2005/831/EC: Decision of the European Central Bank of  17 November 2005  on the distribution of the income of the European Central Bank on euro banknotes in circulation to the national central banks of the participating Member States  (ECB/2005/11)

26.11.2005 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 311/41
DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
of 17 November 2005
on the distribution of the income of the European Central Bank on euro banknotes in circulation to the national central banks of the participating Member States
(ECB/2005/11)
(2005/831/EC)
THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
,
Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 33 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) In order to allow funds to be allocated to a provision for foreign exchange rate, interest rate and gold price risks, it is necessary to recast Decision ECB/2002/9 of 21 November 2002 on the distribution of the income of the European Central Bank on euro banknotes in circulation to the national central banks of the participating Member States (1). Furthermore, for operational reasons, it is more appropriate to distribute the income of the European Central Bank (ECB) on euro banknotes in circulation only once for each financial year, instead of each quarter.
(2) Decision ECB/2001/15 of 6 December 2001 on the issue of euro banknotes (2) establishes the allocation of euro banknotes in circulation to the national central banks (NCBs) in proportion to their paid-up shares in the ECB’s capital. Article 4 of Decision ECB/2001/15 and the Annex to that Decision allocates to the ECB 8 % of the total value of euro banknotes in circulation. The ECB holds intra-Eurosystem claims on NCBs in proportion to their shares in the subscribed capital key, for a value equivalent to the value of euro banknotes that it issues.
(3) Under Article 2(2) of Decision ECB/2001/16 of 6 December 2001 on the allocation of monetary income of the national central banks of participating Member States from the financial year 2002 (3), the intra-Eurosystem balances on euro banknotes in circulation are remunerated at the reference rate. Under Article 2(3) of Decision ECB/2001/16, this remuneration is settled by TARGET payments.
(4) Recital 6 to Decision ECB/2001/16 states that the income accruing to the ECB on the remuneration of its intra-Eurosystem claims on NCBs related to its share of euro banknotes in circulation should in principle be distributed to the NCBs in accordance with the decisions of the Governing Council, in proportion to their shares in the subscribed capital key in the same financial year it accrues.
(5) In distributing the income accruing to the ECB on the remuneration of its intra-Eurosystem claims on NCBs related to its share of euro banknotes in circulation, the ECB should take into account an estimate of its financial result for the year that makes due allowance for the need to allocate funds to a provision for foreign exchange rate, interest rate and gold price risks, and for the availability of provisions that may be released to offset anticipated expenses.
(6) In determining the amount of the ECB’s net profit to be transferred to the general reserve fund pursuant to Article 33.1 of the Statute, the Governing Council should consider that any part of that profit which corresponds to income on euro banknotes in circulation should be distributed to the NCBs in full,