8.4.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 94/75 REGULATION (EC) No 290/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 31 March 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 63/2002 (ECB/2001/18) concerning statistics on interest rates applied by monetary financial institutions to deposits and loans vis-a-vis households and non-financial corporations (ECB/2009/7) THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (!), and in particular to Article 5(1) and Article 6(4) thereof, Whereas: () ) Since the entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 63/2002 of the European Central Bank of 20 December 2001 concerning statistics on interest rates applied by monetary financial institutions to deposits and loans vis-a-vis households and non-financial corporations (ECB/2001/18) (3 a number of improvements in respect of the reporting scheme for new loans to households and non-financial corporations have been identified. The existing reporting requirements should therefore be amended. The inclusion of a general breakdown of new loans, separately identifying the interest rates applied to and the volumes of those that are secured with collateral andfor guarantees should help to obtain more harmonised data at euro area level and facilitate comparisons across countries. The inclusion of a breakdown by size of new loans to non-financial ~corporations should provide further insights into the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises. The inclusion of a breakdown by initial period of interest rate fixation for new loans should provide more homo- geneous information on interest rates by increasing the number of period of fixation categories and therefore increasing the homogeneity of each category. The separate reporting of interest rates charged on credit card debt (also referred to as credit card credit) will allow the monitoring of these interest rates and ensure the common treatment of this instrument in all euro area countries. L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. L 10, 12.1.2002, p. 24. (6) The additional category of new loans to sole proprietors within ‘loans for other purposes to households’ will provide further information on the financing of unincor- porated businesses and help in interpreting the general developments in loans to households. The additional reporting of new loans to non-financial corporations according to maturity should make it easier to distinguish rates applied to short and long-term financing. Clarification, redefinition and a more direct link to Regu- lation (EC) No 25/2009 of the European Central Bank of 19 December 2008 concerning the balance sheet of the monetary  financial  institutions  sector  (recast) (ECBJ2008/32) (}) is necessary in respect of revolving loans and overdrafts. It is also necessary to adopt clearer rules in respect of stratification and selection of reporting agents by the national central banks (NCBs) and to specify the right of the Governing Council to check such procedures, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EC) No 63/2002 (ECB/2001/18) is amended as follows: 1. Article 2(3) is replaced by the following: ‘3. The Governing Council shall be entitled to check compliance with Annex 1. Annex [ is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation. Annex 1II is replaced by Annex II to this Regulation. Annex 1V is replaced by Annex IIl to this Regulation. OJ L 15, 20.1.2009, p. 14.