1. Holdings of reserves of institutions subject to Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2003/9) ( 3 ) exceeding the reserves required pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 2531/98 ( 4 ) and Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9) (hereinafter ‘excess reserves’) shall be remunerated at zero percent or the deposit facility rate, whichever is lower.
2. A part of an institution’s holdings of excess reserves on the institution’s reserve accounts as defined in Articles 1 and 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9) up to a multiple of the institution’s required reserves (hereinafter the ‘allowance’) shall be exempt from the remuneration rule set out in paragraph 1. The multiplier ‘m’ used to calculate the allowance and the interest rate applicable to the exempt holdings of excess reserves shall be specified by the Governing Council and subsequently published on the ECB’s website. Any adjustment to the multiplier ‘m’ and/or to the interest rate applicable to the exempt holdings of excess reserves shall apply from the maintenance period following the announcement of the Governing Council’s decision, unless specified otherwise. The exempt holdings of excess reserves shall be determined on the basis of the average end-of-calendar-day balances over a maintenance period in the institution’s reserve accounts, as defined in Articles 1 and 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9). Holdings with the Eurosystem’s deposit facility shall not be considered excess reserves.
3. The interest due or earned on exempt and non-exempt holdings of excess reserves shall be deducted by debiting the relevant institution’s reserve accounts, or as the case may be, paid, on the second NCB business day following the end of the maintenance period over which the interest was calculated.
4. In the case of institutions which hold required reserves through an intermediary pursuant to Article 10 or 11 of Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9), the allowance shall be calculated as set out in this paragraph. The multiplier ‘m’ used to calculate the allowance shall be applied on the aggregate required reserves to be maintained by the relevant intermediary institution on behalf of itself and all institutions for which it maintains required reserves pursuant to Article 10 or 11 of Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9). The interest rate applicable to the exempt holdings of excess reserves shall apply only to excess reserves held on the reserve accounts as defined in Articles 1 and 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 (ECB/2003/9) of the relevant intermediary.