COMMISSION OPINION

of 26 February 2015

on the draft amended Regulation of the European Central Bank concerning statistics on holdings of securities

(2015/C 72/02)

Introduction

On 15 January 2015, the Commission received a request from the European Central Bank (ECB) for an opinion on a draft amended Regulation concerning statistics on holdings of securities.

The Commission welcomes this request and recognises that the ECB hereby acts in accordance with its obligation to consult the Commission on draft ECB regulations whenever links with the statistical requirements of the Commission exist as laid down in Article 5(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the ECB(1), in order to guarantee the coherence necessary to produce statistics meeting the respective information requirements of the ECB and of the Commission. A good cooperation between the ECB and the Commission is beneficial for both institutions as well as for users and respondents by allowing a more efficient production of European statistics.

The Commission recognizes the importance of adequate data and statistics for the prudential supervision of financial institutions to monitor the size of and movements in holdings of securities, both domestic and cross-border, as well as the type of instruments. Moreover, the Commission shares the assessment as laid down in recital 3 of the draft regulation that risk propagation dynamics could not correctly be assessed during the financial crisis, inter alia, due to lack of granular data on bilateral risk exposures and contagion channels.

The Commission therefore fully supports the principle of developing a security-by-security database, including who-to-whom information, due to its role in supporting supervision of financial institutions and markets. In addition, such data which provides a very high degree of accuracy, can serve many additional statistical uses, also in view of its being embedded and linked to other sets of statistical information and their common definitions. In this context, the Commission notes with satisfaction that the draft amended ECB Regulation concerning statistics on holdings of securities gives due consideration to the new European system of accounts (ESA 2010), established by Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union(2).

Comments on and proposed changes to the legislative proposal

The draft amended ECB Regulation concerning statistics on holdings of securities aims above all to introduce the direct reporting of insurance corporations. The Commission welcomes the increase in data coverage expected as a result, as insurance corporations are significant holders of securities.

The Commission is aware of the need to limit, where possible, the reporting burden of institutional units for statistical purposes. Under this proposed legislation the ECB has taken into account the fact that data will be collected from insurance corporations in the framework of Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance (Solvency II)(3).

The emerging granular landscape of the financial sector will also be of relevance for financial regulation at different stages, e.g. in the context of Impact Assessments attached to legislative proposals of the Commission, as well as in the context of

ex-post

reviews of existing legislation cited in the draft regulation. In this context, the Commission reserves itself the possibility, once the revised reporting obligations have entered into force, to carry out an assessment if the statistics are fit for purpose also with respect to these important uses in the design and review of existing and future financial regulation.

As a general remark, the citations in the beginning of the Preamble (‘Having regard to’) should be brought in line with inter-institutionally agreed practice and thus be limited to the legal basis (i.e. the provision(s) which actually confer competence on the institution to adopt the envisaged act) and, where appropriate, references to the proposal, procedure and opinions. With respect to the legal basis, after a general reference to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, reference should therefore be made only to Articles 5(1) and 6(4) of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98. Neither Article 5 of the Statute of the ESCB and the ECB, nor Regulation (EU) No 549/2013, Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(4), Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(5) or the ECB Regulations cited can be considered as legal bases for the draft amended ECB Regulation. If a reference to these other provisions and instruments are deemed useful for a proper understanding of the enacting terms of the draft amended ECB Regulation, they may be referred to in the recitals.

Conclusion

The Commission supports the draft amended ECB Regulation, as it should result in the availability of a more complete set of data on securities holdings, of high importance to stakeholders which include the Commission itself.

Done at Brussels, 26 February 2015.

For the Commission

Marianne THYSSEN

Member of the Commission

(1)  

OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8

.

(2)  

OJ L 174, 26.6.2013, p. 1

.

(3)  

OJ L 335, 17.12.2009, p. 1

.

(4)  

OJ L 173, 12.6.2014, p. 349

.

(5)  

OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 338

.