Brussels, 03/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the Board of Governors of the European Central Bank (ECB) adopted rules for the conditions and modalities for inquiries by the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) into the ECB. The decision allows Olaf to carry out internal inquiries at the ECB in order to fight fraud, corruption and any illegal activity which may harm the financial interests of the European Communities. It also provides an obligation for the ECB to co-operate fully with Olaf. This means that Olaf's powers of investigation are applicable to all ECB missions.
In exceptional cases, where the publication of certain information outside the ECB could seriously damage the Bank's functioning, the decision on whether to grant Olaf access to this information will be taken by the ECB Board. This rule will apply to monetary policy decisions, and operations related to the management of currency reserves and interventions on currency markets (as long as this information is at least one year old). The ECB's decision, which is based on the regulation of 25 May 1999 on Olaf inquiries, was adopted to take account of the Court of Justice ruling of 10 July 2003.