BCL Circular 2002/173 of 3 July 2002 — Modification of the BCL General Terms and Conditions

Luxembourg, 3 July 2002

To all credit institutions and to the financial services of the Post and Telecommunications Company (post office checking accounts service)

BCL CIRCULAR 2002/173
MODIFICATION OF THE BCL GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Dear Sirs,

Following the adoption in April 2002 by the European Central Bank of the document "The Single Monetary Policy within the Euro Area – General Documentation on the Monetary Policy Instruments and Procedures of the Eurosystem," the BCL General Terms and Conditions have been slightly modified.

In addition to various stylistic and linguistic modifications, the main changes concern Chapter 8 "Eligible Assets" as well as Annex 8 of the General Terms and Conditions.

We particularly draw your attention to the responsibility incumbent upon the counterparty not to deposit debt securities issued or guaranteed by itself or by another entity with which the counterparty maintains close links, as defined in Directive 2000/12/EC concerning the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions. If a counterparty uses assets to which its identity or the existence of close links with the issuer/guarantor does not allow or no longer allows it to recourse to secure an existing credit, it must immediately inform the central bank. These assets are valued at zero at the next valuation date, and a margin call may be triggered if applicable. In case of non-compliance with these rules, the BCL will apply financial sanctions (Annex 8 of the BCL General Terms and Conditions, point 5.7).

An updated version of the BCL General Terms and Conditions will be available from 7 July 2002 on the BCL website: www.bcl.lu. A printed version of the modified sheets will be sent to you shortly for the update of your BCL General Terms and Conditions file(s).

We have attached to this letter a copy of the document "The Single Monetary Policy within the Euro Area – General Documentation on the Monetary Policy Instruments and Procedures of the Eurosystem" of April 2002. This document constitutes the new Annex 3 of the BCL General Terms and Conditions. Additional copies of this document can be obtained from the BCL (General Secretariat, tel.: 4774-4175).

The ECB Decision ECB/2002/2, which contains as an annex the document "The Single Monetary Policy within the Euro Area" and the BCL General Terms and Conditions as modified, will enter into force on 7 July 2002.

Please accept, Dear Sirs, the assurance of our distinguished sentiments.

BANQUE CENTRALE DU LUXEMBOURG
The Management

Serge KOLB Andrée BILLON Yves MERSCH