PURPOSE: to amend Article 22 of the Statute of the
European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and of the European Central
Bank (ECB) with a view to granting the ECB regulatory competence
over clearing systems, in particular CCPs.
PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and
of the Council (on a recommendation from the European Central
Bank).
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European
Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative
procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: Article 129(3) of the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union enables the European Parliament
and the Council, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative
procedure, and on a recommendation from the ECB or a
proposal from the Commission, to amend Article 22 of the Statute of
the ESCB.
The General Court considered it would be for the ECB
to request the European Union legislature to amend Article 22,
should the ECB consider that having the power to regulate CCPs is
necessary for the proper performance of the task referred to in the
fourth indent of Article 127(2) of the Treaty, namely to promote
the proper functioning of payment systems.
The ECB notes that developments at both global and
European level are expected to increase the risks posed by clearing
systems, in particular central counterparties, for the proper
functioning of payment systems and the implementation of the single
monetary policy, which would ultimately affect the
Eurosystems primary objective of maintaining price
stability:
- firstly, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom
from the European Union will have a major impact on the
Eurosystems ability to carry out its tasks as central bank of
issue for the euro. At present, CCPs established in the United
Kingdom clear significant volumes of euro-denominated transactions.
Thus, a significant disturbance affecting a major UK CCP could lead
to a severe decrease in liquidity within the euro area;
- secondly, at the September 2009 summit in Pittsburgh,
G20 leaders agreed that all standardised OTC derivative contracts
should be cleared through a CCP. These developments have led to a
dramatic increase in the scale and importance of CCPs in the
Union and globally;
- thirdly, the European Commission presented its legislative
proposal to ensure financial stability and the safety and
soundness of CCPs that are of systemic relevance for financial
markets across the Union. In order to ensure that the Eurosystem as
central bank of issue for the euro can carry out the role envisaged
by the legislative proposal, it should have the power to monitor
and assess risks posed by CCPs clearing significant amounts of
euro-denominated transactions.
In the light of these considerations, the ECB
considers that it should have the power to regulate clearing
systems, in particular central counterparties, in order to
fulfil its fundamental tasks. It therefore submits a recommendation
for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council with a
view to amending Article 22 of the Statute of the ESCB in this
respect.
CONTENT: the ECB recommends that Parliament and the
Council adopt a decision amending Article 22 of the ESCB Statute
on clearing and payments systems in order to allow the ECB and
the national central banks to provide facilities, and to enable the
ECB to make regulations, and ensure efficient and sound clearing
and payment systems, and clearing systems for financial
instruments, within the Union and with other countries.