Irion completes BIRD tests for the Anacredit framework

The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) aims at making the banks’ data collection more efficient, reducing the reporting burden for them while maintaining a high-quality standard. The strategy for achieving this goal is to harmonize and integrate data collection for all the EURO area countries. This strategy bases on two pillars:

• IReF (Integrated Reporting Framework), the project that aims to standardize statistical data collection (Cross-country standardization) and eliminate redundancies (Redundancy-free reporting). To date, IReF involves Security Holdings Statistics (SHS), Anacredit, MFI Balance Sheet Items Statistics (BSI) and MFI Interest Rate Statistics (MIR), Balance of payments (b.o.p) and International investment position (i.i.p.), Financial accounts (F.A.) and Securities issued (SEC).
• BIRD (Bank Integrated Reporting Dictionary), the project developed in collaboration with banks. It aims to produce a shared data dictionary and transformation rules. Starting from a standardized input, they would allow producing flagship outputs (both statistical and regulatory).

As part of the IReF project, in December 2020, ESCB launched the Cost-benefit assessment (CBA), sending the banks a survey on the costs/benefits of adopting the new integrated framework. ESCB expects the answers to this survey in April 2021. They will be taken into account when defining the contents and characteristics of the new IReF regulation (its Draft version is expected in December 2022 with the aim of coming into effect in 2024).