Opinion of the European Central Bank of 28 February 2005 at the request of Central Bank of Malta on a draft directive No 5 on statistical reporting requirements (CON/2005/5)
Date: 2005-02-28
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Malta, central bank, credit institution, disclosure of information, national law, statistics

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 28 February 2005 

at the request of Central Bank of Malta 

on a draft directive No 5 on statistical reporting requirements  

(CON/2005/5) 

1. 

On 20 January 2005, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Central Bank 

of  Malta  (CBM)  for  an  opinion  on  a  draft  directive  No  5  on  statistical  reporting  requirements 

(hereinafter the ‘draft directive’). 

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  directive  relates  to  the 

collection of financial statistical information. 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  draft  directive  is  based  on  Article  24B  of  the  Central  Bank  of  Malta  Act2  (hereinafter  the 

‘Act’),  which  empowers  the  CBM  to  issue  directives  on  the  definition  and  imposition  of  its 
statistical  reporting  requirements.  Pursuant  to  the  draft  directive,  credit  institutions3  would  be 
required to report statistical information, as required and defined by the Banking Directive BD/064, 

to  the  CBM  and  not  merely  to  the  Malta  Financial  Services  Authority  (MFSA),  the  competent 

authority for banking regulation. It is understood that such information would relate in particular to 

end-of-month  stock  positions.  The  CBM  would  have  the  power  to  verify  the  accuracy  of  the 

statistical information submitted or compulsorily collect it and, in the event of a credit institution 

failing  to  comply  with  the  statistical  reporting  requirements,  to  sanction  the  non-compliance  by 

imposing an administrative penalty pursuant to regulations to be issued by the Minister of Finance 
under other provisions of the Act5. Finally, queries and requests for interpretation of the reporting 

requirements under Banking Directive BD/06 required by the CBM would be decided upon by the 

1  
2  
3  
4  

5  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
Article 24B of the Central Bank of Malta Act, Cap. 204 of the Laws of Malta. 
The draft directive is intended to apply to credit institutions licensed under the Banking Act, Cap. 371. 
Banking  Directive  BD/06/2005  of  the  Malta  Financial  Services  Authority  (Banking  Unit)  on  the  statutory  financial 
information to be submitted by credit institutions authorised under the Banking Act Cap. 371.    
Legal  Notice  75  of  2003,  as  amended  by  Legal  Notice  330  of  2004,  issued  in  accordance  with  the  powers  granted  by 
Article 52A of the Central Bank of Malta Act, Cap. 204 of the Laws of Malta. 

 
 
 
                                                      
CBM  after  consultation  with  the  MFSA,  unless  the  query  concerned  the  reserve  deposit 

requirements, in which case it would be dealt with and decided solely by the CBM.  

4. 

The  draft  directive  is  not  intended  to  replace  the  statistical  reporting  requirements  of  Banking 

Directive BD/06, under which credit institutions are obliged to report their financial information to 

the MFSA. These requirements are unaffected and remain fully in place. Instead, the draft directive 

will ensure that the CBM will no longer have to rely on the MFSA’s enforcement and sanctioning 

powers, pursuant to the Banking Act, to enforce its own powers to collect statistical information, as 

is  the  case  at  present.  The  draft  directive  is  thus  intended  to  enable  the  CBM  to  enforce  its 

statistical reporting requirements and to impose sanctions for non-compliance. 

5. 

Article  5.2  of  the  Statute  of  the  European  System  of  Central  Banks  and  of  the  European  Central 

Bank  provides  that  the  national  central  banks  (NCBs)  shall  carry  out,  to  the  extent  possible,  the 

tasks described in Article 5.1, i.e. the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) tasks defined by 

the Treaty establishing the European Community and the Statute. Article 43.1 of the Statute implies 

that legal instruments adopted by the ECB for the fulfilment of its statistical reporting requirements 

do not confer any rights or impose any obligations on the non-participating Member States.  

6. 

Article  10  of  the  Treaty  requires  that  ‘Member  States  shall  take  all  appropriate  measures  ...  to 

ensure  fulfilment  of  the  obligations  arising  out  of  this  Treaty’.  More  specifically,  Article  4  of 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2533/98  concerning  the  collection  of  statistical  information  by  the 
European  Central  Bank6  requires  that  ‘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’. 

7. 

Recital  17  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  2533/98  states  that,  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.  

8. 

On  the  basis  of  the  above,  the  ECB  welcomes  the  CBM’s  initiative  to  adopt  a  directive  on  the 

collection  of  statistical  information.  The  ECB  notes  that  the  NCBs’  reporting  provisions  are  an 

indispensable component of the national statistical collection systems. The ECB does not comment 

in detail on national reporting provisions as they may differ considerably between Member States, 

depending on various national and external factors. The ECB’s comments (see paragraph 12 below) 

are therefore of a general nature only and are meant to serve as a guide, enabling the CBM to shape 

its reporting requirements in line with those of the Eurosystem in preparation for Malta’s adoption 

of the euro. 

9. 

The ECB welcomes the core objective of the draft directive, which is to clarify the legal obligations 

of  credit  institutions  to  provide  financial  information,  in  particular  end-of-month  stock  positions, 

directly  to  the  CBM  and  not  only  to  the  MFSA.  The  ECB  understands  that,  although  in  practice 

6  

OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. 

2 

                                                      
credit  institutions  already  provide  such  information  to  the  CBM,  Banking  Directive  BD/06  only 

requires  them  to  report  such  information  to  the  MFSA.  This  clarification  of  credit  institutions’ 

reporting obligations towards the CBM is welcome, as accurate statistical information is necessary 

for  the  CBM  to  fulfil  its  tasks  and  such  clarification  will  help  to  ensure  that  the  information  is 

reported properly and in time to the CBM.  

10.  The  ECB  appreciates  that  under  the  draft  directive  the  CBM  would  be  empowered  to  verify  the 

statistical information and compulsorily collect it, if the credit institution were not to provide the 
information itself. These powers appear to be in line with Article 6 of Regulation ECB/2001/137. 

11.  The ECB also welcomes the fact that the draft directive stipulates that administrative penalties may 

be imposed by the CBM for non-compliance with the statistical reporting obligations to which it 

relates.  The  ECB  nevertheless  observes  that,  notwithstanding  that  the  CBM  may  impose 

administrative penalties independently, it is for the Minister of Finance to prescribe minimum and 

maximum administrative penalties by regulation.  

12.  The  ECB  notes  in  passing  that  the  draft  directive  requires  statistical  information  to  be  provided 

according  to  the  terms  and  conditions  of,  and  within  the  time  periods  indicated  in,  Banking 

Directive BD/06. In the ECB’s view, the scope of Banking Directive BD/06 would be too narrow 

to fulfil all the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements for monetary financial institutions (MFIs) 
located  in  the  euro  area,  once  Malta  has  become  a  participating Member  State8.  MFIs  other  than 

credit institutions are also required to report statistical data to the ECB, via their NCBs. In Malta 

this would be the case for Money Market Funds (MMFs), which fall within the definition of MFIs 

and would thus also be required to report data under Regulation ECB/2001/13. Secondly, Banking 

Directive BD/06 does not require the data on revaluation adjustments from reporting agents which 

the ECB would need in order to compute flows. It is thus important for the CBM to maintain the 

statutory power to require additional information from credit institutions and MMFs (via the MFSA 

or directly) prior to Malta becoming a participating Member State. 

13.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  the  task  primarily  of  the  NCBs  to  assess  whether  any  proposed  detailed 

reporting instructions and collection methods at national level are the most efficient, effective and 

the least burdensome for the reporting agents concerned.  

14.  This opinion does not prejudice any later assessment by the ECB of the Maltese reporting scheme 

and  the  statistical  information  reported  to  it  in  compliance  with  the  ECB’s  statistical  reporting 

requirements. 

7  

8  

Regulation  ECB/2001/13  of  22  November  2001  concerning  the  consolidated  balance  sheet  of  the  monetary  financial 
institutions sector, OJ L 333, 17.12.2001, p. 1.   
I.e.,  a  Member  State  which  has  adopted  the  single  currency  (see  Article  1  (definitions)  of  Council  Regulation  (EC) 
2533/98  of  23  November  1998  concerning  the  collection  of  statistical  information  by  the  European  Central  Bank, 
OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. 

3 

                                                      
15.  This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 28 February 2005. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

4