EN ECB -PUBLIC  
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK  
of 17 March  2021  
on the operating and technical requirements and the general terms and conditions   
for payment system operators  
(CON/20 21/11) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 14 January 2021,  the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Magyar Nemzeti Bank 
(MNB) for an opinion on a draft decree on the detailed requirements for operating a payment system and 
a draft decree on the requirements relating to the general terms and conditions and specific regulations for 
organisations operating a payment system (hereinafter the ‘draft decrees ’). 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 
Functioning of the European Union and the third and fifth  indent s of Article  2(1) of Council Decision 
98/415/EC1, as the d raft decrees relate to the MNB and payment and settlement systems . In accordance 
with the first sentence of Article  17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the 
Governing Council has adopted this opinion.  
 
1. Purpose of the d raft decrees  
1.1 According to the Law CXXXIX of 2013 on the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (hereinafter the ‘Law on the 
MNB ’), one of the basic tasks of the MNB is to develop and regulate payment and settlement 
systems, and to oversee and monitor these systems2. Under the Law on credit institutions and 
financial enterprises3, operating a payment system qualifies as an auxiliary financial service and is  
subject to the granting of a licence by the MNB. The Law on the MNB further stipulates that the entry 
into force of the general terms and conditions of the organisation operating the payment system , and 
any amendment thereof , is subject to the licence granted by the MNB . When granting the licence the 
MNB examines whether  the general terms and conditions comply  with the corresponding 
regulations4. The Law on the MNB  mandates  the MNB with regulat ing the detailed rules for  operating 
payment systems and the requirements regarding the general terms and conditions for payment 
system operators, by issuing decrees5. In line with this  mandate, t he MNB Decree No. 35 of 2009 
(XII. 28.) lays down the rules on the material, technical and security requirements for operating 
payment systems and for business  continuity, and the MNB Decree No. 34 of 2009 (XII. 28.) lays 
 
1  Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29  June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities 
regarding draft legislative provisions (OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42). 
2  See Article 4(5) of the Law on the MNB.  
3  See Article 3(2)(b) and (3) of the Law CCXXXVII of 2013 on credit institutions and financial enterprises.  
4  See Article 28(1) and (2) of the Law on the MNB.  
5  See Article 171(2)(d) and (3)(a) of the Law on the MNB.  
ECB -PUBLIC  
2 down the requirements regarding the general terms and conditions for payment system operators  
(hereinafter jointly referred to as the ‘ existing d ecrees’ ).  
1.2 The MNB intends to repeal the existing d ecrees  and replace them with the d raft decrees . According 
to the MNB, t he reasons for these  amendment s are twofold. First, the MNB intends to harmonise the 
existing decrees with the new principles and requirements set out in the Principles for Financial 
Market Infrastructures  issued by the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems and the 
Technical Committee of the International Organizations of Securities Commissions6 (hereinafter the 
‘PFMI s’) and – although it does not apply in Hungary –  in Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 of the 
European Central Bank  (ECB/2014/28)  (here inafter, the ‘ECB SIPS Regulation’)7. Second, on the 
basis of  an assessment carried out in recent years on the application of the existing d ecrees , the 
MNB  intends  to strengthen its oversight power.  
1.3 The draft decrees do not affect the current scope of the existing d ecrees . In particular , the d raft 
decrees would cover both the large- value payment system (i.e. VIBER, the Hungarian real -time gross 
settlement system operated by the MNB) and the retail payment system (ICS operated by GIRO 
Ltd.).   
1.4 The draft decrees8 contain a set of technical requirements regarding the operati on of payment 
systems. Apart from these rules of a rather technical nature, the draft d ecrees9 propose t o introduc e 
general conditions for operating payment systems. Among these general conditions, the d raft 
decrees10 require payment system operator s to have effective and documented govern ance  
arrangements  and to make these available to the MNB . The draft decrees also state that these 
governance arrangements must  clearly specify the roles and responsibilities of the members of the 
governance body and of the system’s management.  The draft decrees11 also stipulate that payment 
system operators must  establish comprehensive risk management frameworks  to identify, measure, 
monitor and ma nage credit risk, liquidity risk, general business risk, custody and investment risk , 
operational and cyber  security risk. While certain provisions of the draft decrees apply to the MNB 
as a payment system operator, the MNB is  exempted from certain requirements12, e.g. requirements 
in relation to effective governance arrangement s, the responsibilities and roles of the governance 
body, the management and control system for the identification, monitoring and managing of 
business r isk, the conditions applicable to the custodian with whom the system operator must hold 
its assets, and requirement s regarding investment policies.  
1.5 The draft decrees13 define the mandatory content of the general terms and conditions for payment 
system operators. T he draft decrees  also provide rules on the content and format of the policies of 
 
6  Available on the website of the Bank for International Settlements at www.bis.org .  
7  Regulation of the European Central Bank (EU) No 795/2014 of 3 July 2014 on oversight requirements for systemically 
impo rtant payment systems (ECB/2014/28) (OJ L 217, 23.7.2014 , p.16).  
8  See, in particular, the draft decree on the detailed requirements for operating a payment system.  
9  See, in particular, Article 3 of the draft decree on the detailed requirements for oper ating a payment system.  
10  See, in particular, Article 3 of the draft decree on the detailed requirements for operating a payment system.  
11  See, in particular, Article 4 of the draft decree on the detailed requirements for operating a payment system.  
12  See Article 1(2) of the draft decree on the detailed requirements for operating a payment system.  
13  See, in particular, Articles 3 to 16 of the draft decree on the requirements relating to the general terms and conditions 
and specific regulations for organ isations operating a payment system.  
ECB -PUBLIC  
3 the payment system operator in relation to managing contingency situations and to managing fees, 
charges and commissions applied by the system operator.  
 
2. General observations  
2.1 Article 139(2)(c) of the Treaty stipulates, inter alia, that the basic  objectives and tasks of the European 
System of Central Banks ( ESCB)  as listed in Article 127(2) of the Treaty, including promoting the 
smooth operation of payment systems, will not apply to Member States with a derogation, such as 
Hungary. The ECB would like to emphasise that, although Member States with a derogation, 
including Hungary, do not yet participate in the third stage of economic and monetary union,  their 
legislative reforms, in particular when they refer to the national central bank, as the present reform  
does , should aim to gradually achieve consistency and  legal convergence with ESCB standards, in 
accordance with the convergence process obligations enshrined in the Treaty14. 
2.2 The draft decrees establish requirements for the operati on of payment systems in Hungary in order 
to ensure their effic ient, smooth and sound operation in line with international standards, in particular 
the PFMIs . The ECB welcomes the MNB’s intention of harmonising the rules on payment system 
operators with the principles established under the PFMI s, and also – even though it does not apply 
in Hungary  – the ECB SIPS Regulation.  The ECB also welcomes the MNB’s intention of 
strengthening its oversight  power s by establishing requirements on governance arrangements , a 
clear definition of the responsibilities and roles of both the system’s governance body and 
management, and on risk management.  
 
3. Specific observations  
3.1 Definitions  
There are some inconsistenc ies between the definitions used i n the  draft decrees , e.g. the definitions  
of ‘direct participant’ , ‘settlement’ or ‘ settlement agent’ . Since the scope of each of the draft decrees  
is identical , it would be useful to align these definition s. 
The concept of ‘legal, credit, liquidity and operational risks’ are not defined in the draft decrees15, 
leaving room for individual assessments of  these risks by  system  operators.   
3.2 Comprehensive risk management control  
The draft decrees16 set out a comprehensive and detailed framework with the aim of ensur ing the 
efficiency of risk management control s.  
3.3 Requirement s related to l iquidity risk   
It is important that payment system operators  and the participants of the payment system have a 
comprehensive liquidity risk management framework in which settlement and funding flow are 
identified, measured and monitored. Where payment systems  are subject to the draft decrees, it is 
 
14  See paragraph 3.4 of Opinion CON/2008/34 and paragraphs 2.1 and 2.6 of Opinion CON/2020/13. All ECB opinions 
are published on EUR -Lex. 
15  See Article 7 of the draft decree on the requirements relating to the general terms and conditions and specific 
regulations for organisations operating a payment system.  
16  See Article 4 of the draft decree on the detailed requirements for operating a pay ment system.  
ECB -PUBLIC  
4 not the payment system operator  but the participants  of the payment system who provide liquidity . 
Taking this into account , the ECB understands that it is not necessary that the draft decrees contain 
requirements vis -á-vis the payment system operator in respect of liquidity risk management. 
Nevertheless, the payment system operator should ensure that participants hold sufficient liquid 
resources at all times , from the moment financial obligations are established, in all currencies in 
which it operates, to ensure  same- day settlement of financial obligations in a wide range of potential 
stress scenarios.  The draft decrees contain requirem ents regarding comprehensive risk 
management17. The draft decrees  also require that the payment system operator  shall specif y the 
tools provided to cooperating parties in order to ensure same- day, and where possible intraday, 
liquidity for settlement .18 In this respect , it should be ensured that participants are required to hold 
sufficient liquid resources in  all potential stress scenarios .   
3.4 Requir ements relating to participant default  
The draft decrees do not contain a definition of situations which constitute  cases of participant default . 
However, the ECB understands that the draft decrees sufficiently set out the scenarios as a result of 
which a participant default may arise.  
 
This opinion will b e published on EUR -Lex.  
 
 
Done at Frankfurt am Main, 17 March 2021.  
 
[signed]  
 
The President of the ECB  
Christine  LAGARDE  
 
17  See Article 4 of the draft decree on the detailed requirements for operating a payment system.  
18  See Article 11(2) of the draft decree on the requirements relating to the general terms and conditions and specific 
regulations for organisations operating a payment system.