Opinion of the European Central Bank of 21 September 2011 on statistics and interbank money and government securities markets managed by Banca Naţională a României, and the foreign exchange and minimum reserves regime (CON/2011/73)
Date: 2011-09-21
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Romania, data processing, financial stability, monetary policy, national law, statistics

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 21 September 2011 

on statistics and interbank money and government securities markets managed by 

Banca Naţională a României, and the foreign exchange and minimum reserves regime 

(CON/2011/73) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 31 May 2011, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Banca Naţională a României 

(BNR)  for  an  opinion  on  its  draft  regulation  on  statistics,  its  draft  regulation  on  interbank  money  and 

government securities markets managed by BNR and the foreign exchange and minimum reserves regime, 

and its draft regulation on payments. 

This  opinion  concerns  the  draft  regulation  on  statistics  (hereinafter  the  ‘first  draft  regulation’)  and  the 

draft  regulation  on  interbank  money  and  government  securities  markets  managed  by  BNR,  and  the 

foreign exchange and minimum reserves regime (hereinafter the ‘second draft regulation’). 

The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 

Functioning of the European Union, the third, fourth and sixth indents of Article 2(1), and Article 2(2) 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  regulations  relate  to  BNR;  the 

collection, compilation and distribution of monetary, financial, banking, payment systems and balance of 

payments statistics; and rules applicable to financial institutions insofar as they materially influence the 

stability of financial institutions and markets. 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 

BNR’s two draft regulations are the result of a systematisation and standardisation process through which 

the  BNR  will  consolidate  regulations  currently  in  force  that  it  has  adopted  in  the  performance  of  its 

statutory  tasks.  The  objectives  of  this  process  are  to  ensure  legal  clarity,  consistency,  access  and 

understanding. 

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  

 
 
 
 
                                                 
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1.1  The first draft regulation 

The draft regulation on statistical data and information reporting to BNR provides the framework for the 

collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of statistical data in its areas of competence. It covers 

reporting  of  data  and  information  (i)  on  monetary  and  financial  statistics,  balance  of  payments  and 

Romania’s medium and long-term private external debt, (ii) for the oversight of money/foreign exchange 

market  transactions,  and  (iii)  for  payments  oversight.  It  defines  the  reporting  mechanisms  under  the 
relevant Union regulations2.  

1.2  The second draft regulation 

This draft regulation covers BNR’s monetary policy and exchange rate policy, the foreign exchange and 

minimum reserves regimes, as well as transactions with government securities and certificates of deposit. 

2. 

General observations  

The ECB welcomes BNR’s efforts to increase legal certainty, as well as the transparency and clarity of its 

requirements  for  market  participants.  Moreover,  such  a  project  should  take  into  account  the  need  for 

precision  and  consistency  throughout  the  draft  regulations  and  with  the  national  and  Union  legal 

frameworks. Although Romania has not yet adopted the euro, the draft provisions should already take into 

consideration and be broadly consistent with the Union legislative framework that will apply in Romania 

once it has adopted the euro. 

3. 

Specific observations 

The first draft regulation  

3.1  The regime for the production of European statistics is set out in Regulations (EC) Nos 223/2009 3 
and  2533/98 4 .  A  national  regime’s  specific  arrangements  should  optimise  the  quality  and 

availability  of  official  statistics,  also  in  the  context  of  the  NCB’s  participation  in  the  European 

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3  

4  

Regulation ECB/2008/32 of 19 December 2008 concerning the balance sheet of the monetary financial institutions sector 
(recast) (OJ L 15, 20.1.2009, p. 14). 
Regulation  ECB/2001/18  of  20  December  2001  concerning  statistics  on  interest  rates  applied  by  monetary  financial 
institutions to deposits and loans vis-à-vis households and non-financial corporations (OJ L 10, 12.1.2002, p. 24). 
Regulation ECB/2007/8 of 27 July 2007 concerning statistics on the assets and liabilities of investment funds (OJ L 211, 
11.8.2007, p. 8). 
Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 January 2005 on Community statistics 
concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment (OJ L 35, 8.2.2005, p. 23). 
Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 924/2009/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on 
cross-border payments in the Community and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 (OJ L 266, 9.10.2009, p. 11). 
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics 
and  repealing  Regulation  (EC,  Euratom)  No  1101/2008  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  the 
transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Council 
Regulation  (EC)  No  322/97  on  Community  Statistics,  and  Council  Decision  89/382/EEC,  Euratom  establishing  a 
Committee on the Statistical Programmes of the European Communities (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164).  
Regulation (EC) No 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). 

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System of Central Banks (ESCB) in general and its duty to collaborate with the ECB on statistical 

matters in particular, while preserving its independence as a central bank participating in the ESCB. 

The second draft regulation 

3.2   Member  States  that  have  not  adopted  the  euro  retain  their  monetary  policy  powers.  It  is 

nevertheless  beneficial  for  them  to  achieve  consistency  with  Eurosystem  standards  so  that  their 

credit institutions can familiarise themselves with the requirements that will apply once the euro has 

been  introduced.  With  these  considerations  in  mind,  the  ECB  welcomes  Title  IV  of  this  draft 

regulation, outlining the architecture and operation of the minimum reserves regime for Romanian 
credit institutions. The regime strongly resembles the Eurosystem’s minimum reserves framework5. 

The main parameters are calculated in a similar manner, including the computation of the reserve 

base  and  the  resulting  minimum  reserves  requirements  and  its  averaging  mechanism.  These 

similarities  are  expected  to  make  the  future  transition  of  Romanian  credit  institutions  to  the 

Eurosystem’s minimum reserves framework smoother and more straightforward. 

3.3  The  ECB  has,  nevertheless,  identified  a  number  of  differences  between  the  minimum  reserves 

regime for Romanian credit institutions and the Eurosystem’s minimum reserves framework.  

3.3.1  First,  the  reserve  base  for  Romanian  cooperative  credit  institutions  appears  to  differ  from  that 

applicable  to  other  credit  institutions.  The  Eurosystem’s  minimum  reserves  framework  treats  all 

credit  institutions  equally,  irrespective  of  their  nomenclature.  While  legitimate  economic 

considerations  relevant  to  the  market  share  of  cooperative  credit  institutions  in  Romania  may 

warrant  a  differentiated  treatment  for  the  purposes  of  the  imposition  and  collection  of  minimum 

reserves, such differentiated treatment will be unsustainable once Romania has adopted the euro.  

3.3.2  Second, BNR will communicate the remuneration  rate on minimum reserves to credit institutions 

only on an ad hoc basis. Under the Eurosystem’s minimum reserves framework, the relevant rate is 

derived  from  the  main  financing  operation  rates.  In  the  interests  of  transparency,  the  consulting 

authority should consider communicating, ex ante, the basis on which the remuneration rate is to be 

defined. Similar considerations apply to BNR’s discretion as regards the penalty rate, compared to 
the fixed penalty rate under the Eurosystem’s minimum reserves framework6.  

3.3.3  Third,  under  the  Romanian  minimum  reserves  regime,  the  credit  institutions’  minimum  reserves 

calculations  may  be  revised  both  during  the  reserve  maintenance  period  and  subsequently.  The 

Eurosystem’s  minimum  reserves  framework  considers  the  credit  institutions’  minimum  reserves 

calculations  to  be  frozen  at  the  start  of  the  relevant  reserve  maintenance  period.  A  national  law 

arrangement  more  closely  resembling  the  Eurosystem’s  minimum  reserves  framework  would 

provide more legal certainty. 

5  

6 

The  reference  is  mainly  to  Regulation  ECB/2003/9  of  12  September  2003  on  the  application  of  minimum  reserves 
(OJ L 250, 2.10.2003, p. 10), which also provides the basis for sub-paragraph 3.3.2 of this Opinion. 
This is derived from the marginal lending facility rate, incremented by 250 basis points. 

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3.3.4  Finally, there are also differences in sanctions when data for the calculation of a credit institution’s 

minimum reserves requirements are reported late, as well as for repetitive breaches. In both cases 

the sanctions under the minimum reserves regime for Romanian credit institutions are considerably 

more  severe  compared  to  the  corresponding  sanctions  under  the  Eurosystem’s  minimum  reserves 

framework.  

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 21 September 2011. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

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