Moreover, our statistics have been integrated into the euro area accounts, which provide an overall picture of the euro area economy. The next milestone is the release of the new investment funds statistics, today. For some years, the ECB has already published un-harmonised and partly estimated euro area investment fund statistics, at a quarterly frequency. Today we will present, for the first time, harmonised investment fund statistics that cover all investment funds resident in the euro area. This includes data for the main fund types such as bond, equity or mixed funds, but also other types of funds, including hedge funds. Our new dataset contains much more detailed breakdowns both on the assets held and liabilities issued by investment funds. The data provide, for example, detailed information on the residency and sector of the issuers of securities and shares held by the funds. New information is available, as well, on the residency of the holders of the shares issued by euro area investment funds. In addition to the detailed quarterly information, the ECB now also publishes key monthly information on the outstanding amounts and net sales of shares issued by the funds. A further important improvement concerns the timeliness of the publication of these statistics: as from 2010, the statistics will become available after one-and-a-half months (compared to 3-and-a-half months in the past). There are many reasons why high quality statistics on euro area investment funds are important for the ECB’s monetary and financial analysis.
The financial crisis clearly demonstrated that high quality and up-to-date statistics are indispensable to policy makers and market participants alike. Thank you very much for your attention. Now, the Director General Statistics, Mr. Steven Keuning, will present more detailed features and the first results of the new statistics. Following his presentation we stand ready to answer your questions. 2  BIS Review 165/2009