Article 3 Powers of the ECB and the competent national central bank

The powers conferred by the Council Regulation upon the ECB and the competent national central bank in carrying out the inquiry shall include, for the purpose of obtaining any information relating to the alleged infringement, the right to search for any items of information and the right to conduct a search without prior notification of the undertaking concerned.

The staff of the ECB or of the competent national central bank, as the case may be, who are authorised, in accordance with their respective internal rules, to search for information on the premises of the undertaking concerned, shall exercise their powers upon the production of formal authorisation in writing issued in accordance with their respective internal rules.

Any request made to the undertaking concerned on the basis of the powers conferred upon the ECB or the competent national central bank, as the case may be, shall specify the subject matter and purpose of the investigation.