Opinion of the European Central Bank of 12 June 2006 at the request of Sveriges Riksbank on draft regulations on cash provision (CON/2006/30)
Date: 2006-06-12
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Sweden, monetary policy, money, money supply, national law

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 12 June 2006 

at the request of Sveriges Riksbank on draft regulations on cash provision  

(CON/2006/30) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  8  May  2006  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  Sveriges  Riksbank  for  an 

opinion on draft Sveriges Riksbank’s regulations on cash provision (hereinafter the ‘draft regulations’). 

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

European Community and the second and third indents 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 law relates to means of payment and Sveriges Riksbank. 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. 

1. 

Purpose of the draft regulations 

The  draft  regulations  contain  the  conditions  for  an  institution’s  right  to  purchase  cash  from  and  return 

cash to Sveriges Riksbank. The institutions defined in Article 2 in the draft regulations that have entered 

into a cash provision agreement with Sveriges Riksbank have the right to purchase and return cash. At 

present, cash handling is regulated by way of cash provision agreements between Sveriges Riksbank and 

the commercial banks that wish to purchase cash from and return cash to Sveriges Riksbank. Since 2004, 

Sveriges  Riksbank  has  had  the  power  to  issue  regulations  in  the  field  of  cash  handling.  In 

November 2005, Sveriges Riksbank issued regulations providing for interest cost remuneration in respect 
of cash that has been separated and stored in bank-owned depots2. Sveriges Riksbank now considers that 

the  purchase  and  return  of  cash  should  be  regulated  by  the  same  type  of  legal  act,  which  would  be 

complemented by contractual arrangements. The consulting authority has informed the ECB that the draft 

regulations do not entail any change to the substance of the cash provision agreements that are already in 

force.  The  proposal  to  issue  regulations  is  thus  merely  a  change  of  form  from  a  detailed  agreement 

between the parties, to statutory regulations that will be supplemented by shorter agreements. 

1 
2  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
See  ECB  Opinion  CON/2005/48  of  18  November  2005  at  the  request  of  Sveriges  Riksbank  on  draft  regulations  on 
interest cost remuneration for cash that has been separated and stored under a special arrangement.  

 
 
 
 
                                                      
2.   General observations 

2.1  Sveriges Riksbank is in the process of establishing a new cash provision regime aiming at making 

cash  management  in  Sweden  safer  and  more  efficient  and  the  ECB  understands  that  the  draft 

regulations are the next step in the establishment of this regime. The ECB supports the objectives 

of  the  new  cash  provision  regime  and  generally  welcomes  the  draft  regulations,  including  the 

proposed  change  from  agreements  to  regulations  in  the  area  of  cash  provision.  The  definition  of 
‘institutions’ that have the right to return and purchase cash in Article 2 of the draft regulations3 is 

important for the new cash provision regime, and Sveriges Riksbank may wish to reflect further on 

the  formulation  of  this  provision  with  a  view  to  selecting  the  most  appropriate  objective  criteria 

required by the purpose of the draft regulations of attaining safety and efficiency.  

2.2  Whilst  Sweden  is  a  Member  State  with  a  derogation  and  the  ECB  requirements  regarding  the 

organisation of national cash cycles in Member States that have adopted the euro currently do not 

apply  to  Sveriges  Riksbank,  these  requirements  will  apply  to  Sveriges  Riksbank  once  Sweden 

adopts  the  euro  and  Sveriges  Riksbank  becomes  a  fully  integrated  part  of  the  Eurosystem.  As  a 

general comment, therefore, the ECB notes that Sveriges Riksbank’s cash provision practices differ 

to  some  extent  from  Eurosystem  practices  and  that  these  practices  will  have  to  be  aligned  with 

Eurosystem practices once Sweden adopts the euro. 

2.3  The ECB would also like to emphasise again, as it did in Opinion CON/2005/48, that the guiding 

principle within the Eurosystem is that the central bank must be and remain in a position to perform 

its tasks, in particular to ensure the smooth and efficient supply of euro banknotes and to maintain 

their integrity (including ensuring the quality and authenticity of euro banknotes in circulation), in 

line with the common Eurosystem policy. 

3  

This  definition is  the  same  as  the  definition  of  ‘depository  owners’  in  Article  2 of  Sveriges  Riksbank’s  regulations  on 
interest cost remuneration for cash that has been separated and stored under a special arrangement (RBFS 2005:1).  

2 

 
 
                                                      
3. 

Resolution of disputes regarding differentials 

Article 22 of the draft regulations deals with the investigation of disputes regarding differences between 

the stated and actual value of the cash in question, but  it  does  not  provide  for  the  resolution  of  cases 

where  the  parties  disagree  on  the  outcome  of  such  investigations.  The  ECB  suggests  clarifying  how 

disputes would be resolved in such cases in the draft regulations. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 12 June 2006. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

3