On July 4, 2018, the European Parliament published the minutes of its plenary session, which confirms that it has voted (in plenary) to adopt a report on a draft decision amending Article 22 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (“ECB“) (2017/0810(COD)).

The text of the amendments to the decision adopted by the Parliament has also been published.

The decision is in relation to the ECB’s recommendation for the decision made in June 2017, in which it asked for a greater role in regulating clearing systems for financial instruments, including central counterparties (“CCPs“), by amending Article 22 of the Statute

This amendment would enable the Eurosystem (i.e. the ECB and the national central banks of member states in the Eurozone) to monitor and assess risks posed by CCPs clearing significant amounts of euro-denominated transactions, and enable the ECB to adopt additional requirements for those CCPs.

The Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (“ECON“) and Committee on Constitutional Affairs (“AFCO“) published the final version of a joint report containing proposed amendments to the decision in June 2018.

Once the Council has decided its own negotiating position, the Parliament will enter into interinstitutional negotiations with the Council of the EU on the decision.

The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (“ECON“) and Committee on Constitutional Affairs (“AFCO“) have published a joint draft report on a decision to amend article 22 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (“ECB“).

The decision relates to an ECB recommendation for a decision made in June 2017, where it sought a greater role in the regulation of clearing systems for financial instruments, including central counterparties (“CCPs“) by amending article 22 of the statute. This amendment would allow the Eurosystem (i.e. the ECB and the national central banks of Eurozone nations) to assess risks posed by CCPs clearing significant amounts of transactions made in Euros and also to enable the ECB to adopt additional requirements for those CCPs.

Two reporters, Gabriel Mato and Danuta Maria Hübner welcomed the ECB’s proposal. In particular, they highlighted:

• As the ECB’s new powers will interact with those of other EU institutions, nations will be more inclined to respect the laws of other EU institutions by the acts adopted by the ECB under the amended article 22 of the statute.
• The recitals of the amending decision should contain regulatory powers that can be used over CCPs by the ECB under article 22 of the statute, including allowing monetary concerns to be addressed.