AnaCredit
AnaCredit is a dataset containing detailed information on individual bank loans in the euro area, harmonised across all Member States. “AnaCredit” stands for analytical credit datasets.
The project was initiated in 2011 and data collection started in September 2018.
ECB Regulation on AnaCredit
The Regulation on the collection of granular credit and credit risk data sets out the reporting requirements and defines the reporting population.
On 4 December 2015 the ECB published the AnaCredit draft regulation, giving to the public the opportunity to make observations until 29 January 2016. Mainly associations and federations replied. The ECB, together with national central banks, assessed the observations received. As a result, an amended version of the draft regulation was approved by the Governing Council in May 2016.
A Feedback Statement explains how the observations received were assessed and taken into account in the Regulation.
Feedback statement - Responses to the observations on the draft European Central Bank Regulation on the collection of granular credit and credit risk data, May 2016The financial crisis showed that aggregate statistics are not sufficient for an adequate understanding of the underlying developments, given that a number of economic and financial indicators have diverged significantly across different segments of the economy, such as sectors of activity, firm size or geographical areas.
The AnaCredit dataset makes it possible to fill this data gap supporting the ECB in performing its central banking and banking supervision functions, such as
- monetary policy analysis and operations
- risk management
- financial stability
- economic research
- statistics
AnaCredit makes it possible to identify, aggregate and compare credit exposures and to detect associated risks on a loan-by-loan basis.
At present, banks only report information on loans to corporations and other legal entities, mostly on a monthly basis. Should the ECB’s Governing Council decide to extend the AnaCredit project at a later stage, e.g. including housing loans to private households, these would be reported anonymously to the ECB.
Users
The dataset is designed for:
- The ECB and all national central banks of the participating countries
- National and European supervisory authorities
- National and European resolution authorities
- European Systemic Risk Board
- European Commission
- To some extent, reporting agents
Some users will only have access to part of the dataset at an aggregated level to ensure confidentiality.
Confidentiality
Data are treated according to strict confidentiality rules as set out under existing European law, and are only accessible to the aforementioned users and for the foreseen uses.
In 2010 a Memorandum of Understanding was established between several EU national central banks, replacing the Memorandum signed in 2003. It provides a framework for the voluntary bilateral exchange of information between national central credit registers, to facilitate cross-border sharing among reporting institutions of the information stored in these credit registers.
Given the establishment of AnaCredit, the exchange of information under this Memorandum of Understanding has been discontinued since September 2018.
Memorandum of UnderstandingAnaCredit Manual
The Manual provides detailed information and guidance on AnaCredit reporting requirements. Its overall objective is to ensure consistent and effective application across the euro area of the AnaCredit statistical framework, as set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/867 of May 2016 (ECB/2016/13). The Manual does not contain any additional requirements and has no binding legal status. The AnaCredit Regulation is the sole legally binding act.
The Manual is made up of three parts:
- Part I explains the general AnaCredit methodology and provides information about the reporting population and setting up the reporting, including a general description of the underlying data model.
- Part II describes all datasets and data attributes of AnaCredit data collection in detail and provides specific reporting instructions.
- Part III presents selected case studies and scenarios that require more in-depth explanations.
Finally, the annexes provide additional information relevant for reporting agents, such as lists of country specific national identifiers and legal forms as well as examples of complete data reports concerning stylised instruments.
31 May 2019: second edition of the AnaCredit Manual published
The Manual was updated in May 2019 to incorporate the additional explanations provided in the Q&As published on the ECB’s website between July 2017 and December 2018.
Annexes
- List of legal forms
- List of national identifiers
- List of international organisations
- List of postal code formatting rules and regular expressions per country
- Examples of complete reports
Guidance on non-EU entities identifiers search
This document provides detailed guidance on where to retrieve a valid national identifier and which identifier type to use to report the identifier. The list is sorted by country of residence of the counterparty for which a national identifier needs to be found and which is resident outside of the EU.
Guidance on non-EU entities identifiers searchQ&As
The Manual is complemented by further explanations provided via the ongoing Q&A process.
Reporting agents and other stakeholders can submit a question to the relevant national central bank (NCB) at any time. The NCB or, in the case of broader questions, the European System of Central Banks, subsequently prepares a response and the NCB concerned communicates this back to the requester – adjusting the response in line with the national reporting framework if applicable. A selection of these Q&As is published here on an ongoing basis.
AnaCredit reporting manual – questions & answersHow to read the Q&As in combination with the AnaCredit Regulation and the Manual
The Q&As form part of the AnaCredit Manual. They extend and complement the clarifications already provided in the Manual. Similarly to the rest of the Manual, the Q&As have no binding legal status, nor do they contain any additional requirements.
The Q&As published on the ECB’s website between July 2017 and December 2018 were incorporated in the second edition of the AnaCredit Reporting Manual.
Note on national implementations
The Manual (inclusive of the Q&As) does not provide any information about the national implementation of AnaCredit requirements by NCBs. Reporting agents and other stakeholders are invited to contact the relevant NCB for such information.
Validation checks
The ECB performs validation checks to ensure that data reported to AnaCredit are complete and consistent, in accordance with the requirements. The below document explains the main set of validation checks that are performed.
AnaCredit validation checks, version 1.8Plausibility checks
The ECB also performs plausibility checks, which aim to identify AnaCredit data that are likely to be incorrect and must therefore be verified. Together with the validation checks they provide the quality assurance of granular reporting on credit for AnaCredit. The following document explains the main set of plausibility checks that are performed.
AnaCredit plausibility checks, version 2.0