2009/98/EC: Decision of the European Central Bank of 11 December 2008 amending Decision ECB/2006/17 on the annual accounts of the European Central Bank (ECB/2008/22)

5.2.2009 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 36/22
DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
of 11 December 2008
amending Decision ECB/2006/17 on the annual accounts of the European Central Bank
(ECB/2008/22)
(2009/98/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 26.2 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Decision ECB/2006/17 of 10 November 2006 on the annual accounts of the European Central Bank (1) needs to be amended to reflect policy decisions and market developments.
(2) The European Central Bank (ECB) has revised its disclosure policy for securities transactions with a view to enhance further the transparency of the ECB’s annual accounts. As part of the revised policy, securities that previously qualified as financial fixed assets should be reclassified from the balance sheet item ‘Other financial assets’ to the appropriate item under the heading ‘asset’ depending on the origin of the issuer, the currency denomination and on whether the securities are held-to-maturity. Moreover, all financial instruments that are part of an earmarked portfolio should be included under the item ‘Other financial assets’.
(3) Decision ECB/2006/17 does not contain specific rules on the accounting of forward interest rate swaps, foreign exchange futures and equity futures. Such instruments are increasingly used in the financial markets and may be relevant to the management of the ECB’s foreign reserves. While forward interest rate swaps should be accounted for in the same manner as ‘plain vanilla’ interest rate swaps, foreign exchange futures and equity futures should be accounted for in the same manner as interest rate futures,