Special Purpose Entities

GGNA, April 29th 2010 Bob Groot

Statistics Netherlands

Agenda item 6

Special Purpose Entities

• Adjustments• Chapter• Country experiences

Adjustments

• Discussion May 2009 meeting• Main chapter• Country experiences

• Netherlands• Ireland• Hungary• Russia

• Comments January 2010

Chapter 3: SPEs

I. IntroductionII. BackgroundIII. Statistical treatment in international

standardsIV. Measurement problemsV. Proposals for operational treatment in the

accountsVI. Recommended future work on SPEs

II Background

• Globalisation• SPE Activities have grown• So has need for adequate statistical treatment

• Various reasons for creating SPEs:• Securitisation• Property investing• Financial engineering

III Statistical treatment in international standards• Types of SPEs

• Financing and holding companies• Royalty and licence companies• Lease companies

• Eurostat Taskforce on the recording of certain activities of MNEs:

• Entities with little physical presence can be seen as institutional unit

IV Measurement problems

• Room for interpretation by countries

• Because of low number of employees it is easy for companies to move

V Proposals for operational treatment in the accounts• Country specific: not one best way!

• Use of decision tree recommended

VI Recommended future work on SPEs• Compilation NA including and excluding

SPEs• Invest in maximisation of data collection

Country practices

Netherlands

Ireland

Hungary

Russia

Netherlands

12.000+ SPEsIncluded SPEs in NA since 2001Decision treeCo-operation NSO-National bankMonthly, annual or bi-annual reporting

Ireland

‘These types of entities are incorporated into the normal statistical collection and compilation systems.’

Persons/enterprises operating on behalf of enterprise are obliged to complete statistical surveys

Quarterly or annual reporting

Hungary

Stock of financial assets including and excluding SPEs since January 2006

Co-operation NSO-National bankSPE-register, with set criteriaNot applied very strictly, case by case

assessment

SPEs can’t have real economic activities

Russia

Creation of database on enterprise groupsAnnual surveyLack of data for parent companies located

abroad