ECB-UNRESTRICTED
12 June 2013
FM 6872
Which value added can a
securities database platform
provide to a Central Bank?
Frank Mayerlen
Workshop on Integrated Management of Micro-databases
Porto, 20-21 June 2013
This presentation should not be reported as representing the views of the European Central Bank (ECB). The
views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the ECB.
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Outline
• Introduction
• Why should a central bank have a
securities database platform?
• Operating and further enhancing a
securities database platform
–1
Since 2009 the European System
of Central Banks (ESCB) runs the
‘Phase2’ system of its
Centralised Securities Database
(CSDB).
The CSDB provides data to all 27
National Central Banks of the
European Union (EU) and to the
European Central Bank (ECB)
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Introduction
•
The CSDB covers debt, equity and investment funds as well as
related issuer and price data, each security identified by its ISIN
code and more than 50 attributes
•
Geographical coverage: (1) all issues by EU residents worldwide,
(2) all securities potentially held by EU residents; (3) all issues in
euro worldwide.
•
In Spring 2013 the CSDB covered about 7 million active
securities
–2
Why should a central bank have a securities
database platform? [1]
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•
Not only driven by the financial crisis reliable and complete
security information became crucial for central banks for
statistics but also economic analysis, research, prudential
supervision
•
There is usually no single source providing all securities data
worldwide but different sources need to be integrated. Often this
is done multiple times per institution
inefficient, inferior
quality, inconsistent, risk to violate licensing or confidentiality
restrictions
•
better to set-up one single platform to integrate different
sources with centrally managed data access. With the CSDB the
ESCB has developed such a platform to serve 27 NCBs in the
EU. Efficient, with high quality and consistent.
Why should a central bank have a securities
database platform? [2]
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•
Serving different uses with a single securities database platform
should follow an iterative approach where use is expanded
gradually with the complexity of the usage.
•
It could start with support of security-by-security (s-b-s)
reporting for aggregated statistics, then provide details of these
statistics, proxies or replacement for these statistics, and finally
non-statistical use e. g. in economic analysis or prudential
supervision
•
Expanding the usage of s-b-s data requires educated users and
producers of such data. Both will see ‘mistakes’ which they
would never identify in aggregates. Still there is unlikely a more
accurate data source
be transparent, issue appropriate health
warnings, but don’t shy away from using the data!
–3
Operating and further enhancing a securities
database platform [1]
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•
CSDB is fed daily by several commercial providers and monthly
by over 20 NCBs. About 400,000 security records and over 2.5
million prices are cleansed per day into a single compound
record per security, solving overlaps and inconsistencies
automatically
•
The CSDB is centrally hosted and managed by the ECB and
provides real-time online access to all 27 NCBs of the EU and the
ECB. Data quality management (DQM) is shared – each NCB is
responsible for its issuers while the ECB takes care of rest of the
world issues and of data source management
•
DQM is harmonised, based on a legal act (ECB Guideline). It is
supported by 6 automated metrics comparing multi million data
points and by system functionality to verify/ amend data online
Operating and further enhancing a securities
database platform [2]
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•
End month data including revisions is provided to NCBs monthly
via file transfer with a timeliness of only 6 working days. Online
access to support customised reports is provided in parallel via
business intelligence tool (Business Objects)
•
Data are used in five statistical areas, supported by the DQM
framework (external, financial vehicles, investment funds,
securities holdings, government securities funding)
•
As of 2013 data may be used for multiple non-statistical
purposes following an agreed procedure for data access to
satisfy any commercial or confidentiality restrictions. Nonstatistical use has to rely on data ‘as is’, i.e. there is no
additional DQM effort
–4
Operating and further enhancing a securities
database platform [3]
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•
Since the launch in 2009 about 2-3 maintenance releases per
year have been rolled out to enhance performance and take up
new needs
iterative development, less risk, short time-tomarket
•
Next development steps may be higher production frequency
(weekly?, daily?), inclusion of other instruments (securitised
derivatives?), automated data provider feedback on data quality
•
Running CSDB needs a core team covering wide profile from
business to IT. This includes the ability to analyse very large
datasets, to prioritise and address any problems or new
demands, and to manage system development, testing and
operation.
Compared to the collection and production of aggregate
statistics this adds an entirely new dimension to the required
staff profile.
–5