Regulation 2014/795 - Regulation of the European Central Bank (EU) No 795/2014 of 3 July 2014 on oversight requirements for systemically important payment systems (ECB/2014/28) - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 217/16

The fourth indent of Article 127(2) of the Treaty and the fourth indent of Article 3.1 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (hereinafter the ‘Statute of the ESCB’) empower the Eurosystem to promote the smooth operation of payment systems.

The Eurosystem promotes the smooth operation of payment systems, inter alia, by conducting oversight.

In January 2001, the Eurosystem adopted the Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems developed by the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) as minimum requirements for systemically important payment systems (SIPS) (1).

In April 2012, the Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems were replaced by the CPSS and the Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commission's (IOSCO) principles for financial market infrastructures (hereinafter the ‘CPSS-IOSCO principles’) (2), which harmonise and strengthen existing international oversight standards for, inter alia, SIPS.

According to the CPSS-IOSCO principles, SIPS should be subject to effective oversight, against clearly defined and publicly disclosed criteria, because of their potential to trigger systemic risks if insufficiently protected against the risks to which they are exposed. In addition, competent authorities should have sufficient powers and resources to fulfil their respective tasks, including taking corrective action. The CPSS-IOSCO recommends implementing these principles to the fullest extent allowed by the national legal and regulatory frameworks.

Therefore, and in order to ensure the efficiency and soundness of SIPS, the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to implement the CPSS-IOSCO principles by means of a regulation. Authorities in other countries are also expected to similarly introduce and apply the CPSS-IOSCO principles in their respective legal and regulatory framework to the fullest extent allowed by such framework.

This Regulation covers SIPS, including both large-value payment systems and retail payment systems of systemic importance. It applies to payment systems operated both by central banks and private operators. The CPSS-IOSCO principles acknowledge that there are exceptional cases where they are applied differently to payment systems operated by central banks due to requirements laid down in relevant law, regulation, or policy. The Eurosystem has public policy objectives, responsibilities and an institutional set-up defined in the Treaty and the Statute of the ESCB meaning that Eurosystem SIPS may be exempted from certain requirements under this Regulation. Against this background, Eurosystem SIPS should be exempted from specific requirements on governance, wind-down plans, equity and liquid assets, collateral and investment risks, which cover the same areas as the respective requirements formally adopted by the Governing Council. These exemptions are specified in several provisions of the Regulation.

Under Guideline ECB/2012/27 of 5 December 2012 on a Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross settlement...