Opinion of the European Central Bank of 1 March 2017 on provision of information and data by payment systems, payment schemes, securities depositories and clearing and settlement systems (CON/2017/5)
Date: 2017-03-01
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Poland, banking supervision, central bank, data collection, national law, payment system, securities, statistics

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 1 March 2017  

on provision of information and data by payment systems, payment schemes, securities 

depositories and clearing and settlement systems 

(CON/2017/5) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  1  February  2017  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  the  Polish  Ministry  of 

Economic Development and Finance for an opinion on three draft executive decrees to be adopted by the 

Minister of Economic Development and Finance: (1) a decree on the functioning of payment systems; (2) 

a  decree  on  the  functioning  of  payment  schemes;  and  (3)  a  decree  on  data  and  information  to  be 

provided by operators of securities depositories, systems for registering financial instruments other than 

securities and settlement systems (together ‘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,  fourth  and  fifth  indents  of  Article 2(1)  of  Council 
Decision 98/415/EC1, as the draft decrees relate to (1) Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP), (2) the collection, 

compilation and distribution of monetary, financial, banking, payment systems and balance of payments 

statistics and (3) 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 decrees 

1.1  According  to  the  Law  of  24  August  2001  on  the  finality  of  settlement  in  payment  systems  and 

securities settlement systems and rules governing the oversight of such systems, the President of 

NBP is responsible for the oversight of payment systems. In particular, the operation of a payment 

system requires the consent of the President of NBP who is also entitled to revoke such consent 

and  receive  information  on  the  functioning  of  the  payment  system.  Against  this  backdrop,  the 

decree on the functioning of payment systems sets out (1) the criteria for the President of NBP to 

assess  the functioning of the  payment system; (2)  the  detailed scope  of information  and types of 

documents  to  be  provided  with  the  application  for  consent  to  operate  a  payment  system;  (3)  the 

detailed  scope  of  information  to  be  provided  to  the  President  of  NBP  (a)  by  a  payment  system 

operator which intends to enter into an arrangement with another operator relating to cross-system 

execution of  transfer  orders;  (b) generally by payment system operators on a  monthly basis; and 

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). 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
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(c) in respect of an incident which may have a negative impact on the functioning of the payment 

system. 

1.2  According  to  the  Law  of  19  September  2011  on  payment  services,  the  President  of  NBP  is 

responsible  for  the  oversight  of  payment  schemes.  In  particular,  the  operation  of  a  payment 

scheme requires the consent of the President of NBP who is also entitled to revoke such consent 

and  receive  information  on  the  functioning  of  the  payment  scheme.  Against  this  backdrop,  the 

decree on the functioning of payment schemes sets out (1) the criteria for the President of NBP to 

assess  the  functioning  of  the  payment  scheme;  (2)  the  detailed  scope  of  documents  and 

information  to  be  provided  by  the  payment  organisation  i.e.  the  payment  scheme  governance 

authority,  when  applying  for  consent  to  operate  the  payment  scheme;  (3)  the  detailed  scope  of 

documents and information to be provided in cases where no consent by the President of NBP is 

required for the operation of the payment scheme because the payment scheme’s rules have been 

assessed  by  the  appropriate  oversight  authority  of  a  Member  State  or  the  Union  (see  paragraph 

1.3); (4) the detailed scope of quarterly information to be provided by the payment organisation to 

NBP  on  the  total  number  and  value  of  domestic  payment  transactions  processed  and  cleared, 

including  information  about  unauthorised  payment  transactions;  and  (5)  the  detailed  scope  of 

quarterly information to be provided by a card organisation to NBP concerning compliance with the 

level of interchange fees prescribed by Regulation (EU) 2015/751 of the European Parliament and 
of the Council2. 

1.3  With respect to payment schemes whose rules have been assessed by the appropriate oversight 

authority  of  a  Member  State  or  the  Union,  and  whose  operation  therefore  does  not  require  the 

consent of the President of NBP, the decree on the functioning of payment schemes provides that 

the  documents  and  information  that  must  be  submitted  to  the  President  of  NBP  comprise:  (1) 

confirmation  of  the  completion  of  an  assessment  of  the  rules  governing  the  operation  of  the 

payment  scheme  by  the  appropriate  oversight  authority  of  a  Member  State  or  the  Union;  (2) 

documentation that was subject to assessment by the appropriate oversight authority of a Member 

State  or  the  Union.  In  addition,  the  following  information  that  is  also  required  from  payment 

schemes  directly  overseen  by  the  President  of  NBP  must  be  submitted:  (3)  the  name  and 

registered office of the payment organisation; (4) the name of the payment scheme; (5) the types of 

payment  instruments  issued  with  an  indication  of  the  currencies  in  which  payment  transactions 

initiated  using  the  payment  instruments  issued  within  the  context  of  the  payment  scheme  will  be 

processed  and  settled;  (6)  conditions  for  accessing  and  participation  in  the  payment  scheme;  (7) 

the  procedure  for  making  the  rules  governing  the  operation  of  the  payment  scheme  available  to 

participants; (8) the  name  and  registered office  of  every entity that is  responsible  for carrying  out 

specific  outsourced  operations  of  the  payment  scheme  and  the  functions  for  which  the  entity  is 

responsible, and the scope of its responsibility; (9) details of the infrastructure, payment systems, 

and  payment  schemes  with  which  the  operation  of  the  scheme  is  linked,  and  also  regarding  the 

processing  entity  if  the  payment  scheme  is  a  four  party  payment  card  scheme  as  defined  in 

2  

Regulation (EU) 2015/751 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 on interchange fees for 
card-based payment transactions (OJ L 123, 19.5.2015, p. 1). 

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Regulation  (EU)  2015/751;  (10)  the  rules  associated  with  the  complaints  procedure  within  the 

context  of  the  payment  scheme;  and  (11)  the  procedure  governing  the  protection  of  professional 

secrecy,  including the  protection of  sensitive payment data. If the  payment scheme is  a  payment 

card scheme, the following also must be provided: (a) information on the established interchange 

fee rate for an individual payment transaction and the rules governing the calculation of this fee; (b) 

information whether, within the context of the payment scheme, different interchange fee rates are 

applied,  and  an  indication  of  the  range  for  the  rates  applied;  (c)  the  manner  in  which  the  fee  is 

calculated  on  net  refunds,  taking  into  account  the  level  of  rates  established  for  each  type  of 

instrument,  split  by  currency;  (d)  the  manner  in  which  the  system  fee  is  calculated;  and  (e)  the 

manner  in  which  the  payment  card  system  and  the  processors  are  separated,  as  referred  to  in 

Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2015/751. 

1.4  According  to  the  Law  of  29  July  2005  on  trading  in  financial  instruments,  the  President  of  NBP 

participates  in  the  oversight  of  operators  of  securities  settlement  systems.  In  particular,  the 

President  of  NBP  performs  cyclical  assessments  and  monitors  the  functioning  of  such 

infrastructures.  Against  this  backdrop,  the  decree  on  data  and  information  to  be  provided  by 

operators  of  securities  depositories,  systems  for  registering  financial  instruments  other  than 

securities and settlement systems sets out (1) the detailed scope of information to be submitted to 

NBP  by  the  operator  of  a  securities  depository  or  a  system  for  registering  financial  instruments 

other than securities and the deadline for such transmission; (2) the detailed scope of information 

to be submitted to NBP by the operator of a settlement system in respect of settlement and clearing 

activities, and  the deadline for such  transmission;  and  (3) the  detailed scope of information to be 

submitted  to  NBP  by  all  of  the  above  operators  on  incidents  that  have  or  could  have  a  negative 

impact on the smooth or secure operation of the system. 

2. 

General comments  

2.1  The ECB welcomes the draft decrees as the scope of information and documents required from the 

relevant  entities  follows  the  principles  and  general  requirements  set  out  in  the  Eurosystem 
oversight policy framework3 and aims at strengthening the oversight function of NBP. 

2.2  With  respect  to  the  obligation  to  provide  statistical  data,  the  ECB  suggests  that  more  detailed 

requirements  on  the  scope  of  data  requested  are  aligned  with  future  ECB  statistical  data 

requirements applicable to payment system providers and payment schemes. 

2.3 

In  addition,  the  ECB  suggests  that specific  incident  reporting  requirements  be  aligned  with  future 

Eurosystem requirements. 

3  

See Eurosystem Oversight Policy Framework, July 2016, available on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu  

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3. 

Specific comments 

Decree on the functioning of payment schemes 

3.1  The ECB  welcomes  the fact that the criteria  for the  assessment  of  a  payment scheme  follow  the 

same  guiding  principles  as  the  criteria  established  under  the  Eurosystem  oversight  policy 

framework for payment instruments.  

3.2  The  ECB  understands  that  more  detailed  information  requirements  relating  to  payment  schemes 

will  be  set  out  in  NBP’s  assessment  guides.  In  that  respect  the  ECB  suggests  that  these 

assessment guides be aligned with the applicable Eurosystem oversight instruments. 

3.3  The  ECB  also  suggests  that,  in  the  exercise  of  its  oversight  powers  over  payment  schemes  in 

respect  of  which  a  leading  oversight  role  has  already  been  assigned  to  the  ECB  and/or  one  or 

more  Eurosystem  national  central  banks  (NCBs),  NBP  could  essentially  rely  on  cooperative 
oversight arrangements with the ECB and other competent NCBs4. NBP is entitled to participate in 

the Eurosystem assessment groups on the basis of the contractual arrangements in place with the 

Eurosystem  oversight  authorities  for  international  card  payment  schemes.  In  order  to  promote 

increased pan-European harmonisation and efficiency in the provision of card payments, the ECB 

suggests  that  NBP  could,  in  the  first  instance,  usefully  rely  on  the  Eurosystem  cooperative 

arrangements  in  order  to  seek  information  required  from  the  international  payment  schemes  in 

question,  instead  of  requesting  the  same  information  directly  from  the  payment  organisation,  i.e. 

the scheme governance authority. 

Decree on the data and information to be provided by operators of securities depositories, systems 

for registering financial instruments other than securities and settlement systems 

3.4  The ECB notes that Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council5 
and  the  regulatory  and  implementing  technical  standards  thereunder6  establish  requirements  on 

the  information  and  data  to  be  provided  by  central  securities  depositories  (CSDs)  to  competent 

authorities  and  relevant  authorities,  including  NCBs  in  their  capacity  as  overseers  of  CSDs. 

Therefore, whilst the ECB welcomes the draft decree on the data and information to be provided by 

securities depositories and clearing and settlement systems, which facilitates the effective conduct 

of  oversight  activities  by  NBP  by  making  available  data  and  information,  it  invites  NBP to  ensure 

that the draft decree does not duplicate, but merely complements, the requirements stemming from 

Regulation  (EU)  No  909/2014  and  the  regulatory  and  implementing  technical  standards,  for 

example in terms of granularity or frequency of reporting.  

3.5   The  ECB  supports  the  initiative  to  gather  information  and  data  on  the  business  activities  of  local 

central counterparties (CCPs) for the oversight activities NBP conducts. NBP may wish to keep in 

mind  that  local  CCPs  may  already  report  some  data  in  line  with  the  quantitative  disclosure 

4  

5  

6  

As  previously  stated  in  paragraph  3.4  of  Opinion  CON/2016/38.  All  ECB  opinions  are  published  on  the  ECB’s 
website at www.ecb.europa.eu  

Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on improving securities 
settlement  in  the  European  Union  and  on  central  securities  depositories  and  amending  Directives  98/26/EC  and 
2014/65/EU and Regulation (EU) No 236/2012 (OJ L 257, 28.8.2014, p. 1).  
See  the  regulatory  and  implementing  technical  standards  on  CSD  requirements  and  the  draft  regulatory  technical 
standards on settlement discipline under Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 developed by the European and Securities 
Markets Authority (ESMA), available on ESMA’s website at www.esma.europa.eu  

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standards established by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CMPI) and the 
International  Organization  of  Securities  Commissions  (IOSCO)7,  and  NBP  should  strive  to  avoid 

duplication, which would lead to a higher regulatory burden for CCPs. However, direct reporting to 

NBP  of  some  of  the  published  data  could  be  justified  by  the  need  to  have  more  granular  and/or 

relatively frequent data reporting. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 1 March 2017. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI 

7  

See  CPMI-IOSCO  Public  quantitative  disclosure  standards  for  central  counterparties,  February  2015,  available  on 
the website of the Bank for International Settlements at www.bis.org  

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