Strasbourg, 21/01/2016

Re: AnaCredit (ECB reply to Ombudsman letter of 20 November 2015)

Dear Mr President,

Thank you for your correspondence, dated 16 December 2015, in which you outline the measures the ECB has taken to engage with stakeholders and the wider public in relation to the initiative to establish an Analytical Credit Dataset (‘AnaCredit’). This follows my request for clarification on the question of a public consultation, following a complaint I received (1693/2015/PD).

I welcome, in particular, the 18 November 2015 decision of the Governing Council to publish the draft Regulation on AnaCredit, along with an explanatory note. I note that the general public has the opportunity to submit observations to a dedicated e-mail address by 29 January 2016, and that the ECB will carefully consider any input received prior to the final adoption of the Regulation. I also thank you for explaining in detail the 'merits and costs' procedure conducted during the drafting process, as it outlines the opportunities stakeholders had, via the ECB and NCBs, to provide structured input on the initiative. Finally, I note the statement by Member of the ECB Executive Board, Ms Lautenschläger, in her letter of 14 January 2016 to a number of MEPs, that any extension of AnaCredit to banking supervision would require a public consultation.

Against this background, I consider that there is no reason for me to inquire further into this matter and thank you once again for this constructive exchange.

Yours sincerely,

Emily O'Reilly