Opinion of the European Central Bank of 17 January 2003 at the request of De Nederlandsche Bank on a draft of the Balance of Payment Reporting Instructions 2003 (CON/2003/1)
Date: 2003-01-17
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Netherlands, balance of payments, disclosure of information, national law, statistics

EN

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 17 January 2003

at the request of De Nederlandsche Bank on a draft of the Balance of Payment Reporting

Instructions 2003 

(CON/2003/1)

1. 

On  18  December  2002  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  De

Nederlandsche Bank (hereinafter the “Bank”) for an opinion on a draft of the Balance of Payment

Reporting Instructions 2003 (hereinafter the “draft instructions”).

2. 

The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Article 105(4) of the Treaty establishing

the European Community, Article 4 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of

the European Central Bank and 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 provisions1. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of
Procedure  of  the  European  Central  Bank2,  the  Governing  Council  of  the  ECB  has  adopted  this

opinion.

3. 

Section  7(1)(a)  of  the  External  Financial  Relations  Act  1994  imposes  a  general  obligation  to

provide  the  Bank,  in  conformity  with  the  relevant  instructions  issued  by  the  Bank,  with  all

information and data material to the balance of payments of the Netherlands. The draft instructions

are based on this Section and they replace the current Reporting Instructions for External Payments

2000  from  1  April  2003.  The  new  data  collection  system  imposes  an  obligation  on  residents

designated  by  the  Bank  as  reporting  institutions  to  report  directly  to  the  Bank.  Reporting

institutions will no longer be required to report individual transactions to the Bank. Instead, they

will be required to provide periodical statements of their transactions with non-residents and their

positions  against  them.  The  draft  instructions  also  allow  reporting  institutions  to  transmit,  upon

prior agreement by the Bank, a consolidated report on behalf of several reporting institutions that

belong  to  the  same  group.  The  reporting  institution  compiling  the  consolidated  report  will  be

responsible for complying with the reporting requirements of the reporting institutions covered by

the  consolidated  report.  Reporting  institutions  may  also  appoint  a  representative  to  compile

individual  or  consolidated  reports  on  their  behalf  and  transmit  them  to  the  Bank.  In  this  case

reporting  institutions  remain  responsible  for  complying  with  the  reporting  requirements.  The

1 
2 

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.
OJ L 125, 19.5.1999, p. 34.

                                                     
information  to  be  supplied  to  the  Bank  will  be  determined  by  the  reporting  profile,  or  profiles,

allocated  to  a  specific  reporting  institution.  A  reporting  institution  will  be  required  to  transmit

reports to the Bank in accordance with the reporting forms and explanatory notes provided.

4. 

The ECB welcomes the draft instructions as they clarify the Bank’s responsibility in compiling and

publishing  balance-of-payments  statistics.  Also,  the  draft  instructions  clearly  define  reporting

institutions’  reporting  obligations,  whilst  giving  the  Bank  some  leeway  to  require  additional

information where relevant. In doing so, the draft instructions ensure compliance by the Bank with

Guideline ECB/2000/4 of 11 May 2000 on the statistical reporting requirements of the ECB in the

field  of  balance-of-payment  statistics,  the  international  reserves  template  and  international
investment position statistics3. In this context it might be useful to add to the recitals of the draft

instructions or the accompanying Explanatory Note a reference to this Guideline. 

5. 

Section 2 of the draft instructions also states the purpose for which reporting institutions will be

required  to  provide  statistical  information  and  data  to  the  Bank.  Inserting  a  reference  to  the

international  investment  position  statistics  could  be  considered  in  this  context,  as  they  provide

useful  information  and  analytical  value  on  their  own  and  complement  the  balance-of-payment

statistics. 

6. 

Section 8(1) of the draft instructions refers to the delivery of a quarterly statement relating to credit

institutions’ services to non-residents. The services are understood  to  cover  any  business  carried

out  by  credit  institutions  with  their  customers.  However,  this  may  be  ambiguous  as  the  term

“services”  in  the  balance  of  payments  specifically  covers  credit  institutions’  commercial

relationship with their (non-resident) clients, such as the supply of financial and other business and

insurance services, although not financial transactions and positions with accounts abroad. Whilst

the reporting forms contain clear definitions specifying which transactions and positions need to be

reported to the Bank, it may be considered to review the wording of the draft Instructions so that

they also contain this clarification.

7. 

Sections 14 and 15 of the draft instructions revoke the current Reporting Instructions for External

Payments  2000  from  1  April  2003.  Section  13  contains  a  transitional  arrangement  and  specifies

that information and data relating to the period prior to the entry into force of the draft instructions

must be compiled on the basis of the current Reporting Instructions for External Payments 2000. In

order to avoid any misunderstanding, it might be useful to clarify here that this applies even where

this reporting occurs after 1 April 2003.

3 

OJ L 168, 23.6.2001, p. 25.

2

                                                     
8. 

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 on 17 January 2003.

The President of the ECB

[signed]

Willem F. DUISENBERG

3