1. The ECB shall acknowledge receipt in writing of a request by a Member State to enter into a close cooperation.
2. The ECB may request all additional information that it considers appropriate for the purposes of the assessment of the Member State's request, including information for the assessment of the significance of credit institutions and for carrying out the comprehensive assessment. Where the requesting Member State has already made a comprehensive assessment of the credit institutions established in its jurisdiction, it shall provide detailed information on the results. The ECB may decide that no further assessment is required provided that (a) the quality and the methodology of the assessment made by national authorities correspond to the ECB's standards, and (b) the ECB considers that the assessment made by national authorities is still up to date and that no material change to the situation of the credit institutions established in the requesting Member State would require a further assessment.
3. When assessing the relevant national legislation, the ECB's assessment shall also take into account the practical implementation of such legislation.
4. At the latest 3 months following receipt by the ECB of the confirmation referred to in Article 3(2)(c) or, where applicable, the additional information requested by the ECB under paragraph 2, the ECB shall inform the requesting Member State of its preliminary assessment. The requesting Member State shall have the opportunity to provide its views within 20 days from the receipt of the preliminary assessment. Such correspondence between the ECB and the requesting Member State shall be confidential.