
Article 1 
For the purposes of this Regulation:

1.. ‘the ECB's statistical reporting requirements’ shall mean the statistical information which reporting agents are required to provide and which is necessary for the tasks of the ESCB to be performed;
2.. ‘reporting agents’ shall mean the legal and natural persons and the entities referred to in Article 2(3) which are subject to the ECB's statistical reporting requirements;
3.. ‘participating Member State’ shall mean a Member State which has adopted the single currency in accordance with the Treaty;
4.. ‘resident’ and ‘residing’ shall mean having a centre of economic interest in the economic territory of a country as described in Annex A; in this context, ‘cross-border positions’ and ‘cross-border transactions’ shall mean respectively positions and transactions in the assets and/or liabilities of residents of participating Member States seen as one economic territory vis-a-vis residents of non-participating Member States and/or residents of third countries;
5.. ‘International Investment Position’ shall mean the balance sheet of the stock of cross-border financial assets and liabilities;
6.. ‘electronic money’ shall mean an electronic store of monetary value on a technical device, including prepaid cards, that may be widely used for making payments to entities other than the issuer without necessarily involving bank accounts in the transaction, but acting as a prepaid bearer instrument.
Article 2 

1. For the fulfilment of the ECB's statistical reporting requirements, the ECB, assisted by the national central banks in accordance with Article 5.2 of the Statute, shall have the right to collect statistical information within the limits of the reference reporting population and of what is necessary to carry out the tasks of the ESCB.
2. The reference reporting population shall comprise the following reporting agents:
(a) legal and natural persons falling within the sub-sectors ‘central bank’, ‘other monetary financial institutions’ and ‘other financial intermediaries, except insurance corporations and pension funds’ as described in Annex B and residing in a Member State, to the extent necessary to fulfil the ECB's statistical reporting requirements in the field of money and banking statistics and payment systems statistics;
(b) post office giro institutions, to the extent necessary to fulfil the ECB's statistical reporting requirements in the field of money and banking statistics and payment systems statistics;
(c) legal and natural persons residing in a Member State, to the extent that they hold cross-border positions or carry out cross-border transactions and that statistical information relating to such positions or transactions is necessary to fulfil the ECB's statistical reporting requirements in the field of balance of payments statistics or the International Investment Position;
(d) legal and natural persons residing in a Member State, to the extent that statistical information relating to the securities or the electronic money issued by them is necessary to fulfil the ECB's statistical reporting requirements.
3. An entity that would otherwise be covered by the definition in paragraph 2, but which according to the national law of its country of residence is neither a legal person nor a collection of natural persons, while it can be the subject of rights and obligations, shall be a reporting agent. The reporting obligation of such an entity shall be fulfilled by the persons legally representing it.Where a legal person, collection of natural persons or an entity as referred to in the first subparagraph has a branch resident in another country, the branch shall be a reporting agent in its own right irrespective of where the head office is located insofar as the branch satisfies the conditions defined in paragraph 2, with the exception of the need to possess separate legal personality. Any number of branches set up in the same Member State shall be regarded as a single branch when they belong to the same sub-sector of the economy. The reporting obligation of a branch shall be fulfilled by the persons legally representing it.
Article 3 
In defining and imposing its statistical reporting requirements, the ECB shall specify the actual reporting population within the limits of the reference reporting population as defined in Article 2. Without prejudice to the fulfilment of its statistical reporting requirements, the ECB:

((a)) shall minimise the reporting burden involved, including by using existing statistics as far as possible;
((b)) shall take into account Community and international statistical standards;
((c)) may fully or partly exempt specific classes of reporting agents from its statistical reporting requirements.
Article 4 
Member States shall organise themselves in the field of statistics and shall fully cooperate with the ESCB in order to ensure the fulfilment of the obligations arising out of Article 5 of the Statute.
Article 5 

1. The ECB may adopt regulations for the definition and imposition of its statistical reporting requirements on the actual reporting population of participating Member States.
2. To guarantee the coherence necessary to produce statistics meeting their respective information requirements, the ECB shall consult the Commission on draft regulations whenever links with the statistical requirements of the Commission exist. The Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics shall take part, within the limits of its competence, in the process of cooperation between the Commission and the ECB.
Article 6 

1. If a reporting agent residing in a participating Member State is suspected of an infringement, as set out in Article 7(2), of the ECB's statistical reporting requirements, the ECB and, in accordance with Article 5.2 of the Statute, the national central bank of the participating Member State concerned shall have the right to verify the accuracy and quality of the statistical information and to carry out its compulsory collection. However, should the statistical information concerned be necessary in order to demonstrate compliance with minimum reserve requirements, the verification should be carried out in accordance with Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2531/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the application of minimum reserves by the European Central Bank. The right to verify statistical information or to carry out compulsory collection thereof shall comprise the right to:
(a) require submission of documents;
(b) examine the books and records of the reporting agents;
(c) take copies or extracts from such books and records; and
(d) obtain written or oral explanations.
2. The ECB or the competent national central bank shall notify the reporting agent in writing of its decision to verify statistical information or to collect it compulsorily, specifying the time limit for compliance with the verification request, the sanctions applicable in the case of non-compliance and the right to review. The ECB and the national central bank concerned shall inform each other of such verification requests.
3. For the verification and the compulsory collection of statistical information, national procedures shall be followed. The costs of the procedure shall be borne by the reporting agent concerned if it is established that the reporting agent has breached statistical reporting requirements.
4. The ECB may adopt regulations specifying the conditions under which the right to verify or to carry out the compulsory collection of statistical information may be exercised.
5. Within the limits of their competence, national authorities of participating Member States shall give the necessary assistance to the ECB and national central banks in the exercise of the powers provided for in this Article.
6. When a reporting agent opposes or obstructs the verification process or the compulsory collection of the required statistical information, the participating Member State in which the reporting agent's premises are located shall afford the necessary assistance, including ensuring access to the reporting agent's premises by the ECB or the national central bank so that the rights mentioned in paragraph 1 can be exercised.
Article 7 

1. The ECB shall have the power to impose the sanctions set out in this Article on reporting agents which are subject to reporting requirements and residing in a participating Member State and which fail to comply with the obligations resulting from this Regulation or from ECB regulations or decisions defining and imposing the ECB's statistical reporting requirements.
2. The obligation to transmit certain statistical information to the ECB or to the national central banks shall be deemed to have been infringed if:
(a) no statistical information is received by the ECB or national central bank by the established deadline; or
(b) the statistical information is incorrect, incomplete or in a form not complying with the requirement.
3. The obligation to allow the ECB and the national central banks to verify the accuracy and quality of the statistical information submitted by reporting agents to the ECB or national central bank shall be deemed to have been infringed whenever a reporting agent obstructs this activity. Such obstruction includes, but is not limited to, the removal of documents and prevention of physical access by the ECB or the national central bank which is necessary for them to carry out their verification task or compulsory collection.
4. The ECB may impose sanctions on a reporting agent as follows:
(a) in the event of an infringement as defined in paragraph 2(a), a daily penalty payment not exceeding EUR 10 000, with the total fine not exceeding EUR 100 000;
(b) in the event of an infringement as defined in paragraph 2(b), a fine not exceeding EUR 200 000; and
(c) in the event of an infringement as defined in paragraph 3, a fine not exceeding EUR 200 000.
5. The sanctions set out in paragraph 4 shall be additional to the obligation on the reporting agent to meet the costs of the verification and compulsory collection procedure as required in Article 6(3).
6. In exercising the powers provided for in this Article, the ECB shall act in accordance with the principles and procedures as set out in Regulation (EC) No 2532/98.
Article 8 

1. Within the scope of this Regulation and for the purposes of the confidentiality regime covering the statistical information which is necessary for the tasks of the ESCB to be performed, statistical information shall be confidential when it allows reporting agents or any other legal person, natural person, entity or branch to be identified, either directly from their name, address or from an officially allocated identification code, or indirectly through deduction, thereby disclosing individual information. To determine whether a reporting agent or any other legal person, natural person, entity or branch is identifiable, account shall be taken of all the means that might reasonably be used by a third party to identify the said reporting agent or the other legal person, natural person, entity or branch. Statistical information taken from sources which are available to the public in accordance with national law is not confidential.
2. Transmission from the national central banks to the ECB of confidential statistical information shall take place to the extent and at the level of detail necessary for the exercise of the tasks to be carried out through the ESCB, as described in Article 105 of the Treaty.
3. Reporting agents shall be informed of the statistical and other, administrative, uses, to which statistical information provided by them may be put. Reporting agents shall have the right to obtain information on the legal basis for the transmission and the protective measures adopted.
4. The ECB shall use confidential statistical information transmitted to it exclusively for the exercise of the tasks of the ESCB except:
(a) if the reporting agent or the other legal person, natural person, entity or branch which can be identified, has explicitly given its consent to the use of the said statistical information for other purposes; or
(b) for the production of specific Community statistics, following an agreement between the Commission and the ECB in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 322/97; or
(c) for granting scientific research bodies access to confidential statistical information which does not allow direct identification, without prejudice to national legislation and with the previous explicit consent of the national authority which provided the information.
5. The national central banks shall use the confidential statistical information collected to fulfil the ECB's statistical reporting requirements exclusively for the exercise of the tasks of the ESCB except:
(a) if the reporting agent or the other legal person, natural person, entity or branch which can be identified has explicitly given its consent to the use of the said statistical information for other purposes; or
(b) if it is used at the national level for statistical purposes following an agreement between the national statistical authorities and the national central bank or for the production of Community statistics in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 322/97; or
(c) if it is used in the field of prudential supervision or for the exercise in accordance with Article 14(4) of the Statute of functions other than those specified in the Statute; or
(d) for granting scientific research bodies access to confidential statistical information which does not allow direct identification.
6. This Article shall not prevent confidential statistical information collected for purposes other than, or in addition to, meeting the ECB's statistical reporting requirements from being used to meet those other purposes.
7. This Article shall apply only to the collection and transmission of confidential statistical information for the fulfilment of the ECB's statistical reporting requirements; it shall not affect special national or Community provisions relating to the transmission of other types of information to the ECB.
8. This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to Directive 95/46/EC.In the case of data collected by national statistical institutes and the Commission, which are submitted to the ECB, this Regulation shall, as regards statistical confidentiality, apply without prejudice to Regulation (EC) No 322/97.
9. The ECB and the national central banks shall take all the necessary regulatory, administrative, technical and organisational measures to ensure the protection of confidential statistical information. The ECB shall define common rules and minimum standards to prevent unlawful disclosure and unauthorised use. The protection measures shall apply to all confidential statistical information as defined in paragraph 1.
10. Member States shall adopt all the necessary measures to ensure the protection of confidential statistical information, including the imposition of the appropriate enforcement measures by the Member States in the event of an infringement.
Article 9 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Article 5, Article 6(4) and Article 8(9) shall apply from the date of entry into force of this Regulation. The remaining Articles shall apply from 1 January 1999.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.Done at Brussels, 23 November 1998.
For the Council
The President
R. EDLINGER
ANNEX A
2.04. The units, whether institutional, local kind-of-activity or of homogeneous production, which constitute the economy of a country and whose transactions are recorded in the ESA, are those which have a centre of economic interest on the economic territory of that country. These units, known as resident units, may or may not have the nationality of that country, may or may not be legal entities, and may or may not be present on the economic territory of the country at the time they carry out a transaction. Having thus defined the limits of the national economy in terms of resident units, it is necessary to define the meaning of the terms economic territory and centre of economic interest.

2.05. 

((a)) the geographic territory administered by a government within which persons, goods, services and capital move freely;
((b)) any free zones, including bonded warehouses and factories under customs control;
((c)) the national air-space, territorial waters and the continental shelf lying in international waters, over which the country enjoys exclusive rights;
((d)) territorial enclaves, i.e. geographic territories situated in the rest of the world and used, under international treaties or agreements between States, by general government agencies of the country (embassies, consulates, military bases, scientific bases, etc.);
((e)) deposits of oil, natural gas, etc. in international waters outside the continental shelf of the country, worked by units resident in the territory as defined in the preceding subparagraphs.

2.06. The economic territory does not include extraterritorial enclaves (i.e. the parts of the country's own geographic territory used by general government agencies of other countries, by the institutions of the European Union or by international organisations under international treaties or agreements between States.

2.07. The term centre of economic interest indicates the fact there exists some location within the economic territory on, or from, which a unit engages, and intends to continue to engage, in economic activities and transactions on a significant scale, either indefinitely or over a finite but long period of time (a year or more). It follows that a unit which carries out such transactions on the economic territory of several countries is deemed to have a centre of economic interest in each of them. The ownership of land and buildings within the economic territory is deemed to be sufficient in itself for the owner to have a centre of economic interest there.

2.08. 

((a)) units which are principally engaged in production, finance, insurance or redistribution, in respect of all their transactions except those relating to ownership of land and buildings;
((b)) Units which are principally engaged in consumption, in respect of all their transactions except those relating to ownership of land and buildings;
((c)) all units in their capacity as owners of land and buildings with the exception of owners of extraterritorial enclaves which are part of the economic territory of other countries or are States sui generis (see paragraph 2.06).

2.09. 

((a)) activity conducted exclusively on the economic territory of the country: units which carry out such activity are resident units of the country;
((b)) activity conducted for a year or more on the economic territories of serveral countries: only that part of the unit which has a centre of economic interest on the economic territory of the country is deemed to be a resident unit. It may be:

1.. either an institutional resident unit, whose activities conducted for a year or more in the rest of the world are excluded and treated separately, or
2.. a notional resident unit, in respect of the activity conducted in the country for a year or more by a unit which is resident in another country.

2.10. 

((a)) border workers, i.e. people who cross the frontier daily to work in a neighbouring country;
((b)) seasonal workers, i.e. people who leave the country for several months, but less than a year, to work in another country in sectors in which additional manpower is needed periodically;
((c)) tourists, patients, students, visiting officials, businessmen, salesmen, artists and crew members who travel abroad;
((d)) locally recruited staff working in the extraterritorial enclaves of foreign governments;
((e)) the staff of the institutions of the European Union and of civilian or military international organisations which have their headquarters in extraterritorial enclaves;
((f)) the official, civilian or military representatives of the government of the country (including their households) established in territorial enclaves.

2.11. All units in their capacity as owners of land and/or buildings which form part of the economic territory are deemed to be resident units or notional resident units of the country in which the land or buildings in question are located.

ANNEX B 2.45. Definition: The subsector the central bank (S.121) consists of all financial corporations and quasi-corporations whose principal function is to issue currency, to maintain the internal and external value of the currency and to hold all or part of the international reserves of the country.
 2.46. 

((a)) the national central bank, also in the case where it is part of a European System of Central Banks;
((b)) central monetary agencies of essentially public origin (e.g. agencies managing foreign exchange or issuing currency) which keep a complete set of accounts and enjoy autonomy of decision in relation to central government. Mostly these activities are performed either within central government or within the central bank. In these cases no separate institutional units exist.
 2.47. Subsector S.121 does not include agencies and bodies, other than the central bank, which regulate or supervise financial corporations or financial markets.
 2.48. Definition: The subsector other monetary financial institutions (S.122) consists of all financial corporations and quasi-corporations, except those classified in the central bank subsector, which are principally engaged in financial intermediation and whose business is to receive deposits and/or close substitutes for deposits from institutional units other than monetary financial institutions, and, for their own account, to grant loans and/or to make investments in securities.
 2.49. The monetary financial institutions (MFIs) comprise the subsector the central bank (S.121) and the subsector other monetary financial institutions (S.122), and coincide with the monetary financial institutions for statistical purposes as defined by the EMI.
 2.50. 

((a)) commercial banks, ‘universal’ banks, ‘all-purpose’ banks;
((b)) savings banks (including trustee savings banks and savings banks and loan associations);
((c)) post office giro institutions, post banks, giro banks;
((d)) rural credit banks, agricultural credit banks;
((e)) cooperative credit banks, credit unions;
((f)) specialised banks (e.g. merchant banks, issuing houses, private banks).
 2.51. 

((a)) corporations engaged in granting mortgages (including building societies, mortgage banks and mortgage credit institutions);
((b)) mutual funds (including investment trusts, unit trusts and other collective investment schemes, e.g. undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities-UCITS);
((c)) municipal credit institutions.
 2.52. 

((a)) holding corporations which only control and direct a group consisting predominantly of other monetary financial institutions, but which are not other monetary financial institutions themselves. They are classified in subsector S.123;
((b)) non-profit institutions recognised as independent legal entities serving other monetary financial institutions, but not engaged in financial intermediation.
 2.53. Definition: The subsector other financial intermediaries except insurance corporations and pension funds (S.123) consists of all financial corporations and quasi-corporations which are principally engaged in financial intermediation by incurring liabilities in forms other than currency, deposits and/or close substitutes for deposits from institutional units other than monetary financial institutions, or insurance technical reserves.
 2.54. Subsector S.123 includes various types of financial intermediaries especially those which are predominantly engaged in long-term financing. In most cases this predominant maturity forms the basis of a distinction from the other monetary financial institutions subsector. Based on the non-existence of liabilities in the form of insurance technical reserves, the borderline with the insurance corporations and pension funds subsector can be determined.
 2.55. 

((a)) corporations engaged in financial leasing;
((b)) corporations engaged in hire purchase and the provision of personal or commercial finance;
((c)) corporations engaged in factoring;
((d)) security and derivative dealers (on own account);
((e)) specialised financial corporations such as venture and development capital companies, export/import financing companies;
((f)) financial vehicle corporations, created to be holders of securitised assets;
((g)) financial intermediaries which receive deposits and/or close substitutes for deposits from MFIs only;
((h)) holding corporations which only control and direct a group of subsidiaries principally engaged in financial intermediation and/or in auxiliary financial activities, but which are not financial corporations themselves.
 2.56. Subsector S.123 does not include non-profit institutions recognised as independent legal entities serving other financial intermediaries except insurance corporations and pension funds, but not engaged in financial intermediation.
