‘at an appropriate stage’ in the 
legislative process. This implies that the consulta tion should take place at a point in the legislative 
process that affords the ECB suffici ent time to examine the draft legislative provisions and to adopt 
its opinion in the required language versions and which also enables the relevant national 
                                                 
2  See notably ECB Opinions CON/2009/24, paragraph 3.1,  CON/2009/54, paragraph 2.5.2,  and CON/2009/73, paragraph 
3.2. All ECB opinions are available on  the ECB’s website at ecb.europa.eu. 
3  See notably ECB Opinions CON/2009/ 24, paragraph 2.2, CON/2009/62, paragr aph 3.3, and CON/2009/73, paragraph 
3.2, and CON/2009/92, paragraph 3.6. 
3 authorities to take the ECB’s opinion into cons ideration before the legislative provisions are 
adopted. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.    Done at Frankfurt am Main, 21 January 2010. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET