DECISION (EU) OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 22 April 2022 on the identification of CORE(FR) as a systemically important payment system pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 on oversight requirements for systemically important payment systems and repealing Decision ECB/2014/37 (ECB/2022/21)
Date: 2022-04-22
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: banking supervision, financial control, financial legislation, intra-EU payment, market supervision, payment system

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 22 April 2022 

on the identification of CORE(FR) as a systemically important payment system pursuant to 

Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 on oversight requirements for systemically important 

payment systems and repealing Decision ECB/2014/37 

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, 

(ECB/2022/21) 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular  Article  127(2) 

thereof, 

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, 

and in particular Article 3.1, Article 22 and the first indent of Article 34.1 thereof, 

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 of the European Central Bank of 3 July 2014 on oversight 
requirements for systemically important payment systems (ECB/2014/28)1 and, in particular, Articles 1(2) 

and 1(3-a)(a) thereof, 

Whereas: 

(1)

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 empower the Eurosystem

to promote the smooth operation of payment systems.

(2)

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

oversight.

(3)

The European Central Bank (ECB) has implemented the principles for financial market infrastructures

issued by the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) of the Bank for International

Settlements  (BIS)  and  the  Technical  Committee  of  the  International  Organization  of  Securities

Commission (IOSCO), which harmonise and strengthen  existing  international oversight standards

for, inter alia, systemically important payment systems, by means of Regulation (EU) No 795/2014

(ECB/2014/28).

(4)

Regulation  (EU)  No  795/2014  (ECB/2014/28)  was  amended  to  respond  to  the  fast-moving

technological trends coupled with changing consumer preferences that may give rise to fundamental

changes in the way payments are made. Against this background, an additional, flexible and forward-

looking methodology for the identification of a systemically important payment system (SIPS) has been

put in place to ensure that all potentially relevant factors of systemic importance are taken into account

in the identification of payment systems, and that such payment systems are subject to the highest

1

OJ L 217, 23.7.2012, p. 16-30. 

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ECB-PUBLIC 

applicable oversight standards as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 (ECB/2014/28). 

(5) 

In the course of the identification exercise pursuant to Article 1(2) of Regulation (EU) No 795/2014, 

the Governing Council has verified that, in relation to CORE (COmpensation REtail) (FR) (hereinafter 

‘CORE(FR)’), all the criteria mentioned in Article 1(3-a)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 have been 

fulfilled,  as  described  in  the  Annex  to  this  Decision.  For  the  verification  exercise  on  which  this 

Decision is based, public data for the calendar year 2018 and 2019 have been used, combined with 

responses to ECB surveys. 

(6)  CORE(FR) was previously identified as a SIPS in Decision ECB/2014/37 of the European Central 

Bank2  on  the  basis  of  the  criteria  mentioned  in  Article  1(3)  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  795/2014 

(ECB/2014/28). That Decision requires the addressee to comply with Articles 3 to 21 of Regulation 

(EU) No 795/2014 (ECB/2014/28). Following the identification of CORE(FR) as a SIPS on the basis 

of  the  criteria  mentioned  in  Article  1(3-a)(a)  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  795/2014  (ECB/2014/28),  the 

addressee of this Decision will be subject to those same requirements. Therefore, the period of one 

year for compliance with these requirements that is laid down in Article 25(2) of Regulation (EU) No 

795/2014 (ECB/2014/28) should not apply. 

(7) 

The  addressee  of  this  Decision  has  been  provided  with  the  opportunity  to  express  in  writing  any 

objections, views and comments regarding the facts and legal grounds presented in the Decision. 

(8) 

This Decision should replace Decision ECB/2014/37, which should be repealed, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Article 1 

Definitions 

Terms used in this Decision have the same meaning as those in Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 
(ECB/2014/28). 

Article 2 

Identification of SIPS and SIPS operator 

1.  CORE(FR)  shall  be  identified  as  a  systemically  important  payment  system  for  the  purposes  of 

Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 (ECB/2014/28) in accordance with the criteria in Article 1(3-a)(a) of that  

Regulation and on the basis of the reasons set out in the Annex to this Decision. 

2. 

In its capacity as operator of CORE(FR), STET shall ensure that this systemically important payment 

system  complies  with  the  requirements  set  out  in  Articles  3  to  21  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  795/2014 

2  

Decision of the ECB of 13 August 2014 on the identification of CORE(FR) as systemically important payment system 
pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 on oversight requirements for systemically important payment systems 
(ECB/2014/37). 

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(ECB/2014/28).  

ECB-PUBLIC 

3.  Article 25(2) of Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 (ECB/2014/28) shall not apply. 

Article 3 

Competent authority 

Banque de France shall be the competent authority for the oversight of CORE(FR). 

Decision ECB/2014/37 is repealed. 

Article 4 

Repeal 

Article 5 

Taking effect 

This Decision shall take effect on the day of its notification to the addressee. 

Article 6 

Addressee 

This Decision is addressed to STET, Cœur Défense - Tour B - 100 esplanade du Général de Gaulle 92932 

La Défense Paris, France in its capacity as SIPS operator of CORE(FR). 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 22 April 2022. 

The President of the ECB 

Christine LAGARDE 

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ECB-PUBLIC 

ANNEX 

CORE (COmpensation REtail) (FR) (hereinafter ‘CORE(FR)’) was assessed against the criteria set out in 
Article 1(3-a)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 (ECB/2014/28). 

Criterion 

CORE(FR) 

Nature, size and complexity 

CORE(FR) is a domestic retail payment system based in France. It provides the 

of the payment system 

service of netting of Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) credit transfers and of 

domestic  means  of  payment  (cheques,  card  transactions,  automated  teller 

machine (ATM) withdrawals, and bills of exchange). 

Despite its purely domestic scope of operations, the size of CORE(FR)’s activity 

positions  CORE(FR)  as  the  largest  payment  system  in  the  EU  by  EU  market 

share in terms of the volume of euro-denominated payments processed both in 

2018 and 2019, and as the second largest retail payment system in the EU by 

EU  market  share  in  terms  of  the  value  of  euro-denominated  payments 

processed both in 2018 and 2019. 

The  total  daily  average  value  of  euro-denominated  payments  processed  by 

CORE(FR)  has  remained  stable  at  approximately  double  the  amount  of  the 

quantitative threshold stipulated in Article 1(3)(i) of Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 

(ECB/2014/28). 

CORE(FR)’s  participants  are  interconnected  with  CORE(FR)  through  the 

processing of domestic payment schemes that have been adapted specifically 

to the needs  of CORE(FR) and its participants, and through the use of an in-

house messaging system between CORE(FR) and its participants. 

CORE(FR)  shares  its  technical  platform  (CORE)  with  SEPA(EU),  which  is  a 

payment system also operated by STET, and with the Centre for Exchange and 

Clearing  (CEC)  which  is  a  prominently  important  retail  payment  system  in 

Belgium.  As  a  result,  several  functions  used  by  CORE(FR),  in  particular 

governance  and  risk  management,  are  interconnected  with  and  shared  with 

these systems. 

Criterion fulfilled 

The nature and importance 

All  private  sector  direct  participants  of  CORE(FR)  are  credit  institutions 

of the payment system’s 

designated  as  either  global  systemically  important  banks  (G-SIBs)  or  other 

participants 

systemically  important  institutions  (O-SIIs).  The  two  other  participants  are 

Banque  de  France  and  the  Caisse  des  Dépôts  et  des  Consignations,  both  of 

which are major public sector institutions in France.  

Criterion fulfilled 

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The substitutability of the 

For domestic non-SEPA payments (cheques, card payments, ATM withdrawals 

payment system and the 

and  bills  of  exchange),  which  comprised  82%  of  CORE(FR)’s  total  volume  of 

availability of alternatives to 

payment  transactions  processed  in  2019,  the  substitutability  of  CORE(FR)  by 

it 

other  payment  systems  is  assessed  as  low  both  in  the  short  term  (within  1 

month) and the medium term (within 12 months). A transfer of these domestic 

non-SEPA  payments  would  require  the  integration  of  the  respective  payment 

schemes into at least one other system, implying the need for potential system-

wide  and  scheme-specific  adjustments.  This  is  considered  to  be  challenging, 

even  over  a  12-month  period.  It  would  also  pose  technical  challenges  to  the 

participants’ infrastructures, which have been integrated with CORE(FR) and the 

respective domestic schemes. 

SEPA payments, which comprised 18% of CORE(FR)’s total volume of payment 

transactions  processed  in  2019,  would  in  principle  be  transferable  from 

CORE(FR)  to  other  systems.  However,  CORE(FR)’s  participants  would  face 

substantial technical challenges in adapting their systems and procedures in the 

short term so as to redirect all of their SEPA payments to other systems while at 

the  same  time  complying  with  the  respective  rules  and  procedures  of  those 

systems.  As  a  consequence,  the  substitutability  of  CORE(FR)  regarding  the 

processing of its SEPA payments in the short term is assessed as low. 

Criterion fulfilled 

The relationship, 

Any incident affecting CORE(FR) could have significant knock-on effects on the 

interdependencies, and 

French  economy,  due  to  the  central  position  of  CORE(FR)  in  the  French 

other interactions the 

system has with the wider 

financial system 

payments  market,  in  which  it  processes  more  than  half  of  all  payment 

transactions involving non-monetary financial institutions in France. 

Furthermore, given that four significant participants of CORE(FR) are G-SIBs, 

any  incident  impacting  CORE(FR)  may  also  have  an  adverse  impact  on  the 

global financial system. 

Finally,  as  mentioned  above,  CORE(FR)  shares  its  technical  platform, 

governance, and risk management with SEPA(EU), which is also operated by 

STET. In addition, STET provides the technical platform for the Belgian system 

CEC, 

leading 

to 

interdependencies 

relating 

to  governance  and 

risk 

management. Therefore, the management and performance of CORE(FR) is of 

relevance to a wider group of related systems and their markets.  

Criterion fulfilled 

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