Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank
Date: 1998-11-23
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU statistics, European Central Bank, European System of Central Banks, disclosure of information, economic statistics, exchange of information

L 318/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27. 11. 98

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2533/98

of 23 November 1998

concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central
Bank

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Protocol (No 3) on the Statute of the
European System of Central Banks and of the European
Central Bank (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Statute') and
in particular to Article 5.4 thereof,

Having regard to the recommendation of the European
Central Bank (the ‘ECB') (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia-
ment (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Commission (3),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 106(6) of the Treaty establishing the European
Community and in Article 42 of the Statute,

(1) Whereas Article 5.1 of

the Statute requires the
ECB, assisted by the national central banks,
to
collect either from the competent national author-
ities or directly from economic agents the statistical
information which is necessary for the tasks of the
European System of Central Banks (hereinafter
referred to as the ‘ESCB') to be performed; whereas,
to facilitate the execution of these tasks, set out in
Article 105 of the Treaty, and in particular the
conduct of monetary policy, this statistical informa-
tion is used primarily for the production of aggre-
gated statistical information, for which the identity
of individual economic agents is irrelevant, but may
also be used at the level of individual economic
agents; whereas Article 5.2 of the Statute requires
the national central banks to carry out,
to the
extent possible, the tasks described in Article 5.1 of
the Statute
the Statute; whereas Article 5.4 of
requires the Council to define the natural and legal
persons
the
confidentiality regime and the appropriate provi-
sions for enforcement; whereas the national central
banks may cooperate with other competent author-
ities,
institutes and
market regulators, for the purposes of Article 5.1 of
the Statute;

including national statistical

to reporting requirements,

subject

for its collection need to be structured so that the
ECB has the ability and flexibility to avail itself in a
timely manner of high-quality statistics which
reflect changing economic and financial conditions
and take account of
the burden imposed on
reporting agents; whereas in so doing attention
must be paid not only to the performance of the
ESCB’s tasks and its independence but also to
keeping the burden placed on the reporting agents
to a minimum;

(3) Whereas it is therefore desirable to define a refer-
ence reporting population in terms of categories of
applications
economic
involved, to which the statistical powers of the ECB
is confined and from which the ECB determines
the actual reporting population through its regula-
tory power;

statistical

units

and

(4) Whereas a homogeneous reporting population is
necessary for the production of the consolidated
balance sheet of the Monetary Financial Institu-
tions sector of the participating Member States, the
principal aim of which is to provide the ECB with
a comprehensive statistical picture of monetary
developments in the participating Member States,
seen as one economic territory; whereas the ECB
has established and maintains a List of Monetary
Financial Institutions for statistical purposes based
on a common definition of these institutions;

(5) Whereas the said common definition for statistical
purposes specifies that Monetary Financial Institu-
tions comprise credit
institutions as defined in
Community law, and all other resident financial
institutions whose business is to receive deposits
and/or close substitutes for deposits from entities
other than Monetary Financial Institutions and, for
their own account (at least in economic terms), to
grant credits and/or to make investments in secur-
ities;

(2) Whereas, in order for statistical information to be
effective as an instrument for the performance of
the tasks of the ESCB, definitions and procedures

(1) OJ C 246, 6. 8. 1998, p. 12.
(2) OJ C 328, 26. 10. 1998.
(3) Opinion delivered on 8 October 1998 (not yet published in

the Official Journal).

(6) Whereas those post office giro institutions which
may not fulfil the common definition for statistical
purposes of Monetary Financial Institutions may
nevertheless need to be made subject to the ECB’s
statistical reporting requirements in the field of

27. 11. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 318/9

money and banking statistics and payment systems
statistics because they may, to a significant extent,
receive deposits
for
deposits and undertake payment systems business;

substitutes

and/or

close

(7) Whereas in the European System of National and
Regional Accounts 1995 (1) (hereinafter referred to
as the ‘ESA 95'), the Monetary Financial Institu-
tions therefore comprise the sub-sectors ‘the central
bank' and ‘other monetary financial
institutions'
and may be broadened solely through the inclusion
of categories of institutions coming from the sub-
sector ‘other financial intermediaries, except insur-
ance corporations and pension funds';

(8) Whereas statistics on the balance of payments, the
International Investment Position, securities, elec-
tronic money and payment systems are necessary
to enable the ESCB to fulfil its tasks in an indepen-
dent manner;

(9) Whereas the use of the terms ‘legal and natural
persons'
in Article 5.4 of the Statute has to be
construed in a manner that is consistent with the
practices of Member States in the field of money
and banking statistics and balance of payments
statistics and therefore also encompasses entities
that are neither legal persons nor natural persons
under their respective national laws but still fall
within the relevant sub-sectors of
the ESA 95;
whereas reporting requirements can therefore be
imposed on entities such as partnerships, branches,
undertakings for collective investments in transfer-
able securities (UCITS) and funds that, under their
respective laws, do not enjoy the status of a legal
person; whereas in these cases the reporting obliga-
tion is imposed on those persons who, under the
applicable national laws, legally represent the en-
tities concerned;

(10) Whereas the statistical balance sheet reports of
institutions mentioned in Article 19.1 of the Statute
may also be used to calculate the amount of
minimum reserves which they may be obliged to
hold;

(11) Whereas it is the task of the Governing Council of
the ECB to specify the division of tasks between
the ECB and the national central banks concerning
the collection and verification of statistical infor-
mation and their enforcement, taking into account
the principle laid down in Article 5.2 of the Statute,
as well as the tasks which will be assumed by
their
national authorities within the limits of

competence, for the purposes of obtaining statistics
of a consistently high quality;

reporting

requirements be

(12) Whereas, in the early years of the single currency
area, cost-effectiveness may require that the ECB’s
statistical
satisfied
through transitional procedures due to existing
constraints on the collection systems; whereas this
may imply in particular that, in the case of the
Financial Account of the balance of payments, data
on cross-border positions or transactions of
the
participating Member States seen as one economic
the single
territory may in the early years of
currency area be compiled using all positions or
transactions between residents of a participating
Member State and residents of other countries;

(13) Whereas the limits within and the conditions
under which the ECB is entitled to impose sanc-
tions on undertakings for failure to comply with
the obligations laid down in regulations and deci-
sions of the ECB have been defined by Council
Regulation (EC) No 2532/98 of 23 November
1998, concerning the powers of
the European
Central Bank to impose sanctions (2), in accordance
with Article 34.3 of the Statute; whereas in the
event of a conflict between the provisions of the
said Regulation and this Regulation enabling the
ECB to impose sanctions, the provisions of this
Regulation will prevail; whereas the sanctions for
non-compliance with the obligations set out in this
Regulation are without prejudice to the possibility
of the ESCB establishing appropriate enforcement
relations with counterparties,
provisions
including the partial or
total exclusion of a
reporting agent from monetary policy operations in
the case of a serious infringement of statistical
reporting requirements;

in its

(14) Whereas

regulations made by the ECB under
Article 34.1 of the Statute do not confer any rights
or impose any obligations on non-participating
Member States;

(15) Whereas Denmark, referring to paragraph 1 of the
Protocol (No 12) on certain provisions relating to
Denmark, has given notification, in the context of
the Edinburgh Decision of 12 December 1992, that
it will not participate in the third stage of
Economic and Monetary Union; whereas, therefore,
in accordance with paragraph 2 of
the said
Protocol, all Articles and provisions of the Treaty
and the Statute referring to a derogation will be
applicable to Denmark;

(1) OJ L 310, 30. 11. 1996, p. 1.

(2) See page 4 of this Official Journal.

L 318/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27. 11. 98

(16) Whereas under paragraph 8 of the Protocol (No 11)
on certain provisions
relating to the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
Article 34 of the Statute does not apply to the
United Kingdom unless it participates in the third
stage of Economic and Monetary Union;

sional secrecy, subject to the combined provisions
of Articles 12 and 18 of the Protocol on the priv-
ileges and immunities of the European Commu-
nities;

(17) Whereas, while it is recognised that the statistical
information needed to fulfil the ECB’s statistical
reporting requirements is not the same for the
participating as for the non-participating Member
States, Article 5 of
the Statute applies to both
participating and non-participating Member States;
whereas this fact, together with Article 5 of the
Treaty, implies an obligation to design and imple-
ment at the national level all the measures that
Member States consider appropriate in order to
carry out the collection of the statistical informa-
tion 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;

the tasks of

(18) Whereas confidential statistical information which
the ECB and the national central banks must
obtain for the performance of
the
ESCB must be protected in order to gain and
maintain the confidence of the reporting agents;
whereas once this Regulation is adopted there will
be no further cause to invoke provisions on confid-
entiality preventing the exchange of confidential
statistical information relating to the tasks of the
ESCB, subject to the provisions of Directive 95/46/
EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individ-
uals with regard to the processing of personal data
and on the free movement of such data (1);

(19) Whereas Article 38.1 of the Statute provides that
members of the governing bodies and the staff of
the ECB and the national central banks shall be
required, even after their duties have ceased, not to
disclose information of the kind covered by the
obligation of professional secrecy and Article 38.2
of the Statute provides that persons having access
legislation
to
imposing an obligation of secrecy shall be subject
to such legislation;

by Community

covered

data

(20) Whereas any infringement of the rules binding
members of
the ECB, whether
the staff of
committed wilfully or through negligence, renders
them liable to disciplinary sanctions and, if appro-
priate, legal penalties for the violation of profes-

implies that

(21) Whereas the possible use of statistical information
for the execution of the tasks to be carried out
through the ESCB in accordance with Article 105
of the Treaty, while reducing the overall reporting
burden,
the confidentiality regime
defined in this Regulation must differ to some
from the general Community and inter-
extent
national principles on statistical confidentiality,
and in particular from the provisions on statistical
confidentiality in Council Regulation (EC) No 322/
97 of 17 February 1997 on Community Statistics (2);
whereas, subject to this point, the ECB will take
into account the principles underlying Community
statistics set out in Article 10 of Regulation (EC)
No 322/97;

(22) Whereas the confidentiality regime defined in this
Regulation applies only to confidential statistical
the
information transmitted to the ECB for
performance of the tasks of the ESCB and does not
affect special national or Community provisions
relating to the transmission of other types of infor-
mation to the ECB; whereas the rules on statistical
confidentiality applied by the national statistical
institutes and the Commission on the statistical
information they collect on their own behalf must
be respected;

(23) Whereas, for the purposes of Article 5.1 of the
Statute, the ECB is required to cooperate in the
field of statistics with the Community institutions
or bodies and with the competent authorities of the
Member States or third countries and with inter-
national organisations; whereas the ECB and the
Commission will establish appropriate forms of
cooperation in the field of statistics in order to
carry out their tasks in the most efficient way,
trying to minimise the burden on reporting agents;

(24) Whereas the ESCB and ECB have been entrusted
with the task of preparing the statistical reporting
requirements for the euro area for their full opera-
tion in the third stage of Economic and Monetary
Union (hereinafter referred to as ‘Stage Three');
whereas timely preparation in the statistical field is
essential to enable the ESCB to fulfil its tasks in
Stage Three; whereas an essential element of pre-
paration is the adoption, ahead of Stage Three, of

(1) OJ L 281, 23. 11. 1995, p. 31.

(2) OJ L 52, 22. 2. 1997, p. 1.

27. 11. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 318/11

for

ECB statistical regulations; whereas it is desirable to
inform market participants during 1998 of
the
detailed provisions the ECB may deem necessary to
statistical
adopt
therefore
reporting requirements; whereas
necessary to provide the ECB from the date of
entry into force of this Regulation with a regulatory
power;

the implementation of
it

its
is

(25) Whereas the provisions of this Regulation can be
effectively applied only if participating Member
States in their entirety have adopted the necessary
measures with a view to ensuring that their author-
ities have the powers to assist and collaborate fully
with the ECB in carrying out the verification and
compulsory collection of statistical information, in
conformity with Article 5 of the Treaty,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Definitions

5.

6.

‘International Investment Position' shall mean the
balance sheet of the stock of cross-border financial
assets and liabilities;

‘electronic money' shall mean an electronic store of
monetary value on a technical device,
including
prepaid cards, that may be widely used for making
payments to entities other than the issuer without
necessarily involving bank accounts in the transaction,
but acting as a prepaid bearer instrument.

Article 2

Reference reporting population

For the fulfilment of the ECB’s statistical reporting
1.
requirements, the ECB, assisted by the national central
banks in accordance with Article 5.2 of the Statute, shall
have the right to collect statistical information within the
limits of the reference reporting population and of what is
necessary to carry out the tasks of the ESCB.

The reference reporting population shall comprise

2.
the following reporting agents:

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a)

reporting requirements' shall
‘the ECB’s statistical
mean the statistical
information which reporting
agents are required to provide and which is necessary
for the tasks of the ESCB to be performed;

legal and natural persons falling within the sub-sectors
‘central bank',
‘other monetary financial institutions'
and ‘other financial intermediaries, except insurance
corporations and pension funds' as described in
Annex B and residing in a Member State, to the
extent necessary
statistical
reporting requirements in the field of money and
banking statistics and payment systems statistics;

the ECB’s

to fulfil

‘reporting agents' shall mean the legal and natural
persons and the entities referred to in Article 2(3)
which are subject to the ECB’s statistical reporting
requirements;

(b) post office giro institutions, to the extent necessary to
fulfil the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements in
the field of money and banking statistics and payment
systems statistics;

‘participating Member State' shall mean a Member
State which has adopted the single currency in accord-
ance with the Treaty;

‘resident' and ‘residing' shall mean having a centre of
in the economic territory of a
economic interest
country as described in Annex A;
in this context,
‘cross-border positions' and ‘cross-border transactions'
shall mean respectively positions and transactions in
the assets and/or liabilities of residents of participating
Member States seen as one economic territory vis-a-vis
residents of non-participating Member States and/or
residents of third countries;

(c)

legal and natural persons residing in a Member State,
to the extent that they hold cross-border positions or
carry out cross-border transactions and that statistical
information relating to such positions or transactions
is necessary to fulfil the ECB’s statistical reporting
requirements in the field of balance of payments stat-
istics or the International Investment Position;

(d) legal and natural persons residing in a Member State,
to the extent that statistical information relating to the
securities or the electronic money issued by them is
necessary to fulfil
reporting
the ECB’s
requirements.

statistical

1.

2.

3.

4.

L 318/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27. 11. 98

3. An entity that would otherwise be covered by the
definition in paragraph 2, but which according to the
national law of its country of residence is neither a legal
person nor a collection of natural persons, while it can be
the subject of rights and obligations, shall be a reporting
agent. The reporting obligation of such an entity shall be
fulfilled by the persons legally representing it.

in another country,

Where a legal person, collection of natural persons or an
entity as referred to in the first subparagraph has a branch
resident
the branch shall be a
reporting agent in its own right irrespective of where the
head office is located insofar as the branch satisfies the
conditions defined in paragraph 2, with the exception of
the need to possess
separate legal personality. Any
number of branches set up in the same Member State
shall be regarded as a single branch when they belong to
the same sub-sector of the economy. The reporting ob-
ligation of a branch shall be fulfilled by the persons
legally representing it.

Article 5

Regulatory power of the ECB

1.
The ECB may adopt regulations for the definition
and imposition of its statistical reporting requirements on
the actual reporting population of participating Member
States.

2.
To guarantee the coherence necessary to produce
statistics meeting their respective information require-
ments, the ECB shall consult the Commission on draft
regulations whenever links with the statistical require-
ments of
the Commission exist. The Committee on
Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics
shall take part, within the limits of its competence, in the
process of cooperation between the Commission and the
ECB.

Article 3

Article 6

Modalities for the definition of statistical reporting
requirements

In defining and imposing its statistical reporting require-
ments, the ECB shall specify the actual reporting popula-
tion within the limits of the reference reporting popula-
tion as defined in Article 2. Without prejudice to the
fulfilment of its statistical reporting requirements, the
ECB:

(a) shall minimise

reporting burden involved,
including by using existing statistics as far as possible;

the

(b) shall take into account Community and international

statistical standards;

(c) may fully or partly exempt

specific classes of
reporting agents from its statistical reporting require-
ments.

Right of verification and compulsory collection of
statistical information

If a reporting agent

1.
residing in a participating
Member State is suspected of an infringement, as set out
in Article 7(2), of the ECB’s statistical reporting require-
ments, the ECB and, in accordance with Article 5.2 of the
Statute, the national central bank of the participating
Member State concerned shall have the right to verify the
accuracy and quality of the statistical information and to
carry out its compulsory collection. However, should the
statistical information concerned be necessary in order to
demonstrate compliance with minimum reserve require-
ments, the verification should be carried out in accord-
ance with Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2531/
98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the application of
minimum reserves by the European Central Bank (1). The
right
information or to carry out
compulsory collection thereof shall comprise the right to:

to verify statistical

(a) require submission of documents;

Article 4

(b) examine the books and records of

the reporting

agents;

Obligations of Member States

(c) take copies or extracts from such books and records;

and

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.

(d) obtain written or oral explanations.

(1) See page 1 of this Official Journal.

27. 11. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 318/13

The ECB or the competent national central bank
2.
shall notify the reporting agent in writing of its decision
to verify statistical information or to collect it compul-
sorily, specifying the time limit for compliance with the
verification request, the sanctions applicable in the case of
non-compliance and the right to review. The ECB and
the national central bank concerned shall inform each
other of such verification requests.

For the verification and the compulsory collection of
3.
statistical
shall be
information, national procedures
followed. The costs of the procedure shall be borne by the
reporting agent concerned if it is established that the
reporting agent has breached statistical reporting require-
ments.

The ECB may adopt

specifying the
4.
conditions under which the right to verify or to carry out
the compulsory collection of statistical information may
be exercised.

regulations

5. Within the limits of
their competence, national
authorities of participating Member States shall give the
necessary assistance to the ECB and national central
banks in the exercise of the powers provided for in this
Article.

6. When a reporting agent opposes or obstructs the
verification process or the compulsory collection of the
required statistical information, the participating Member
State in which the reporting agent’s premises are located
shall afford the necessary assistance, including ensuring
access to the reporting agent’s premises by the ECB or
the national central bank so that the rights mentioned in
paragraph 1 can be exercised.

Article 7

Imposition of sanctions

1.
The ECB shall have the power to impose the sanc-
tions set out in this Article on reporting agents which are
subject to reporting requirements and residing in a parti-
cipating Member State and which fail to comply with the
obligations resulting from this Regulation or from ECB
regulations or decisions defining and imposing the ECB’s
statistical reporting requirements.

2.
The obligation to transmit certain statistical informa-
tion to the ECB or to the national central banks shall be
deemed to have been infringed if:

(a) no statistical information is received by the ECB or
national central bank by the established deadline; or

(b) the statistical information is incorrect, incomplete or
in a form not complying with the requirement.

The obligation to allow the ECB and the national
3.
central banks to verify the accuracy and quality of the
statistical information submitted by reporting agents to
the ECB or national central bank shall be deemed to have
been infringed whenever a reporting agent obstructs this
activity. Such obstruction includes, but is not limited to,
the removal of documents and prevention of physical
access by the ECB or the national central bank which is
necessary for them to carry out their verification task or
compulsory collection.

The ECB may impose sanctions on a reporting agent

4.
as follows:

(a)

in the event of an infringement as defined in para-
graph 2(a), a daily penalty payment not exceeding
EUR 10 000, with the total fine not exceeding EUR
100 000;

(b) in the event of an infringement as defined in para-
graph 2(b), a fine not exceeding EUR 200 000; and

(c)

in the event of an infringement as defined in para-
graph 3, a fine not exceeding EUR 200 000.

The sanctions set out in paragraph 4 shall be addi-
5.
tional to the obligation on the reporting agent to meet the
costs of the verification and compulsory collection proce-
dure as required in Article 6(3).

6.
In exercising the powers provided for in this Article,
the ECB shall act in accordance with the principles and
procedures as set out in Regulation (EC) No 2532/98.

Article 8

Confidentiality regime

1. Within the scope of this Regulation and for the
purposes of the confidentiality regime covering the stat-
istical information which is necessary for the tasks of the
ESCB to be performed, statistical information shall be
confidential when it allows reporting agents or any other
legal person, natural person, entity or branch to be identi-
fied, either directly from their name, address or from an
officially allocated identification code, or
indirectly
through deduction, thereby disclosing individual informa-
tion. To determine whether a reporting agent or any other
legal person, natural person, entity or branch is identifi-
able, account shall be taken of all the means that might
reasonably be used by a third party to identify the said

L 318/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27. 11. 98

reporting agent or the other legal person, natural person,
entity or branch. Statistical
information taken from
sources which are available to the public in accordance
with national law is not confidential.

(c)

if it is used in the field of prudential supervision or for
the exercise in accordance with Article 14(4) of the
Statute of functions other than those specified in the
Statute; or

Transmission from the national central banks to the
2.
ECB of confidential statistical
take
place to the extent and at the level of detail necessary for
the exercise of the tasks to be carried out through the
ESCB, as described in Article 105 of the Treaty.

information shall

3. Reporting agents shall be informed of the statistical
and other, administrative, uses, to which statistical infor-
mation provided by them may be put. Reporting agents
shall have the right to obtain information on the legal
basis for the transmission and the protective measures
adopted.

(d) for granting scientific research bodies access

to
information which does not

confidential statistical
allow direct identification.

6.
This Article shall not prevent confidential statistical
information collected for purposes other than, or in addi-
tion to, meeting the ECB’s statistical reporting require-
ments from being used to meet those other purposes.

7.
This Article shall apply only to the collection and
transmission of confidential statistical information for the
fulfilment of the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements;
it shall not affect special national or Community provi-
sions relating to the transmission of other types of infor-
mation to the ECB.

The ECB shall use confidential statistical informa-
4.
tion transmitted to it exclusively for the exercise of the
tasks of the ESCB except:

This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to

8.
Directive 95/46/EC.

(a)

the reporting agent or the other legal person,
if
natural person, entity or branch which can be identi-
fied, has explicitly given its consent to the use of the
said statistical information for other purposes; or

In the case of data collected by national statistical insti-
tutes and the Commission, which are submitted to the
ECB, this Regulation shall, as regards statistical confiden-
tiality, apply without prejudice to Regulation (EC) No
322/97.

(b) for the production of specific Community statistics,
following an agreement between the Commission and
the ECB in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation
(EC) No 322/97; or

(c) for granting scientific research bodies access

to
confidential statistical
information which does not
allow direct
identification, without prejudice
to
legislation and with the previous explicit
national
consent of the national authority which provided the
information.

5.
The national central banks shall use the confidential
statistical information collected to fulfil the ECB’s statist-
ical reporting requirements exclusively for the exercise of
the tasks of the ESCB except:

(a)

if
the reporting agent or the other legal person,
natural person, entity or branch which can be identi-
fied has explicitly given its consent to the use of the
said statistical information for other purposes; or

(b) if it is used at the national level for statistical purposes
following an agreement between the national statist-
ical authorities and the national central bank or for
the production of Community statistics in accordance
with Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 322/97; or

9.
The ECB and the national central banks shall take
all the necessary regulatory, administrative, technical and
organisational measures to ensure the protection of con-
fidential statistical
information. The ECB shall define
to prevent
common rules and minimum standards
unlawful disclosure and unauthorised use. The protection
measures shall apply to all confidential statistical informa-
tion as defined in paragraph 1.

10. Member States shall adopt all the necessary measures
to ensure the protection of confidential statistical infor-
mation,
the appropriate
enforcement measures by the Member States in the event
of an infringement.

including the imposition of

Article 9

Final provisions

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its
publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

Article 5, Article 6(4) and Article 8(9) shall apply from the
date of entry into force of this Regulation. The remaining
Articles shall apply from 1 January 1999.

27. 11. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 318/15

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States.

Done at Brussels, 23 November 1998.

For the Council

The President

R. EDLINGER

L 318/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27. 11. 98

ANNEX A

THE LIMITS OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY

2.04. The units, whether institutional, local kind-of-activity or of homogeneous production, which constitute
the economy of a country and whose transactions are recorded in the ESA, are those which have a centre
of economic interest on the economic territory of that country. These units, known as resident units,
may or may not have the nationality of that country, may or may not be legal entities, and may or may
not be present on the economic territory of the country at the time they carry out a transaction. Having
thus defined the limits of the national economy in terms of resident units, it is necessary to define the
meaning of the terms economic territory and centre of economic interest.

2.05. The term economic territory means:

(a) the geographic territory administered by a government within which persons, goods, services and

capital move freely;

(b) any free zones, including bonded warehouses and factories under customs control;

(c) the national air-space, territorial waters and the continental shelf lying in international waters, over

which the country enjoys exclusive rights (1);

(d) territorial enclaves, i.e. geographic territories situated in the rest of the world and used, under
international treaties or agreements between States, by general government agencies of the country
(embassies, consulates, military bases, scientific bases, etc.);

(e) deposits of oil, natural gas, etc. in international waters outside the continental shelf of the country,

worked by units resident in the territory as defined in the preceding subparagraphs.

2.06. The economic territory does not include extraterritorial enclaves (i.e. the parts of the country’s own
geographic territory used by general government agencies of other countries, by the institutions of the
European Union or by international organisations under international treaties or agreements between
States (2).

2.07. The term centre of economic interest indicates the fact there exists some location within the economic
territory on, or from, which a unit engages, and intends to continue to engage, in economic activities
and transactions on a significant scale, either indefinitely or over a finite but long period of time (a year
or more). It follows that a unit which carries out such transactions on the economic territory of several
countries is deemed to have a centre of economic interest in each of them. The ownership of land and
buildings within the economic territory is deemed to be sufficient in itself for the owner to have a centre
of economic interest there.

2.08. On the basis of these definitions, units deemed to be residents of a country can be sub-divided into:

(a) units which are principally engaged in production, finance, insurance or redistribution, in respect of

all their transactions except those relating to ownership of land and buildings;

(b) Units which are principally engaged in consumption (3), in respect of all their transactions except

those relating to ownership of land and buildings;

(c) all units in their capacity as owners of land and buildings with the exception of owners of
extraterritorial enclaves which are part of the economic territory of other countries or are States sui
generis (see paragraph 2.06).

(1) Fishing boats, other ships, floating platforms and aircraft are treated in the ESA just like any other mobile equipment,
whether owned and/or operated by units resident in the Country, or owned by non-residents and operated by resident
units. Transactions involving the ownership (gross fixed capital formation) and use (renting, insurance, etc.) of this type
of equipment are attributed to the economy of the country of which the owner and/or operator respectively are resi-
dent. In cases of financial leasing a change of ownership is assumed.

(2) The territories used by the institutions of the European Union and international organisations thus constitute the
territories of States sui generis. The feature of such States is that the only residents are the institutions themselves (see
paragraph 2.10(e)).

(3) Consumption is not the only possible activity of households. Households may as entrepreneurs engage in any kind of

economic activity.

27. 11. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 318/17

2.09. In the case of units which are principally engaged in production, finance, insurance or redistribution, in
respect of all their transactions except those relating to ownership of land and buildings, the following
two cases may be distinguished:

(a) activity conducted exclusively on the economic territory of the country: units which carry out such

activity are resident units of the country;

(b) activity conducted for a year or more on the economic territories of serveral countries: only that part
of the unit which has a centre of economic interest on the economic territory of the country is
deemed to be a resident unit. It may be:

1. either an institutional resident unit, whose activities conducted for a year or more in the rest of

the world are excluded and treated separately (1), or

2. a notional resident unit, in respect of the activity conducted in the country for a year or more by a

unit which is resident in another country.

2.10. In the case of units which are principally engaged in consumption, except in their capacity as owners of
land and buildings, households which have a centre of economic interest in the country are deemed to
be resident units, even if they go abroad for short periods (less than a year). They include, in particular,
the following:

(a) border workers, i.e. people who cross the frontier daily to work in a neighbouring country;

(b) seasonal workers, i.e. people who leave the country for several months, but less than a year, to work

in another country in sectors in which additional manpower is needed periodically;

(c) tourists, patients, students (2), visiting officials, businessmen, salesmen, artists and crew members who

travel abroad;

(d) locally recruited staff working in the extraterritorial enclaves of foreign governments;

(e) the staff of the institutions of the European Union and of civilian or military international organ-

isations which have their headquarters in extraterritorial enclaves;

(f) the official, civilian or military representatives of the government of the country (including their

households) established in territorial enclaves.

2.11. All units in their capacity as owners of land and/or buildings which form part of the economic territory
are deemed to be resident units or notional resident units of the country in which the land or buildings
in question are located.

(1) It is only where such activity is carried on for less than a year that it should not be separated from the activities of the
producer institutional unit. This may also be done where the activity, though conducted for a year or more, is insignifi-
cant, and in all circumstances for the installation of equipment abroad. However, a unit which is resident in another
country and which is carrying out a construction activity in the country for a duration of less than a year is deemed to
have a centre of economic interest on the economic territory of the country if the output of the construction activity
constitutes gross fixed capital formation. Such a unit should therefore be treated as a notional resident unit.

(2) Students are always treated as residents, however long they study abroad.

L 318/18

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27. 11. 98

ANNEX B

SUBSECTOR: THE CENTRAL BANK (S.121)

2.45. Definition: The subsector the central bank (S.121) consists of all financial corporations and quasi-
corporations whose principal function is to issue currency, to maintain the internal and external value of
the currency and to hold all or part of the international reserves of the country.

2.46. The following financial intermediaries are classified in subsector S.121:

(a) the national central bank, also in the case where it is part of a European System of Central Banks;

(b) central monetary agencies of essentially public origin (e.g. agencies managing foreign exchange or
issuing currency) which keep a complete set of accounts and enjoy autonomy of decision in relation
to central government. Mostly these activities are performed either within central government or
within the central bank. In these cases no separate institutional units exist.

2.47. Subsector S.121 does not include agencies and bodies, other than the central bank, which regulate or

supervise financial corporations or financial markets.

SUBSECTOR: OTHER MONETARY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS (S.122)

2.48. Definition: The subsector other monetary financial institutions (S.122) consists of all financial corpora-
tions and quasi-corporations, except those classified in the central bank subsector, which are principally
engaged in financial intermediation and whose business is to receive deposits and/or close substitutes for
deposits from institutional units other than monetary financial institutions, and, for their own account,
to grant loans and/or to make investments in securities.

2.49. The monetary financial institutions (MFIs) comprise the subsector the central bank (S.121) and the
institutions (S.122), and coincide with the monetary financial

subsector other monetary financial
institutions for statistical purposes as defined by the EMI.

2.50. MFIs cannot be described simply as ‘banks', because they may possibly include some financial corpora-
tions which may not call themselves banks, and some which may not be permitted to do so in some
countries, while some other financial corporations describing themselves as banks may not in fact be
MFIs. In general, the following financial intermediaries are classified in subsector S.122:

(a) commercial banks,

‘universal' banks,

‘all-purpose' banks;

(b) savings banks (including trustee savings banks and savings banks and loan associations);

(c) post office giro institutions, post banks, giro banks;

(d) rural credit banks, agricultural credit banks;

(e) cooperative credit banks, credit unions;

(f) specialised banks (e.g. merchant banks, issuing houses, private banks).

2.51. The following financial intermediaries may also be classified in subsector S.122 where it is their business
to receive repayable funds from the public whether in the form of deposits or in other forms such as the
continuing issue of bonds and other comparable securities. Otherwise, they should be classified in
subsector S.123:

(a) corporations engaged in granting mortgages (including building societies, mortgage banks and

mortgage credit institutions);

(b) mutual funds (including investment trusts, unit trusts and other collective investment schemes, e.g.

undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities-UCITS);

(c) municipal credit institutions.

27. 11. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 318/19

2.52. Subsector S.122 does not include:

(a) holding corporations which only control and direct a group consisting predominantly of other
monetary financial institutions, but which are not other monetary financial institutions themselves.
They are classified in subsector S.123;

(b) non-profit institutions recognised as independent legal entities serving other monetary financial

institutions, but not engaged in financial intermediation.

SUBSECTOR: OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES, EXCEPT INSURANCE CORPORA-
TIONS AND PENSION FUNDS (S.123)

2.53. Definition: The subsector other financial intermediaries except insurance corporations and pension
funds (S.123) consists of all financial corporations and quasi-corporations which are principally engaged
in financial intermediation by incurring liabilities in forms other than currency, deposits and/or close
substitutes for deposits from institutional units other than monetary financial institutions, or insurance
technical reserves.

2.54. Subsector S.123 includes various types of financial intermediaries especially those which are predomi-
nantly engaged in long-term financing. In most cases this predominant maturity forms the basis of a
distinction from the other monetary financial institutions subsector. Based on the non-existence of
liabilities in the form of insurance technical reserves, the borderline with the insurance corporations and
pension funds subsector can be determined.

2.55. In particular, the following financial corporations and quasi-corporations are classified in subsector

S.123 unless they are MFIs:

(a) corporations engaged in financial leasing;

(b) corporations engaged in hire purchase and the provision of personal or commercial finance;

(c) corporations engaged in factoring;

(d) security and derivative dealers (on own account);

(e) specialised financial corporations such as venture and development capital companies, export/import

financing companies;

(f) financial vehicle corporations, created to be holders of securitised assets;

(g) financial intermediaries which receive deposits and/or close substitutes for deposits from MFIs only;

(h) holding corporations which only control and direct a group of subsidiaries principally engaged in
financial intermediation and/or in auxiliary financial activities, but which are not financial corpora-
tions themselves.

2.56. Subsector S.123 does not include non-profit institutions recognised as independent legal entities serving
other financial intermediaries except insurance corporations and pension funds, but not engaged in
financial intermediation.