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1. The ESCB shall use confidential statistical information exclusively for the exercise of the tasks of the ESCB except in any of the following circumstances:

(a) if the reporting agent or the other legal or natural person, entity or branch which can be identified, has explicitly given its consent to the use of the said statistical information for other purposes;

(b) for transmission to the members of ESS in accordance with Article 8a(1);

(c) for granting scientific research bodies access to confidential statistical information which does not allow direct identification, and with the prior explicit consent of the authority which provided the information;

(d) as regards the ECB and national central banks, if the said statistical information is used in the field of prudential supervision;

(e) as regards national central banks in accordance with Article 14.4 of the Statute, for the exercise of functions other than those specified in the Statute.

2. Reporting agents shall be informed of the statistical and other administrative uses, to which statistical information provided by them, may be put. Reporting agents shall have the right to obtain information concerning the legal basis for the transmission and the protective measures adopted.

3. The ESCB members shall take all the necessary regulatory, administrative, technical and organisational measures to ensure the physical and logical protection of confidential statistical information. The ECB shall define common rules and implement minimum standards to prevent unlawful disclosure and unauthorised use of confidential statistical information.

4. Transmission of confidential statistical information within the ESCB that has been collected pursuant to Article 5 of the Statute shall take place:

(a) to the extent and at the level of detail necessary for the performance of tasks of the ESCB referred to in the Treaty or tasks in the field of prudential supervision given to the members of the ESCB; or

(b) provided that such transmission is necessary for the efficient development, production or dissemination of statistics under Article 5 of the Statute or for increasing their quality.

4a. The ESCB may transmit confidential statistical information to authorities or bodies of the Member States and the Union responsible for the supervision of financial institutions, markets and infrastructures or for the stability of the financial system in accordance with Union or national law, and to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), only to the extent and at the level of detail necessary for the performance of their respective tasks. The authorities or bodies receiving confidential statistical information shall take all the necessary regulatory, administrative, technical and organisational measures to ensure the physical and logical protection of confidential statistical information. Any further transmission thereafter shall be necessary for the execution of those tasks and shall be explicitly authorised by the ESCB member that collected the confidential statistical information. Such authorisation shall not be required for further transmission from the ESM members to national parliaments to the extent required under national law, provided that the ESM member has consulted the ESCB member before the transmission and that, in any event, the Member State has taken all the necessary regulatory, administrative, technical and organisational measures to ensure the physical and logical protection of confidential statistical information in accordance with this Regulation. When transmitting confidential statistical information in accordance with this paragraph, the ESCB shall take all the necessary regulatory, administrative, technical and organisational measures to ensure the physical and logical protection of confidential statistical information pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article.

5. The ECB may decide on the collection and transmission, to the extent and level of detail necessary, within the ESCB of confidential information originally collected for purposes other than those of Article 5 of the Statute, provided that this is necessary for the efficient development or production of statistics or for increasing their quality and that these statistics are necessary for the performance of the tasks of the ESCB referred to in the Treaty.

6. Confidential statistical information may be exchanged within the ESCB to grant scientific research bodies access to such information, in accordance with paragraphs 1(c) and 2.

7. Statistical information taken from sources which are available to the public in accordance with national legislation shall not be considered confidential.

8. Member States and the ECB shall adopt all necessary measures to ensure the protection of confidential statistical information, including the imposition of the appropriate enforcement measures in the event of an infringement.

This Article shall apply without prejudice to special national or Community provisions relating to the transmission of information other than confidential statistical information to the ECB and shall not apply to confidential statistical information initially transmitted between an ESS authority and an ESCB member, to which Article 8a shall apply. This Article shall not prevent confidential statistical information collected for purposes other than, or in addition to, meeting the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements from being used to meet those other purposes.