Opinion of the European Central Bank of 15 September 2005 at the request of Lietuvos bankas on draft general provisions on payment instruments statistical reporting requirements (CON/2005/32)
Date: 2005-09-15
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Lithuania, disclosure of information, national law, payment system, statistics

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 15 September 2005  

at the request of Lietuvos bankas 

on draft general provisions on payment instruments statistical reporting requirements 

(CON/2005/32) 

Introduction 

1. 

On 5 August 2005 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Lietuvos bankas for 

an  opinion  on  Mokėjimo  priemonių  statistinės  atskaitomybės  reikalavimų  bendrųjų  nuostatų 

projektas  (draft  general  provisions  on  payment  instruments  statistical  reporting  requirements) 

(hereinafter the ‘draft rules’).  

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 rules relate to the collection, 

compilation and distribution of banking and payment systems 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. 

Under  the  draft  rules,  banks,  foreign  bank  branches  and  Lietuvos  paštas  (the  Lithuanian  Post 

Office) will be required to report data on payment instruments to Lietuvos bankas. The annex to the 

draft rules contains the new Payment Instruments Statement Form 0607 (hereinafter ‘Form 0607’) 

to be used by reporting agents. In general terms, the data to be reported concern reporting agents’ 

offices,  deposit  accounts,  payment  transactions,  bank  cards  and  terminals.  The  draft  rules  also 

provide  that  data  on  Lithuanian  credit  unions  will  be  evaluated  on  the  basis  of  an  annual  survey 

conducted by Lietuvos bankas. 

4. 

The  draft  rules  are  based  on  Article  8(1)(9)  and  Article  54  of  the  Lietuvos  bankas  Act,  which 

empower  Lietuvos  bankas  to  collect  monetary,  banking  and  balance  of  payments  statistics, 

Lithuanian financial and related statistical data, and oblige state institutions and other legal entities 

to  submit  to  Lietuvos  bankas  all  information  required  for  the  performance  of  its  functions. 

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 

 
 
 
                                                      
The ECB understands that the draft rules will replace the existing Form 0607, which only applies 
to banks and was adopted by the Board of Lietuvos bankas in November 20002. 

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)  carry  out,  to  the  extent  possible,  the  tasks 

described in Article 5.1 of the Statute, i.e. the collection of the statistical information necessary in 

order to undertake the tasks of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). Moreover, Article 4 

of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2533/98  of  23  November  1998  concerning  the  collection  of 
statistical information by the ECB3 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’.  Whilst  the  ECB’s  statistical  reporting 

requirements are not identical for participating and non-participating Member States, Article 5 of 

the Statute applies to both. This implies an obligation to ‘design and implement at the national level 

all the measures that Member States consider appropriate in order to carry out the collection of the 

statistical information 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’4.  

General comments and assumptions 

6. 

The draft rules appear to be generally consistent with the current reporting requirements in relation 
to payment systems statistics to be published in the ECB’s ‘Blue Book’5, and would help to ensure 

completeness and high quality of data submitted by Lithuania. Consequently, the ECB welcomes 

the draft rules.  

At the same time, the ECB notes that the collection of statistical information for the Blue Book is 

based  on  specifications  agreed  at  the  technical  level  by  the  ECB  and  the  euro  area  NCBs.  Such 

specifications  are  currently  being  revised  so  that  they  can  be  included  in  a  binding  legal  act. 

Therefore, changes in the requirements cannot be ruled out at this stage. The ECB’s comments in 

this  opinion  are  meant  to  serve  as  a  guide,  enabling  Lietuvos  bankas  to  shape  its  statistical 

reporting requirements in line with those of the Eurosystem in preparation for the introduction of 

the euro in Lithuania. 

7. 

The ECB understands that other data required for the Blue Book may be collected on the basis of 

different  statistical  reporting  requirements  and/or  from  different  reporting  agents,  and  that  as  a 

result such additional requirements have not been included in the draft rules.  

In particular the ECB’s comments are based on the following underlying assumptions. First, data 

required for the Blue Book (Tables 2 to 4 and, in part, Table 5) with respect to balance sheet items 

2 

3  
4  
5  

Pursuant to Lietuvos bankas Board Resolution No 158 of 30 November 2000, as amended by Board Resolution No 158 
of 28 November 2002. 
OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. 
Recital 17 to Regulation (EC) No 2533/98. 
‘Payment  and  securities  settlement  systems  in  the  European  Union’.  Third  edition  published  June  2001.  Addendum 
incorporating 2003 figures published August 2005. 

2 

                                                      
and  banknotes  and  coins,  would  either  be  collected  separately  on  introduction  of  the  euro  in 

Lithuania  pursuant  to  Regulation  (EC)  No  2423/2001  of  the  European  Central  Bank  of 

22 November 2001 concerning the consolidated balance sheet of the monetary financial institutions 
sector (ECB/2001/13)6, or are already available at Lietuvos bankas. Second, data required for the 

Blue  Book  (Tables  9  and  10)  with  respect  to  indicators  of  various  cashless  payment  instruments 

would be collected separately from the systems themselves, namely large value payments systems 

and retail payment systems. Third, data required for the production of statistical tables with regard 

to securities settlement systems would also be collected separately, as they are outside the scope of 

Form 0607. Finally, the remaining data required for the production of the Blue Book (Tables 5 to 

8) would be collected on the basis of Form 0607. 

8. 

It  would  be  appropriate  to  consider  including  in  the  population  of  reporting  agents  any  other 

institutions  providing  payment  services  in  Lithuania.  It  is  noted  that  a  discussion  at  Community 

level concerning new legislation in the field of payment systems is currently underway.  

Technical observations with respect to the draft rules 

9. 

In the following paragraphs, the ECB comments on: (i) the general provisions of the draft rules and 

the  population  of  reporting  agents  (Sections  I  to  IV);  (ii)  the  definitions  of  statistical  reporting 

indicators (Section V); and (iii) Form 0607 (attached to the draft rules). References to paragraphs 

and sections are to be understood as references to the relevant paragraphs and sections of the draft 

rules and sections of Form 0607, unless otherwise indicated.  

10.  The ECB has not reviewed the time series codes given in Form 0607, as these are considered to be 

outside  the  scope  of  this  consultation.  Furthermore,  details  of  the  key  family  structure  and  code 

lists pertaining to the series keys have not been provided. 

General provisions of the draft rules and reporting agents 

11.  The  ECB  notes  that  the  statistical  reporting  frequency  proposed  in  the  draft  rules  is  quarterly 

(Paragraph 3.2), with a timeliness of 25 days after the end of the reporting period (Paragraph 9), 

and that this  exceeds the current requirements in respect of frequency and timeliness in the  Blue 

Book  (Tables  6  to  10),  which  are  annual  with  a  timeliness  of  a  few  months.  In  this  context, 

however,  an  explicit  reference  to  ‘calendar  quarterly’  in  the  draft  rules  and/or  Form  0607  would 

provide more clarity. 

12.  Considering that Lietuvos bankas, resident foreign bank branches and credit unions7 are included in 

the list of monetary financial institutions (MFIs) for Lithuania and that all undertakings satisfying 

the definition of MFIs should be subject to statistical reporting, the ECB would propose to provide 

in the draft rules that the population of reporting agents (Paragraph 6) consists of all undertakings 

which satisfy the definition of MFIs, including without limitation Lietuvos bankas, resident banks, 

6  
7  

OJ L 333, 17.12.2001, p. 1. 
With regard to credit unions established in Lithuania, reference is made to ECB Opinion CON/2005/8 of 1 April 2005 at 
the request of Lietuvos bankas on draft rules on minimum reserve requirements for credit institutions. 

3 

                                                      
foreign bank branches and credit unions, and Lietuvos paštas. The ECB does not, however, object 

to evaluating the data relating to credit unions on a basis of annual surveys.  

13.  The  ECB  understands  that  Lietuvos  bankas  may,  in  accordance  with  Article  541  of  the  Lietuvos 

bankas  Act,  impose  fines  and  penalty  interest  on  financial  institutions  for  breaches  of  statistical 

reporting  requirements.  Lietuvos  bankas  would  therefore  have  appropriate  powers  to  impose 

sanctions on financial institutions, although the ECB notes that there is a risk that Lietuvos paštas 

might fall outside the scope of such sanctions regime.  

Definitions of statistical reporting indicators 

14.  Regarding the definitions of statistical reporting indicators (Section V), the ECB notes that some of 

these  definitions,  e.g.  ‘virtual  cards’  and  ‘card  imprinters’,  are  not  currently  provided  for  in 

technical agreements between the ECB and the NCBs, whilst certain other definitions, e.g. ‘bank 

cards’, ‘joint cards’, ‘cards with a credit function’, ‘ATMs with a cash deposit function’, ‘e-money 

card  accepting  terminals’,  ‘e-money  card  loading/unloading  terminals’,  are  referred  to  in  these 

technical  agreements  albeit  in  different  terms.  The  ECB  understands  that  the  inconsistencies  are 

due to differences between languages and national legal systems. 

15.  The ECB notes that cashless payments transactions (Paragraph 16) should be reported on the basis 

of data recorded at the time a transaction is initiated (the sending side), with the exception of cross-

border  payment  transactions  received  (as  provided  for  in  Paragraph  22).  The  ECB  suggests 

clarifying this issue in Paragraph 16. 

16.  Credit transfers (Paragraph 17) are separated in the Blue Book tables and in the ECB’s technical 

documentation  into  paper-based  and  non-paper  based  transfers.  The  breakdown  as  envisaged  in 

Paragraph  17  may  not,  however,  cover  all  possible  variations.  Consequently,  the  ECB  suggests 

including a breakdown into paper-based and non-paper based credit transfers in both Paragraph 17 

and Form 0607, with the possibility of breaking these categories down further. 

17.  With  regard  to  Paragraph  21,  the  ECB  notes  that  the  cash  transactions  mentioned  therein  are 

directly linked to clients’ accounts with a client service office. However, where cash transactions 

occur at a client service office for accounts other than clients’ accounts, such transactions involve 

internal or external transfers of funds and should therefore be accounted for as credit transfers. The 

ECB suggests clarifying this in Paragraph 21. 

18.  The ECB understands that data on bank cards (Paragraph 23 and items 14 to  22 and 28 to 36 in 

Form 0607) relate to cards issued by resident credit institutions rather than cards used in Lithuania. 

The ECB recommends specifying this in Paragraph 23. In addition, it recommends extending the 

scope of this definition to include ‘schemes’ and ‘members of schemes’ as possible issuers of the 

cards.  The  latter  comment  would  also  apply  to  the  definition  of  cards  with  a  credit  function 

(Paragraph 28). Lietuvos bankas could also consider using the more general term ‘cards (payment 

cards)’ rather than ‘bank cards’.  

4 

19. 

In  the  definition  of  ‘joint  cards’  (Paragraph  24),  the  ECB  recommends  including  the  function  of 

‘delayed debit’ as this currently appears to be missing. 

20.  With regard to ‘virtual cards’ (Paragraph 30), the ECB understands that transactions initiated with 

such cards are reported for the purposes of the Blue Book in the same category as credit transfers. 

The ECB invites Lietuvos bankas to clarify this issue in the draft rules. 

21.  With  regard  to  ‘POS  (point  of  sale)  terminals’  (Paragraph  35),  the  ECB  assumes  that  the  cash 

withdrawals mentioned in this definition refer exclusively to cash advances, i.e. cash withdrawals 

which cardholders perform in combination with and at the same time as a payment transaction at a 

commercial  or  service  company.  The  ECB  recommends  defining  the  term  ‘cash  advances’  in 

Paragraph 35.  

Also, the ECB assumes that the Blue Book category ‘EFTPOS terminals’ is calculated by taking 

into account POS terminals and subtracting card imprinters. For the sake of completeness and ease 

of reference, the ECB suggests defining EFTPOS terminals in Paragraph 35 and also including this 

item in Form 0607. 

22.  With regard to ‘e-money card loading terminals’ (Paragraph 39), the ECB recommends amending 

the term to state ‘e-money card loading/unloading terminals’ to make it clear that such terminals 

may also provide a facility for unloading monetary value. 

Form 0607 

23.  The ECB notes that Lithuanian litas is indicated as the reporting currency in Form 0607. However, 

the draft rules do not lay down how transactions executed in another currency are to be recalculated 

in Lithuanian litas. The ECB recommends clarifying  this issue in the draft rules, in particular by 

referring  to  the  official  litas/euro  exchange  rate  and,  to  the  extent  available,  other  reference 

exchange rates published by Lietuvos bankas or, after the introduction of the euro in Lithuania, by 

the ECB. The least burdensome method would be to calculate the total amount of transactions per 

currency for the reporting period by using the average exchange rate over this period. 

24.  The  ECB  also  has  the  following  specific  comments  with  regard  to  Form  0607.  With  respect  to 

cashless payments and ‘over the counter’ cash transactions at client service offices (Section II), the 

ECB recommends introducing general items entitled ‘paper based’ and ‘non-paper based’ such as 

are included in the Blue Book. 

25.  With  regard  to  the  number  of  ATMs  and  terminals  in  the  country  and  transactions  processed 

(Section IV), the ECB recommends including the term ‘of which EFTPOS terminals’ (as specified 

in Table 6 of the Blue Book), as a component breakdown of POS terminals (item 41). 

5 

26.  The ECB notes that the items ‘(Number/value of) transactions at terminals in the country by cards 

issued  in  the  country’  and  ‘(Number/value  of)  transactions  at  terminals  in  the  country  by  cards 

issued outside the country’ (as specified in Tables 7 and 8 of the Blue Book), are not listed in Form 

0607. Similarly, the item ‘(Number/value of) transactions at terminals outside the country by cards 

issued in the country’ (as specified in Tables 7 and 8 of the Blue Book), is also not listed in Form 

0607. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 15 September 2005. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

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