Introductory text

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 132(3) thereof,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Articles 34.3 and 19.1 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2532/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the powers of the European Central Bank to impose sanctions ^f1 , and in particular Article 6(2) thereof,

Whereas:

The European Central Bank (ECB) has applied Regulation (EC) No 2157/1999 of the European Central Bank (ECB/1999/4) ^f2 to impose sanctions in its various fields of competence, including in particular the implementation of the monetary policy of the Union, the operation of payment systems and the collection of statistical information.

Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 ^f3 entitles the ECB to impose on the credit institutions it supervises administrative pecuniary penalties when these institutions breach a requirement under directly applicable Union law and sanctions in case of a breach of ECB regulations or decisions.

The ECB has adopted Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 (ECB/2014/17) ^f4 to further specify the procedures governing the exercise by the ECB, national competent authorities and national designated authorities of their supervisory tasks under Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013. Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 (ECB/2014/17) contains provisions on the procedure for the imposition of administrative penalties by the ECB and national competent authorities in the supervisory field.

In order to establish a consistent regime for the imposition of sanctions by the ECB in the exercise of its supervisory tasks under Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 (ECB/2014/17), the ECB has adopted Recommendation ECB/2014/19 ^f5 .

Regulation (EC) No 2157/1999 should be clarified to the effect that it only applies to the imposition of sanctions by the ECB in the exercise of its non-supervisory central bank tasks, while Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 (ECB/2014/17) applies to the imposition of administrative penalties by the ECB in the exercise of its supervisory tasks.

When further specifying the procedural rules applying to the initiation and conduct of the infringement procedure laid down in Regulation (EC) No 2532/98, the ECB should take into account the degree of severity of the envisaged sanction.

Therefore, Regulation (EC) No 2157/1999 should be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: