Opinion of the European Central Bank of 18 December 2003 at the request of the Spanish State Under-Secretary for Economic Affairs on a draft proposal amending Article 6 of Law 13/1994 of 1 June on the  autonomy of the Banco de España (CON/2003/28)
Date: 2003-12-18
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Spain, central bank, confidentiality, national law, professional ethics

EN

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 18 December 2003

at the request of the Spanish State Under-Secretary for Economic Affairs

on a draft proposal amending Article 6 of Law 13/1994 of 1 June on the autonomy of

the Banco de España

(CON/2003/28)

1. 

On  27  November  2003 

the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  dated

26 November 2003 from the Banco de España at the request of the Spanish State Under-Secretary

for  Economic  Affairs  for  an  opinion  on  a  draft  proposal  amending  Article  6  of  Law  13/1994  of

1 June on the autonomy of the Banco de España (hereinafter the ‘draft amendment’).

2. 

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

Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community  and  the  third  indent  of  Article  2(1)  of  Council

Decision  98/415/EC  of  29  June  1998  on  the  consultation  of  the  ECB  by  national  authorities

regarding draft legislative provisions, since the amendment would modify Law 13/1994 of 1 June

on the autonomy of the Banco de España (hereinafter ‘Law 13/1994’). In accordance with the first

sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the ECB, the Governing Council of the ECB

has adopted this opinion.

3. 

The ECB notes that the proposed amendment would introduce a new Article 6 bis in Law 13/1994

providing that the relations between the Banco de España and its members of staff are governed by

employment law. It would further refer to the restrictions imposed on certain members of staff who

may  have  access  to  confidential  information  on  their  securities  market  transactions  and  to  their

obligations concerning information on their private financial activities, as laid down in the insider

trading  rules  in  the  Code  of  Conduct  for  the  Staff  of  the  Banco  de  España,  adopted  by  Internal

Circular 10/2002 of 18 October 2002. The ECB notes that the data provided under these reporting

obligations is to be kept for a maximum of five years.

4. 

The ECB welcomes these rules intended to ensure that central bank staff do not benefit financially

from  access  to  privileged  information.  In  this  respect,  the  ECB  notes  that  the  draft  amendment

would  incorporate  into  Law  13/1994  the  insider  trading  rules  that  are  already  established  in  the

Banco  de  España’s  Code  of  Conduct.  Section  Three  of  this  Code  of  Conduct  specifies  the

requirements  applying  to  those  members  of  staff  who  have  access  to  privileged  information,

including the obligation to submit an annual declaration to the internal audit office regarding their

private  financial  transactions.  The  ECB  welcomes  the  legal  certainty  that  would  ensue  from

incorporating these rules into Law 13/1994.

5. 

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 18 December 2003.

The President of the ECB

[signed]

Jean-Claude TRICHET

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