Division 2 General information

The measures to be used in the calculation of the borrowing allowance relate to monetary financial institution (MFI) loans to euro area non-financial corporations and MFI loans to euro area households^f1, excluding loans for house purchases, in all currencies. In accordance with Article 7, data reports must be submitted for the two reference periods defined in Article 1. In particular, information on outstanding amounts of eligible loans at the end of the month preceding the start of the period and at the end of the period, as well as eligible net lending during the period (calculated as gross lending net of loan repayments) must be reported separately for non-financial corporations and for households. Outstanding amounts of eligible loans are adjusted to account for loans which are securitised or otherwise transferred and not derecognised. Detailed information is also required on the relevant sub-components of these items, as well as on effects that result in changes to outstanding amounts of eligible loans but that are not related to eligible net lending (hereinafter ‘adjustments to the outstanding amounts’), also covering loan sales and purchases and other loan transfers.

As regards the use of the collected information, data on outstanding amounts of eligible loans as at 31 January 2016 will be used to determine the borrowing allowance. In addition, data on eligible net lending during the first reference period will be used for the calculation of the benchmark net lending and the benchmark outstanding amount. Meanwhile data on eligible net lending during the second reference period will be used to assess the lending developments and, consequently, the interest rates applicable. All other indicators included in the template are necessary to verify the internal consistency of the information and its consistency with the statistical data collected within the Eurosystem, as well as for in-depth monitoring of the impact of the TLTRO-II programme.

The general framework underlying the completion of the data reports is provided by the reporting requirements of euro area MFIs in the context of MFI balance sheet items (BSI) statistics, as specified in Regulation (EU) No 1071/2013 (ECB/2013/33). In particular, as regards loans, Article 8(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1071/2013 (ECB/2013/33) requires that they ‘shall be reported at their principal amount outstanding at the end of the month. Write-offs and write-downs as determined by the relevant accounting practices shall be excluded from this amount. […] loans shall not be netted against any other assets or liabilities’. However, in contrast to the rules laid down in Article 8(2), which also imply that loans are to be reported gross of provisions, Article 8(4) states that ‘NCBs may allow the reporting of provisioned loans net of provisions and the reporting of purchased loans at the price agreed at the time of their acquisition [i.e. their transaction value], provided that such reporting practices are applied by all resident reporting agents’. The implications that this deviation from the general BSI guidance has for the compilation of the data reports are reviewed in more detail below.

Regulation (EU) No 1071/2013 (ECB/2013/33) should also be used as the reference document as regards the definitions to be applied in the compilation of the data reports. See, in particular, Article 1 for general definitions, and Parts 2 and 3 of Annex II for a definition of the categories of instruments to be covered under ‘loans’ and of the sectors of participants respectively. Importantly, in the BSI framework accrued interest receivable on loans is, as a rule, subject to on-balance-sheet recording as it accrues (i.e. on an accrual basis rather when it is actually received), but should be excluded from the data on outstanding amounts of loans. However, capitalised interest should be recorded as part of the outstanding amounts.

While much of the data to be reported are already compiled by MFIs in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 1071/2013 (ECB/2013/33), some additional information must be compiled by participants bidding in TLTRO-II. The methodological framework for BSI statistics, as laid down in the Manual on MFI balance sheet statistics^f2, provides all the background information required in order to compile these additional data; further details are provided in point 4 regarding the definitions of the individual indicators.