European Central Bank (ECB): minimum reserves; review procedure

PURPOSE: to present a recommendation of the European Central Bank (ECB) for a Council Regulation concerning an amendment to Council Regulation 2531/98/EC of 23.11.1998 concerning the application of minimum reserves by the ECB. CONTENT: to avoid any duplication of effort before the start of Stage III of economic and monetary union, the European Monetary Institute (EMI) and the Commission agreed that the ECB would prepare a recommendation for a Council regulation in accordance with Article 19.2 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the ECB. Against this background, the ECB recommends the deletion of the reference to the reduced period for the Governing Council of the ECB to take a decision in response to a request for review of a sanction by the Executive Board of the ECB. As a result, the normal period of two months which is stated in Regulation 2532/98/EC would also apply in the cases of non-compliance with the obligation to hold the required amount of minimum reserves. �