Integrated Reporting Framework (IReF)

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Integrated Reporting Framework (IReF)

The Integrated Reporting Framework (IReF) will integrate the Eurosystem’s statistical requirements for banks. It will be applicable across the euro area and may also be adopted by authorities in other EU Member States.

The IReF focuses mainly on the requirements of the European Central Bank (ECB) in terms of banks’ balance sheet and interest rate statistics, securities holdings statistics and granular credit data. Data collection and transformation processes will also be standardised across countries. To maximise the benefits of integration, any relevant reporting obligations from national collection frameworks used by national central banks (NCBs) will also be taken into account. In its initial stage, the IReF will only cover ECB statistical frameworks that directly relate to banks’ balance sheet assets and liabilities. It will not, for example, cover ECB requirements relating to payments or money market statistics. The IReF is also designed to ensure proportionality by limiting the reporting obligations for small banks.

The ECB announced the design phase of the IReF programme in a press release in December 2021. The programme is expected to go live in 2027.

What are the advantages of the IReF?

Integrating existing statistical requirements into the IReF will help banks by standardising reporting obligations, reducing redundancies and overlaps, minimising the reporting burden and enhancing data quality. The IReF will also help automate data processing while minimising the cost of any further changes to the data collected. The framework will particularly benefit banks operating in multiple countries, as the integrated requirements will enable consistent and standardised reporting across borders. Statistical compilers and other users will also benefit, as integration will make it easier to compare data across countries, as well as improving data quality and data collection. In addition, it will help enable agile policymaking and analysis by reducing time to market.

What stage is the programme currently at?

In November 2020 the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) launched a cost-benefit assessment to evaluate the impact of the IReF in collaboration with the banking industry. All euro area countries, along with Sweden, participated in the exercise. The assessment was completed in April 2021 and confirmed strong support for the IReF within the banking industry and among stakeholders, with a large majority of banks confirming that the reduction in reporting costs would more than make up for the investment required. The ECB published a high-level report in December 2021 before further releasing three, more detailed reports in September 2022.

The ESCB, together with all other stakeholders, launched a complementary cost-benefit assessment (complementary CBA) in May 2023, aimed at clarifying additional topics relating to the IReF. The first report on the complementary CBA was published in February 2024. It assesses the extent to which country-specific statistical reporting requirements could be usefully included in the IReF Regulation.

Two further reports, one focusing on enhancing the IReF analytical value and on operational aspects and the other focusing on closer alignment between the IReF and FINREP solo, were published in April 2024, presenting the results of the analysis of the remaining complementary CBA topics.

The Eurosystem is currently drafting an ECB Regulation on the IReF. The draft IReF Regulation will be subject to a public consultation before it is finalised and adopted. Existing ECB regulations containing statistical requirements that will be included in the IReF Regulation will be repealed or amended.