Article 10 Indirect holding of minimum reserves through an intermediary

An institution may apply for permission to hold all its minimum reserves indirectly through an intermediary resident in the same Member State. The intermediary shall be an institution subject to reserve requirements which normally effects part of the administration (e.g. treasury management) of the institution for which it is acting as intermediary, beyond the holding of minimum reserves.

Any application for permission to hold minimum reserves through an intermediary as described in paragraph 1 above shall be addressed to the national central bank of the participating Member State in which the applicant is established. The application shall include a copy of an agreement between the intermediary and the applicant in which both parties express their consent to the arrangement. The agreement shall also specify whether the applicant wishes to access Eurosystem standing facilities and open market operations. The agreement shall specify a notice period of at least 12 months. Upon compliance with the above conditions, the relevant participating NCB may grant the applicant permission to hold minimum reserves through an intermediary, subject to the provisions of paragraph 4 of this Article. Such permission shall be effective from the start of the first maintenance period following the date permission is granted, and shall continue for the duration of the aforementioned agreement between the parties.

The intermediary shall maintain these minimum reserve holdings in accordance with the general conditions of the ECB's minimum reserve system. Not only the institutions for which the intermediary is acting, but also the intermediary itself shall be responsible for complying with those institutions' reserve requirements. In the event of non-compliance, the ECB may impose any applicable sanctions on the intermediary, on the institution for which it is acting as intermediary, or on both, in accordance with the liability for non-compliance.

The ECB or the relevant participating NCB may, at any time, withdraw permission to hold minimum reserves indirectly:

1. (i)

   if an institution which holds its reserves indirectly through an intermediary, or the intermediary itself, fails to comply with its obligations under the ECB minimum reserve system;

2. (ii)

   if the conditions for the holding of reserves indirectly specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article are no longer fulfilled; or

3. (iii)

   for prudential reasons relating to the intermediary.

If such permission is withdrawn for prudential reasons relating to the intermediary, the withdrawal may have immediate effect. Subject to the requirements of paragraph 5, any withdrawal for other reasons shall take effect at the end of the then current maintenance period. An institution which holds its reserves through an intermediary, or the intermediary itself, may, at any time, ask for the permission to be withdrawn. Withdrawal requires prior notification by the relevant participating NCB to become effective.

The institution which holds its minimum reserves through an intermediary and the intermediary itself shall be informed of any withdrawal of permission for reasons other than prudential ones at least five working days before the end of the maintenance period in which permission is withdrawn.

Without prejudice to the individual statistical reporting obligations of the institution which holds its minimum reserves through an intermediary, the intermediary shall report the reserve base data in a sufficiently detailed manner to enable the ECB to verify its accuracy and quality, having regard to the provisions contained in Article 9, and determine the respective minimum reserves and the reserve holdings data for itself, as well as in respect of each institution for which it acts as intermediary. That data shall be provided to the participating NCB with which the minimum reserves are held. The intermediary shall provide the aforementioned reserve base data according to the same frequency and timetable as were established within the ECB's reporting framework F1for money and banking statistics laid down in F2Regulation (EU) No 1071/2013 (ECB/2013/33).