Eesti Pank / Bank of Estonia

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LEGAL BASIS FOR THE BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

In compliance with Article 2, Paragraph 8 of the Eesti Pank Act, one of the main responsibilities of Eesti Pank is to compile the Balance of Payments of the Republic of Estonia.

In order to draw up the balance of payments, Article 34 of this Act entitles Eesti Pank to obtain, free of charge, all data necessary for compiling the Balance of Payments of the Republic of Estonia from any state or local governmental entity and from any other legal entity engaged in foreign economic transactions and located on the territory of the Republic of Estonia.

Apart from Eesti Pank Act, the Official Statistics Act provides for the compilation of the balance of payments as well. Pursuant to Article 4, Paragraph 2 of this Act, Eesti Pank is the other main agency conducting official statistical surveys besides the State Statistical Office. All provisions of the Official Statistics Act on the conduct of statistical surveys, obligation to submit data, data protection, data dissemination and liability also cover Eesti Pank and its respondents.

Based on the abovementioned Acts, the Governor of Eesti Pank has issued decrees establishing the procedure for the declaration of international payments and submission of data for balance of payments statistics by credit institutions as well as the quarterly reporting of undertakings.

Article 111 of the Official Statistics Act stipulates the liability incurred for violating the requirements of the Official Statistics Act. Failure to submit data collected through official statistical surveys or the submission of distorted data is punishable by a fine of up to 100 fine units if committed by a natural person. The same act, if committed by a legal person, is punishable by a fine of up to 30 000 kroons.

Pursuant to the existing legal requirement Eesti Pank ensures full organisational, IT and physical protection of all submitted individual data. Any data collected is used for statistical purposes only and is released aggregated without identifiable characteristics.