Organisation

Tasks of the ECB (2/2)

Further, the ECB is responsible for

• Statutory reports: the reporting obligations are laid down in the Statute of the European System of Central Banks (Article 15). The ECB produces a Monthly Bulletin, a consolidated weekly financial statement of the Eurosystem and an Annual Report.
• Monitoring financial risks: this involves assessing the risks of securities, either those purchased in the context of the investment of the ECB's own funds and foreign reserves or of those securities that have been accepted as collateral in Eurosystem credit operations. 
• Fulfilling advisory functions to Union institutions and national authorities: the ECB adopts "Opinions" on draft EU and national legislation, where it concerns the ECB's field of competence.
• Running the IT systems: the ECB and the NCBs have established a number of common operational systems to make it easier to carry out decentralised operations. These systems provide the "logistical" support for the Eurosystem's functional integrity. These systems encompass information systems, applications and procedures. They are organised according to a "hub-and-spokes" approach, with the hub located at the ECB.
• Strategic and tactical management of the ECB's foreign reserves: this involves the definition of the long-term risk return preferences of the foreign reserve assets (strategic asset allocation), the steering of the risk-return profile against the background of prevailing market conditions (tactical asset allocation) and the setting of the investment guidelines and the overall operational framework.