Opinion of the European Central Bank of 4 November 2005 at the  request of Česká národní banka on a draft decree amending Decree No 307/2004 concerning the submission of information and documents to Česká národní banka by entities belonging to the financial institutions sector (CON/2005/45)
Date: 2005-11-04
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Czechia, disclosure of information, financial institution, national law, statistics

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 4 November 2005 

at the request of Česká národní banka 

on a draft decree amending Decree No 307/2004 concerning the submission of information and 

documents to Česká národní banka by entities belonging to the financial institutions sector 

(CON/2005/45) 

1. 

On 19 September 2005, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Česká národní 

banka (ČNB) for an opinion on a draft decree amending Decree No 307/2004 of ČNB concerning 

the  submission  of  information  and  documents  to  ČNB  by  entities  belonging  to  the  financial 

institutions sector (hereinafter the ‘draft decree’). 

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  decree  relates  to  the 

collection 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. 

Decree  No  307/2004  Coll.  currently  lays  down  the  requirements  for  submission  of  statistical 

information  to  ČNB  by  money  market  funds  and  certain  other  entities  belonging  to  the  other 

financial intermediaries (OFIs) reporting population. The collected data are used to compile money 

and banking statistics and quarterly financial accounts statistics, which are, inter alia, reported to 

the ECB. The draft decree extends the scope of Decree No 307/2004 Coll. to regulate the collection 

of data from insurance corporations and pension funds (hereinafter ‘ICs & PFs’) for the purposes of 

producing quarterly financial accounts. Pursuant to the draft decree, ICs & PFs will be obliged to 

submit  data  statements  (on  the  first  occasion  compiled  to  31  March  2006)  in  line  with  the  new 

requirements.  Moreover,  the  draft  decree  modifies  in  certain  respects  the  obligations  of  financial 

corporations engaged in lending (‘asset financing intermediaries’) to submit data to ČNB.  

4. 

The ECB welcomes the proposed broadening of the reporting population under the draft decree to 

cover ICs & PFs. Statistical data on ICs & PFs are becoming increasingly necessary to enable the 

production of a comprehensive overview of the activities of financial intermediaries, in particular 

as financial integration and deregulation are gradually blurring the distinctions between traditional 

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 

 
 
 
                                                      
financial  sub-sectors  such  as  banking,  asset  management  and  insurance.  Moreover,  the 

development  of  quarterly  sector  accounts  for  the  euro  area,  including  those  for  ICs  &  PFs,  will 

provide  a  comprehensive  tool  for  monitoring  the  impact  of  monetary  policy  decisions  on 

investment and financing flows between different sectors of the economy. 

5. 

The ECB notes that there are currently no EU regulations which require data reporting on ICs & 

PFs  at  quarterly  or  other  infra-annual  frequencies.  Also,  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2533/98 
concerning  the  collection  of  statistical  information  by  the  European  Central  Bank2  does  not 

expressly include ICs & PFs within the reference reporting population. Nevertheless, the ECB also 

notes that the national central banks of the Member States that have adopted the euro are required 

to provide statistics on ICs & PFs for the compilation of euro area financial accounts pursuant to 

Guideline  ECB/2002/7  of  21  November  2002  on  the  statistical  reporting  requirements  of  the 
European Central Bank in the field of quarterly financial accounts3. It is consistent with the ECB’s 

collection of statistical data on ICs & PFs under Guideline ECB/2002/7 for a Member State that has 

not yet adopted the euro also to establish an appropriate national legal framework for the collection 

of  such  data.  In  this  context,  the  ECB  notes  that  the  new  draft  Annexes  4  and  5  to  Decree  No 

307/2004 Coll. (entitled structure and content of statements submitted for ICs & PFs respectively) 

are in line with the requirements laid down in Guideline ECB/2002/7. 

6. 

As  regards  certain  changes  to  the  obligations  of  asset  financing  intermediaries  to  submit  data, 

Article 6c of the draft decree applies the ‘cutting-off-the-tail’ principle to these institutions, which 

limits the reporting burden to statistically significant respondents. Since there is currently no ECB 

legal  instrument  in  force  providing  for  a  harmonised  method  of  data  collection  from  such 

institutions, the ECB considers that ČNB is best placed to assess which method best accords with 

the general principle of not overburdening the reporting population. The ECB welcomes the other 

technical modifications contained in the draft decree, designed to bring Decree No 307/2004 Coll. 

into line with Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996 on the European systems of 
national and regional accounts in the Community4. 

7. 

Finally, it should be noted that time series covering more than one business cycle are important for 

monetary  policy  analysis  purposes  so  that  economic  and  financial  developments  can  be  properly 

understood and possible underlying trends identified. The enlarged euro area aggregates therefore 

need to be compiled retrospectively. It follows from Guideline ECB/2002/7 that the NCBs of the 

10 new Member States that acceded to the EU on 1 May 2004 would be required, on joining the 

euro  area,  to  transmit  back  data  on  infra-annual  financial  accounts  to  the  ECB  –  including  back 

data on ICs&PFs – at least from the date of their accession onwards. 

2 
3  
4  

OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. 
OJ L 334, 11.12.2002, p. 24. 
OJ L 310, 30.11.1996, p. 1. 

2 

 
                                                      
8. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 4 November 2005. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

3