Opinion of the European Central Bank of 21 August 2017 on the reporting of credit data (CON/2017/33)
Date: 2017-08-21
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Austria, credit, credit institution, data collection, information system, national law, statistics

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 21 August 2017 

on the reporting of credit data 

(CON/2017/33) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  21  July  2017  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  the  Austrian  Ministry  of 

Finance for an opinion on a draft law regarding amendments to the Banking Act, the Investment Fund Act 

and  the  Law  on  the  National  Bank  in  connection  with  Regulation  (EU)  2016/867  (hereinafter  the  ‘draft 

law’)

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.  

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 and on the third and fourth indents of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 
98/415/EC2,  as  the  draft  law  relates  to  the  Oesterreichische  Nationalbank  (OeNB)  and  the  collection  of 

financial 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. 

1. 

Purpose of the draft law 

1.1.  The  main  purpose  of  the  draft  law  is  to  ensure  the  effective  implementation  of  Regulation  (EU) 

2016/867  of  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB/2016/13)

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.  To  this  end,  the  draft  law  amends 

national  reporting  requirements  for  credit  institutions  in  order  to  avoid  a  duplication  of  reporting 

requirements.  These  requirements  mainly  relate  to  the  reporting  of  credit  data,  which  is  currently 

reported through the central credit register established pursuant to section 75 of the Banking Act. 

With  a view to enabling the  collection  of data in  an integrated  and efficient manner,  the  draft  law 

also  aligns  the  current  terminology  in  the  Banking  Act  with  the  terms  used  in  Regulation  (EU) 

2016/867. 

1.2.  Under  the  draft  law,  the  OeNB  must  ensure  that  the  Financial  Market  Authority  (FMA)  is  able  to 

access the data reported by reporting agents in accordance with the draft law and within the scope 

of the right of reciprocity by other reporting Member States and the right of national central banks 

(NCBs) to deny access to other NCBs at all times, as set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/867. Where 

there  is  reciprocity,  the  OeNB  has  to  make  available  data  provided  by  reporting  Member  States 

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2  

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Bundesgesetz, mit  dem das  Bankwesengesetz,  das  Investmentfondsgesetz  und  das  Nationalbankgesetz  geändert 
werden. 
Council  Decision  98/415/EC  of  29  June  1998  on  the  consultation  of  the  European  Central  Bank  by  national 
authorities regarding draft legislative provisions (OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42).  

Regulation  (EU)  2016/867  of  the  European  Central  Bank  of  18  May  2016  on  the  collection  of  granular  credit  and 
credit risk data (ECB/2016/13) (OJ L 144, 1.6.2016, p. 44). 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
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under Regulation (EU) 2016/867 to reporting agents and other third parties. 

1.3.  Furthermore, the draft law seeks to strengthen the OeNB’s mandate of maintaining stability on the 

financial markets. In this respect, data not covered by Regulation (EU) 2016/867 is currently only 

collected  from  credit  institutions.  According  to  the  draft  law’s  explanatory  memorandum,  this 

restriction has hindered the collection of data relevant to the stability of the financial markets from 

other  companies.  The  draft  law  clarifies  that  the  OeNB  may  also  collect  such  data  from  other 

companies  active  in  the  financial  sector,  including  investment  firms,  capital  management 

companies,  financial  institutions,  (re)insurance  companies  and  pension  funds.  From  a  technical 

perspective, the amendments ensure that the data collected pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/867 

can be included in the OeNB’s data model, which will facilitate the efficient collection of data within 

the scope of a multi-dimensional data model.   

2. 

Observations 

2.1  The ECB welcomes the fact that the draft law amends national reporting requirements with a view 

to  ensuring  the  efficient  reporting  of  credit  data  and  avoiding  reporting  redundancies.  This 

approach is in line with the spirit of Regulation (EU) 2016/867, the recitals of which note that, with a 

view  to  ensuring  efficient  reporting  and  adequate  interoperability  with  other  existing  or  new 

reporting  frameworks,  national  central  banks  should  be  allowed  to  collect  the  information  to  be 

transmitted  to  the  ECB  as  a  part  of  a  broader  national  reporting  framework  and  to  extend  the 

reporting  of  credit  data  beyond  the  scope  outlined  in  Regulation  (EU)  2016/867,  for  their  own 

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statutory purposes, in line with relevant national law

.  

2.2  The  ECB  notes  that  the  previous  reporting  limit  of  EUR  350  000  per  debtor  should  remain 

unchanged for counterparties and reporting  agents that do not fall within the scope of Regulation 

(EU) 2016/867. The ECB understands that this also applies to financial institutions which do not fall 

within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2016/867. 

2.3  The draft law contains provisions pursuant to which the OeNB must ensure that the FMA is able to 

access data within the scope of reciprocal use by other reporting Member States and must make 

available to certain third parties, where there is the right to reciprocity, data provided by reporting 

Member  States  under  Regulation  (EU)  2016/867.  The  ECB  understands  that  these  provisions  of 

the  draft law are intended to ensure that such data is only transmitted in full compliance  with the 

provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/867. In this respect, it is recalled that, pursuant to Article 10 of 

Regulation (EU) 2016/867, NCBs shall use credit data reported under Regulation (EU) 2016/867 to 

the  extent  and  for  the  purposes  defined  in  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2533/98  of  23  November 

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1998

, including the confidentiality regime set out therein. Such data may be used, in particular, to 

establish and maintain a feedback loop in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2016/867 

This  Regulation  does  not  give  reporting  agents  any  right  to  a  feedback  loop.  Additionally,  NCBs 

have  the  right  to  deny  access  to  other  NCBs  to  the  granular  credit  data  that  they  collect  for  the 

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5  

See recital 15 of Regulation (EU) 2016/867. 

Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/93 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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purposes  of  a  feedback  loop,  except  for  information  on  an  institutional  unit  of  a  reporting  agent 

established  in  another  reporting  Member  State.  Further,  pursuant  to  this  Regulation,  NCBs  have 

the  right  to  require  reciprocity  as  regards  provision  of  granular  credit  data  with  any  NCB  that 

requests  data  from  another  NCB  for  the  purposes  of  a  feedback  loop.  For  the  sake  of  legal 

certainty,  it  is  suggested  that  the  draft  law,  or  alternatively  the  explanatory  memorandum 

accompanying  the  draft  law,  could  be  usefully  adapted  to  reflect  these  provisions  of  Regulation 

(EU) 2016/867.  

2.4  The ECB welcomes the proposed amendments to the National Bank Act, which aim to strengthen 

the OeNB’s mandate to maintain financial market stability. These amendments are in line with the 
aim of Regulation (EU) 2016/867 to ensure, inter alia, financial stability surveillance6. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 21 August 2017. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI 

6  

See recital 1 of Regulation (EU) 2016/867. 

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