Opinion of the European Central Bank of 30 July 2004 at the request of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank on a draft regulation of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank governing balance of payments reporting with the exception of services and transfers (CON/2004/26)
Date: 2004-07-30
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Austria, balance of payments, cross-border dimension, payment system, statistics

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 30 July 2004 

at the request of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank  

on a draft regulation of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank governing balance of payments 

reporting with the exception of services and transfers 

(CON/2004/26) 

1. 

On 9 June 2004, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Oesterreichische 

Nationalbank  (OeNB)  for  an  opinion  on  a  draft  regulation  of  the  OeNB  governing  balance  of 

payments reporting with the exception of services and transfers (Meldeverordnung ZABIL 1/2004 

der Oesterreichischen Nationalbank) (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 consultation of the European Central Bank by 
national  authorities  regarding  draft  legislative  provisions1,  as  the  draft  regulation  relates  to  the 

collection,  compilation  and  distribution  of  monetary,  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, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 

3. 

The reporting requirements defined in the draft regulation cover transactions that reporting agents 

undertake and positions that they hold vis-à-vis non-residents, related income as well as transfers of 

assets between residents and non-residents entered in the capital account. The draft regulation will 

form  part  of  the  new  reporting  system  in  Austria  in  the  area  of  balance  of  payments  and 

international  investment  position  statistics  (hereinafter  ‘cross-border  statistics’),  and  reflects  a 

general change to a system that relies predominantly on direct reporting by resident legal entities 

that conduct cross-border transactions. Nevertheless, indirect reporting by custodians also forms an 

integral part of the new system. 

4. 

The  ECB  welcomes  the  initiative  of  adjusting  the  reporting  system  in  Austria,  which,  whilst 

reducing  the  reporting  burden  falling  on  the  banking  sector  and  financial  intermediaries,  should 

ensure the quality of the data contributed to euro area cross-border statistics.  

5.  Moreover, the ECB welcomes the fact that the OeNB collects and compiles cross-border statistics 

in  a  manner  compliant  with  the  responsibilities  of  national  central  banks  as  set  out  in  Guideline 

ECB/2004/15  of  16  July  2004  on  the  statistical  reporting  requirements  of  the  European  Central 

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 

 
 
 
                                                      
Bank  in  the  field  of  balance  of  payments  and  international  investment  position  statistics  and  the 
international reserves template2, and in particular Article 4.2 thereof.  

6. 

The ECB also welcomes the provision in Austrian legislation for the use of International Securities 

Identification  Numbers  (ISIN).  The  use  of  such  internationally  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.  In  this  context,  the  ECB 

specifically acknowledges the assignment of a standard ‘internal’ identifier where no ISIN code is 

available. 

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, 30 July 2004. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

2  

[To be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.] 

2