CELEX: C2003/044/01
Language: en
Date: 2003-02-22 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 7 January 2003 in Case C-306/99 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Hamburg): Banque internationale pour l'Afrique occidentale SA (BIAO) v Finanzamt für Großunternehmen in Hamburg (Fourth Directive 78/660/EEC — Annual accounts of certain types of companies — Jurisdiction of the Court to interpret Community law in a context where it is not directly applicable — Provisions for risk under a loan guarantee — Taking into account of the individual situation of the debtor and of its State of establishment — Date on which the risk may or must be evaluated and entered on the balance sheet)

22.2.2003               EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                                    C 44/1
                                                                          I
                                                                   (Information)
                                                      COURT OF JUSTICE
                                                               COURT OF JUSTICE
                 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                       D.A.O. Edward (Rapporteur), A. La Pergola, P. Jann, V. Skouris,
                                                                             F. Macken, N. Colneric and S. von Bahr, Judges; F.G. Jacobs,
                                                                             Advocate General; L. Hewlett, Principal Administrator, Regis-
                         of 7 January 2003                                   trar, has given a judgment on 7 January 2003, in which it has
                                                                             ruled:
in Case C-306/99 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Finanzgericht Hamburg): Banque internationale pour                       1.    The questions appearing in the second and third parts of the
l’Afrique occidentale SA (BIAO) v Finanzamt für Großun-                            reference for a preliminary ruling, concerning the interpretation
                   ternehmen in Hamburg (1)                                        of the Fourth Council Directive 78/660/EEC of 25 July 1978
                                                                                   based on Article 54(3)(g) of the Treaty on the annual accounts
                                                                                   of certain types of companies, are admissible.
(Fourth Directive 78/660/EEC — Annual accounts of certain
types of companies — Jurisdiction of the Court to interpret                  2.    The Fourth Directive 78/660 does not preclude a provision
Community law in a context where it is not directly applicable                     intended to cover possible losses or debts arising from a
— Provisions for risk under a loan guarantee — Taking into                         commitment appearing at the foot of the balance sheet pursuant
account of the individual situation of the debtor and of its                       to Article 14 of that directive from being entered on the
State of establishment — Date on which the risk may or                             liabilities side of the balance sheet pursuant to Article 20(1),
     must be evaluated and entered on the balance sheet)                           provided that the loss or debt in question may be characterised
                                                                                   as ‘likely or certain’ at the balance-sheet date. Article 31(1)(e)
                                                                                   of that directive does not exclude the possibility that, in order to
                          (2003/C 44/01)                                           ensure compliance with the principle of prudence and the
                                                                                   principle that a true and fair view of the assets and liabilities be
                                                                                   given, the most appropriate method of valuation might be to
                   (Language of the case: German)                                  carry out a globalised assessment of all the relevant factors.
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published       3.    In circumstances such as those in point in the main proceedings,
                   in the European Court Reports)                                  repayment of a loan, which takes place after the balance-sheet
                                                                                   date (that being the relevant date for valuing balance-sheet
                                                                                   items), does not constitute a fact necessitating retrospective
                                                                                   revaluation of a provision relating to that loan entered on the
                                                                                   liabilities side of the balance sheet. However, compliance with
                                                                                   the principle that a true and fair view of the assets and liabilities
In Case C-306/99: Reference to the Court under Article 234                         be given requires that mention should be made in the annual
EC by the Finanzgericht Hamburg (Germany) for a preliminary                        accounts of the disappearance of the risk covered by that
ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between                        provision.
Banque internationale pour l’Afrique occidentale SA (BIAO)
and Finanzamt für Großunternehmen in Hamburg, on the
interpretation of the Fourth Council Directive 78/660/EEC of
25 July 1978 based on Article 54(3)(g) of the Treaty on the                  (1 ) OJ C 333 of 20.11.1999.
annual accounts of certain types of companies (OJ 1978 L 222,
p. 11), the Court, composed of: G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias,
President, J.-P. Puissochet (President of Chamber),