Disclaimer & copyright

Disclaimer

The European Central Bank (ECB) maintains this website to enhance public access to information about its supervisory tasks and responsibilities. Our goal is to keep this information timely and accurate. However, the ECB accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the material on this website.

This material:

  • is information of a general nature and is not intended to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual or entity
  • is sometimes linked to external websites over which the ECB has no control and for which the ECB assumes no responsibility
  • does not constitute professional or legal advice

Please note that documents or other information available on this website are not guaranteed to exactly reproduce officially adopted texts. Only ECB legal instruments as published in the Official Journal of the European Union and other ECB documentation and/or data as published by the ECB are deemed to be authentic.

It is our goal to minimise disruption caused by technical errors. However, the ECB cannot guarantee that its service will not be interrupted or otherwise affected by such problems. The ECB accepts no responsibility with regard to any problems occurring as a result of using this website or any linked external websites.

This disclaimer is not intended to limit the ECB’s liability in contravention of any requirements laid down in applicable national law or to exclude its liability for matters which cannot be excluded under such law.

If you access any part of this website, you will be deemed to have accepted the foregoing.

Copyright

Copyright © for the entire content of this website: European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Subject to the exception below, users of this website may make free use of the information obtained directly from it subject to the following conditions:

  1. When such information is distributed or reproduced, it must appear accurately and the ECB must be cited as the source.
  2. Where the information is incorporated in documents that are sold (regardless of the medium), the natural or legal person publishing the information must inform buyers, both before they pay any subscription or fee and each time they access the information taken from this website, that the information may be obtained free of charge through this website.
  3. If the information is modified by the user (e.g. by seasonal adjustment of statistical data or calculation of growth rates) this must be stated explicitly.
  4. When linking to this website from business sites or for promotional purposes, this website must load into the browser's entire window (i.e. it must not appear within another website's frame).

As an exception to the above, any reproduction, publication or reprint, in whole or in part, of documents that bear the name of their authors, such as ECB Working Papers and ECB Occasional Papers, in the form of a different publication (whether printed or produced electronically) is permitted only with the explicit prior written authorisation of the ECB or the authors.

Use of name and logos

The ECB is aware that its name and logos are increasingly being misused by various third parties in connection with fake financial transactions and other fraudulent activities. In some cases, the ECB is even specified as the bank through which payments or transactions will be made.

In this respect, the ECB would like to clarify that it does not provide commercial banking services to individuals or corporate entities, and that, in particular, it does not collect cross-border transfer fees or accept deposits from such parties, or issue any certificates for the release of funds. The ECB therefore advises the public not to establish contact with the originators of such ventures and not to send money or disclose bank or credit card details to anybody claiming to represent the ECB or have a banking relationship with the ECB.

The ECB also wishes to point out that it cannot be held responsible if its name, logos or address is misused in schemes that are intended to defraud the public. If a member of the public sees or receives questionable documentation that refers to, or allegedly stems from, the ECB, they should report it immediately to their local law-enforcement authority or seek advice from the relevant national authorities.