Opinion of the European Central Bank of 10 March 2014 on the oversight of credit transfers and direct debits in euro (CON/2014/20)
Date: 2014-03-10
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Romania, central bank, euro, money, national law, payment system

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 10 March 2014  

on the oversight of credit transfers and direct debits in euro 

(CON/2014/20) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  29  January  2014,  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  Banca  Naţională  a 

României (BNR) for an opinion on a draft government emergency ordinance setting out the measures to 

implement  Regulation  (EU)  No  260/2012  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 

14 March 2012 establishing technical and business requirements  for credit transfers and direct debits in 
euro1 (hereinafter the ‘draft ordinance’). 

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  second,  third  and  fifth  indents  of  Article 2(1)  of  Council 
Decision  98/415/EC2,  as  the  draft  ordinance  relates  to  means  of  payment,  BNR  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 draft ordinance 

1.1  The purpose of the draft ordinance is to implement Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 (hereinafter the 

‘Regulation’)  in  Romania.  More  particularly,  the  draft  ordinance  designates  the  competent 

authority for ensuring compliance with the Regulation, defines redress procedures and penalties, as 

well as procedures for out-of-court resolution of disputes.  

1.2  For this purpose, BNR is designated as the competent authority and is entitled to: (i) cooperate with 

other  competent  authorities  in  EU  Member  States;  (ii)  request  any  relevant  information  and 

documents; (iii) carry out on-site inspections at the premises of the entities monitored; (iv) further 

specify  redress  procedures  and/or  apply  penalties  for  non-compliance  with  the  provisions  of  the 

Regulation, the delegated acts adopted by the European Commission or relevant BNR regulations; 

and (v) issue regulations for the implementation of the Regulation and the delegated acts adopted 

by the Commission. 

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2 

OJ L 94, 30.3.2012, p. 22. 
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). 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
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1.3  BNR  will  also  ‘monitor  payment  service  providers  and  payment  system  operators  established  in 

Romania which provide payment services in euro and the payment scheme operators referred to in 
Article 4 of the Regulation’3. 

2. 

Specific observations  

In  order  to  ensure  proper  application  of  the  Regulation,  the  draft  ordinance,  including  in  particular  its 

provisions  on  the  designation  of  BNR  as  the  authority  responsible  for  ensuring  compliance  with  the 

Regulation, needs to be in line with the wording of the Regulation. In particular, Article 3(2) of the draft 

ordinance refers to ‘payment scheme operators’, while Article 4(4) of the Regulation refers to ‘payment 

scheme owners’. The draft ordinance should be amended in this regard since the entity owning a payment 

scheme might not be the one operating it. 

This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 10 March 2014. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI 

3 

Article 3 of the draft ordinance. 

2