Circular BCL 2006/197 of 7 August 2006 — Slovenia's Adoption of the Euro as of 1 January 2007: Implications for Balance of Payments Statistical Reporting

Luxembourg, 7 August 2006

To all credit institutions and to the financial services of the Post and Telecommunications Company (Post Office Checking Account Service)

CIRCULAR BCL 2006/197

Adoption by Slovenia of the single currency, the euro, as of 1 January 2007:
Implications for statistical declarations concerning the balance of payments

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On the occasion of the European Council meeting in Brussels on 16 June 2006, the Heads of State and Government of the European Union decided that, as of 1 January 2007, Slovenia will adopt the single currency, the euro.

The objective of this circular is to describe the impact of this accession on the establishment of balance of payments directories. Indeed, reporting entities must ensure that Slovenia is integrated into the territorial concept constituted by the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), and consequently, use the operation codes appropriately for which there is a geographical distinction EMU/non-EMU.

1 Securities

Financial transactions carried out by Luxembourg residents on securities issued by residents of Slovenia must be reported via the category of EMU security operation codes, namely codes 421, 422, 424, 428, 429, 473 and 478, to be chosen according to the nature of the security, its maturity and the event considered (purchase/sale or repayment).

In particular, operation codes 441, 442, 444, 448, 449, 474 and 479 must no longer be used for the codification of financial transactions on securities issued by residents of Slovenia.

2 Direct Investments

Direct investment operations carried out by private sector residents towards Slovenia will also be affected by this change. Where appropriate, operation codes 430 (capital formation and increase) and 431 (purchase of participation) must be used, and no longer codes 434 and 435 reserved for direct investments carried out outside the EMU.

Regarding operations towards Luxembourg by investors established in Slovenia, there will be no change since there is no geographical distinction for investments made in this direction.

3 Entry into force

The modifications described above will take effect on 1 January 2007. Transactions included in the directories transmitted in 2007 but relating to transactions with foreign countries carried out in 2006 must be recorded by applying the EMU geographic definition in force until 31 December 2006.

4 Repeal of Circular 2002/177

In this context, we also wish to inform credit institutions of the abolition of Circular BCL 2002/177 regarding the country and currency codes to be used by credit institutions.

Credit institutions are invited to consult the lists of country and currency codes published on the website of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to become familiar with the codes to be used. In case of doubt regarding a country and/or currency code, the Bank of Luxembourg (BCL) stands ready to provide credit institutions with the necessary information.

The list of country codes mentioned above has been supplemented by the BCL with the country codes indicated in the following table. Similarly, the BCL also specifies the possible ISO n°3166 codes that must not be used.

Additional country codes to the ISO list used by the BCL:

• XA: European Central Bank – Frankfurt
• XB: International organizations having their headquarters abroad, excluding European Union organizations
• XC: International organizations having their headquarters in Luxembourg, excluding European Union organizations
• XD: European Union organizations having their headquarters in Luxembourg
• XG: European Union organizations having their headquarters abroad (excluding the European Central Bank – Frankfurt – code: XA)
• XX: Undetermined country code
  (the use of this code will result in a request for clarification from the BCL to the reporting entity)

Although included in the ISO list, the following country code is not used by the BCL:

• FX: Metropolitan France

Finally, for the determination of the operation codes used for the codification of securities transactions, the following table must be used as of 1 January 2007:

Operation Codes	Residence of the Issuer of the Security
491, 492, 494, 498, 499, 535, 536	Luxembourg
421, 422, 424, 428, 429, 473, 478	Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain (including the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla), Finland, France (and Monaco, the overseas departments: Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, Réunion and the territorial collectivities: Mayotte and Saint-Pierre-and-Miquelon), Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira), Slovenia
441, 442, 444, 448, 449, 474, 479	All other countries not listed above, including notably:

• Andorra, San Marino and the Vatican, the Dutch Antilles and Aruba, Macao,
• Institutions corresponding to country codes XB, XC, XD and XG |

Bank of Luxembourg (XA)

Please accept, Ladies and Gentlemen, the assurance of our most distinguished sentiments.

BANK OF LUXEMBOURG
The Management

Serge KOLB Andrée BILLON Yves MERSCH