Obligations of issuers
Article 3
1
NCBs shall put into and withdraw from circulation euro banknotes, and perform any physical handling in relation to all euro banknotes, including those issued by the ECB.
2
NCBs shall accept all euro banknotes on the request of the holder for exchange against euro banknotes of the same value or, in the case of account holders, to be credited to accounts held at the recipient NCB.
3
NCBs shall treat all euro banknotes accepted by them as liabilities and process them in an identical manner.
4
NCBs shall not transfer euro banknotes accepted by them to other NCBs and shall keep such euro banknotes available for reissue. As an exception, and in accordance with any rules laid down by the Governing Council of the ECB:
a
mutilated, damaged, worn or withdrawn euro banknotes may be destroyed by the recipient NCB;
b
euro banknotes held by NCBs may, for logistical reasons, be redistributed in bulk within the Eurosystem.