L 211/8 Official Journal of the European Union 11.8.2007 REGULATION (EC) No 958/2007 OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 27 July 2007 concerning statistics on the assets and liabilities of investment funds (ECB/2007/8) THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 5 thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of statistical infor- mation by the European Central Bank ('), and in particular Articles 5(1) and 6(4) thereof, Whereas: G) Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 provides in Article 2(1) that, for the fulfilment of its statistical reporting requirements, the European Central Bank (ECB), assisted by the national central banks (NCBs), has the right to collect statistical information within the limits of the reference reporting population and of what is necessary to carry out the tasks of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It follows from Article 2(2)(a) of Regu- lation (EC) No 2533/98 that investment funds (IFs) form part of the reference reporting population for the purposes of fulfilling the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements, inter alia, in the field of money and banking statistics. Furthermore, Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 requires the ECB to specify the actual reporting population within the limits of the reference reporting population and entitles it fully or partly to exempt specific classes of reporting agents from its statistical reporting requirements. In order to fulfil its tasks and monitor financial activities other than those undertaken by monetary financial insti- tutions (MFIs), the ESCB requires high-quality statistical information on the business of IFs. The principal purpose of these data is to provide the ECB with a comprehensive statistical picture of the IF sector in the participating Member States, which are viewed as one economic territory. To limit the reporting burden, NCBs are allowed to collect the necessary information on IFs from the () O] L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. actual reporting population as part of a broader statistical reporting framework which serves other statistical purposes, provided that the fulfilment of the ECB's statistical requirements is not jeopardised. In order to foster transparency, in such cases it is appropriate to inform the reporting agents that data are collected to fulfil other statistical purposes. Having data available on financial transactions facilitates a more in-depth analysis for monetary policy and other purposes. Data on financial transactions, as well as data on stocks, are also used to compile other statistics, in particular the euro area financial accounts. Although regulations adopted under Article 34.1 of the Statute do not confer any rights or impose any obli- gations on non-participating Member States, Article 5 of the Statute applies to all Member States, whether or not they have adopted the euro. Recital 17 to Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 makes clear that Article 5 of the Statute, together with Article 10 (ex Article 5) of the Treaty, implies an obligation to design and implement at national level all the measures that the non- participating Member States consider appropriate to collect the statistical information needed to fulfil the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements and make timely preparations in the field of statistics for becoming participating Member States. Although this Regulation is primarily addressed to IFs, complete information on holders of bearer shares issued by IFs may not be directly available from IFs, and it is therefore necessary to include other entities in the reporting population. The ECB’s sanctions regime laid down in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 will apply to IFs. By 2012 at the latest, the Governing Council will assess whether to only allow Member States whose investment fund sector, in terms of total assets, accounts for less than a minimum share of overall assets under management in the euro area, to use the aggregated reporting approach established under this Regulation,