Amendments
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 2157/1999 (ECB/1999/4) is amended as follows: (1) Article 7a is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, the following sentence is added: ‘If the investigating unit or the competent national central bank considers that one or more of the exceptions set out in Article 9(1) applies, it shall specify this in its proposal.’; (b) the following paragraph 7a is inserted: ‘7a. If the Executive Board, on the basis of a complete file, considers that a sanction shall be imposed, but that one or more of the exceptions set out in Article 9(1) applies, it shall decide whether and to what extent the sanction shall be published.’ ; (2) in Article 8(3), point (b) is replaced by the following: ‘(b) amend the decision of the Executive Board by modifying any of the following: (i) the amount of the sanction to be imposed; (ii) the grounds giving rise to an infringement; (iii) whether and to what extent the sanction is published;’; (3) in Article 9, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. The ECB shall publish any decision imposing sanctions in case of a breach of an ECB regulation or decision on its official website without undue delay, once the decision has become final in accordance with Article 3(8) of Regulation (EC) No 2532/98. The publication shall include information on the type and nature of the breach and the identity of the undertaking concerned, as well as the amount and the nature of the sanction, unless the Executive Board determines that such publication would: (a) jeopardise the stability of the financial markets or the financial system or an ongoing criminal investigation; (b) cause, in so far as can be determined, disproportionate damage to the undertaking concerned; or (c) result in the publication of confidential information, which would put at risk legitimate public interests in security, such as the security and protection of the integrity of euro banknotes or the secure management of cyber or operational risks to systemically important payment systems. In the circumstances referred to in the second subparagraph, points (a) to (c), decisions regarding sanctions shall be published on an anonymised basis. Alternatively, where such circumstances are likely to cease within a reasonable period of time, publication under this paragraph may be postponed for such period of time. For the purposes of second subparagraph, point (c), the ECB may choose not to publish a decision imposing a sanction where it considers that the risk to legitimate public interests in security may not be mitigated by publishing the relevant decisions on an anonymised basis or by postponing their publication, as referred to in the previous subparagraph. Where a decision imposing a sanction is under appeal before the Court of Justice of the European Union, the ECB shall, without undue delay, also publish on its official website information on the status of the appeal in question and the outcome thereof. The information published pursuant to this paragraph shall remain on the official website of the ECB for at least five years.’ ; (4) in Article 11, the following paragraph 7 is added: ‘7. In the situations foreseen in paragraph 4, first indent, and in paragraph 5, the ECB shall publish the imposed sanction in accordance with Article 9(1). Where the Executive Board accepts a proposal submitted by the competent national central bank determining that one or more of the exceptions set out in Article 9(1), second subparagraph, applies, it may decide to publish that decision on an anonymised basis or postpone such publication. Where the exception in Article 9(1), second subparagraph, point (c), applies, the Executive Board may decide not to publish the imposed sanction.’.