EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 18 June 2004 
at the request of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour   
on a draft regulation amending the Foreign Trade and Payments Regulation 
(CON/2004/23) 
 1. On 1 June 2004, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the German Ministry of 
Economics and Labour for an opinion on a draft re gulation amending the German Foreign Trade 
and Payments Regulation
1 (hereinafter the ‘draft regulation’). 
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 c onsultation of the European Central Bank by 
national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions2, as the draft regulation relates to the 
collection, compilation and distribution of mone tary, financial, banking, payment systems and 
balance of payments statistics. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of 
Procedure of the European Central Bank, th e Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 
3. The draft regulation amends the Foreign Trade and Payments Regulation, which deals with 
reporting requirements in relation to cross-border transactions between residents and non-residents. 
The ECB understands that the proposed amendments result, inter alia , from the following: 
– changes to the Deutsche Bundesban k’s organisational structure, 
– the need to comply with internationally used terms and definitions and the data requirements 
of the ECB, the European Commission and the OECD, 
– the introduction of a new reporting form fo r transactions in securities and financial 
derivatives, and 
– the need to ease reporting via central reporting points in companies and the use of electronic 
reporting procedures. 
4. The ECB welcomes the initiative in adjusting th e sector classification of reporting agents. The 
application of the harmonised classification of ‘M onetary Financial Institutes’ (MFIs) to German 
reporting requirements will improve  the consistency of information used for euro area aggregates. 
                                                      
1  Entwurf einer Zweiundsechzigsten Verordnung zur Änderung der Außenwirtschaftsverordnung (A draft 62nd regulation 
amending the Foreign Trade and Payments Regulation). 
2  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
2 5. The ECB also welcomes the use in German legislation of  International Securities Identification 
Numbers (ISIN). The use of these internationally accepted identification numbers will enable the 
German authorities to implement an efficient statis tical reporting system in the area of balance of 
payments and the international investment positio n based on the collectio n of information on 
individual securities. The use of internationall y accepted securities identification numbers will be 
required for compiling statistics on euro area balance of payments and the international investment 
position on a security-by-security basis. 
6. Additionally, the ECB particularly welcomes the ad aptation of reporting requirements in the area of 
direct investment statistics to permit the use of  the valuation principles required for compiling euro 
area international investment position statistics. 
7. The ECB confirms that it has no objection to the competent national authorities making this 
opinion publicly available at their discretion. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website 
six months after the date of its adoption. 
  Done at Frankfurt am Main, 18 June 2004. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET