2014年-ECB欧洲央行_Annual_Accounts_2013_45页_2mb

ECB Annual Accounts Summary (Year Ending 31 December 2013)

Core Content

The ECB's Annual Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2013 provide an overview of the bank's financial and operational activities, risk management practices, and governance structures. The report highlights the ECB's adherence to its statutory objectives, the management of its financial resources, and the performance of its risk control frameworks.

Main Objectives and Tasks

• The ECB's objectives and tasks are defined in the Statute of the ESCB (Articles 2 and 3).
• Performance against these objectives is summarized in the President's foreword to the Annual Report.

Governance Structure

• The ECB has three main decision-making bodies: the Executive Board, the Governing Council, and the General Council.
• A high-level Audit Committee and multiple layers of internal and external controls are in place.
• The ECB's corporate governance includes two codes of conduct and an Ethics Framework.
• The Audit Committee assists the Governing Council in overseeing financial integrity, internal controls, compliance, and audit functions.
• External auditors are appointed every five years, with Ernst & Young GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft serving as external auditors for the period ending 31 December 2017.
• The Budget, Controlling and Organisation Division (BCO) is responsible for strategic planning, budgeting, and cost-benefit analysis.
• The Annual Accounts are reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Governing Council in February of each year.

Human Resources

• In 2013, the ECB focused on working culture, gender diversity, recruitment, professional development, and employment conditions.
• An "underperformance procedure" was introduced to support staff in improving their performance.
• A gender diversity action plan was launched to increase the proportion of women in high-ranking positions.
• The number of ECB staff (full-time equivalents) increased from 1,615 in 2012 to 1,683 in 2013, with 1,790 staff employed at year-end.

Investment Portfolios

• The ECB holds two main investment portfolios: foreign reserves (in USD and JPY) and euro-denominated investments.
• It also manages pension funds and holds securities for monetary policy purposes.
• The ECB’s foreign reserves and gold holdings are not revalued at market prices, but are subject to revaluation accounts.

Financial Risk Management

• Financial risks include credit, market, and liquidity risks.
• The ECB uses a joint market and credit risk simulation framework and applies risk measures such as Value at Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall.
• As of 31 December 2013, financial risks amounted to €8.6 billion, a decrease from €10.5 billion in 2012.

Credit Risk

• Credit risk is managed through exposure limits, collateralisation, and asset allocation.
• Foreign reserves and gold holdings are subject to minimal credit risk due to their high credit quality.
• The euro-denominated investment portfolio has a moderate credit risk profile.
• Covered bond and Securities Markets Programme securities are classified as held-to-maturity and are not revalued at market prices, thus not exposed to credit migration risk.

Market Risk

• The ECB faces currency and commodity (gold price) risks due to its foreign reserves and gold holdings.
• These risks are mitigated through diversification and revaluation accounts.
• The ECB does not seek to eliminate these risks due to their policy role.
• Interest rate risk is managed through asset allocation and market risk limits, with the euro-denominated portfolio having a longer modified duration than foreign reserves.

Liquidity Risk

• Liquidity risk arises from the potential inability to liquidate assets at market value quickly.
• The ECB manages this risk by ensuring a portion of its holdings is in liquid assets.
• Liquidity risk remained stable in 2013.

Operational Risk

• Operational risk includes risks from people, internal processes, systems failure, and external events.
• The ECB has an operational risk management framework that covers all activities and is part of its governance structure.
• The framework includes risk identification, analysis, response, reporting, and monitoring.
• A risk tolerance policy defines acceptable levels of operational risk.

Financial Resources

• The ECB's capital was increased to €10,825 million following Croatia's accession to the EU.
• NCBs contributed 3.75% of their subscribed capital to the ECB's operational costs.
• The ECB maintains a provision for foreign exchange rate, interest rate, credit, and gold price risks, which was increased to €7,530 million as of 31 December 2013.

Financial Results for 2013

• Net profit for 2013 was €1,440 million, compared to €995 million in 2012.
• A transfer of €0.4 million was made to the risk provision, with €9.5 million retained for previous year adjustments.
• The remaining net profit of €1,430 million was distributed to euro area NCBs.
• Net interest income decreased to €2,005 million from €2,289 million in 2012.
• Net realised gains fell from €319 million to €52 million.
• Write-downs on the US dollar portfolio increased to €115 million.
• Unrealised foreign exchange gains decreased from €6,053 million to €2,540 million, and unrealised gold price gains decreased from €16,434 million to €10,139 million.

Balance Sheet Highlights (31 December 2013)

The ECB's financial and operational activities were closely monitored and managed throughout 2013, with a focus on maintaining stability, transparency, and accountability in its operations.