13 December 2017
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) and implementing technical standards (ITS) on the EBA electronic central register under the Payment Services Directive (PSD2). The RTS specify the procedures competent authorities (CAs) should follow when providing information to the EBA and those that apply to the EBA when processing and publishing that information. The ITS specify the information that will be made available on the EBA Register. The aim of the EBA Register is to provide transparency on the operation of payment and e-money institutions across the EU, enhance cooperation between competent authorities in the Member States and ensure a high level of consumer protection.
The RTS set out requirements for manual and automated provision of information from CAs to the EBA and the timely synchronisation between the national public registers under the PSD2 and the EBA Register. They also specify the procedure for accessing the information in the EBA Register, which includes the functionality for downloading its content. This, in turn, allows market participants to automatically search and retrieve the information needed.
The ITS specify the type of information that will be contained in the register from a pre-defined list of institutions that is provided by the PSD2 itself, including:
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payment and electronic money institutions, their agents and foreign branches;
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exempted payment and electronic money institutions and their agents;
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account information service providers, their agents and foreign branches;
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providers of services based on specific payment instrument that can be used only in a limited way; and
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providers of electronic communication networks executing payment transactions or providing services in addition to electronic communications services.
Through the EBA Register, users can access more details about the above institutions, such as their date of authorisation/registration, commercial names and the cross-border services that they provide.
Legal basis
These final draft RTS have been developed in accordance with Article 15(4) of the PSD2, which mandate the EBA to develop draft RTS setting technical requirements on the development, operation and maintenance of the electronic central register and on access to the information contained therein.
The final draft ITS have been developed in accordance with Article 15(5) of PSD2, which mandate the EBA to develop draft ITS specifying the details and structure of the information to be contained in the register, including the common format and model in which this information is to be provided by competent authorities.
Furthermore, Article 15(1) of the PSD2 requires the EBA to develop, operate and maintain an electronic central register that contains information as notified by competent authorities.
