14.10.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 269/1 (Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is obligatory) REGULATIONS COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 951/2009 of 9 October 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (hereinafter the ‘Statute’), and in particular to Article 5.4 thereof, Having regard to the recommendation of the European Central Bank (1), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2, Having regard to the opinion of the Commission (%), After consulting the European Data Protection Supervisor, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 107(6) of the Treaty establishing the European Community and in Article 42 of the Statute, Whereas: 1) Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (¥ is a key component in the legal framework supporting the statistical information collection tasks of the European Central Bank (ECB) assisted by the national central banks. The ECB has consistently relied on it to carry out and monitor the coordinated  collection  of  statistical information necessary to undertake the tasks of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). (") OJ C 251, 3.10.2008, p. 1. (%) Opinion delivered on 24 March 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (}) Opinion delivered on 13 January 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (*) OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. ) In order to maintain Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 as an effective instrument for the ECB to carry out the sta- tistical information collection tasks of the ESCB and to guarantee the continued availability to the ECB of sta- tistical information of the necessary quality and covering the entire range of tasks of the ESCB it is essential to review the scope of the reporting requirements that the named Regulation imposes. In this context, attention needs to be paid not only to the performance of the tasks of the ESCB and to its independence, but also to the statistical principles laid down in this Regulation. It is necessary to amend Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 to enable the ECB to collect the statistical information needed to undertake the ESCB's tasks referred to in the Treaty. Accordingly, the purposes for which statistical information may be collected should also comprise the compilation of macro-prudential statistics required for the performance of the ESCB’s tasks under Article 105 of the Treaty. The scope of the reporting requirements necessary for the performance of the ESCB’s tasks should also take into account structural developments in the financial markets and address related statistical information requirements that were less apparent when Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 was adopted. For that reason, it is necessary to allow the collection of statistical information from the entire sector of financial corporations, and in particular from the insurance corporations and pension funds, which represent the second largest sub-sector of financial corporations in the euro area in terms of financial assets. In order to allow for the continued compilation of balance of payments statistics of sufficient quality, it is necessary to clarify the reporting requirements imposed in connection with data on all positions and transactions between the residents of participating Member States.