The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published a consultation paper on draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) relating to the separation of payment card schemes and processing entities under Article 7(6) of the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR).
The EBA is mandated under Article 7(6) IFR to develop draft RTS establishing the requirements that payment card schemes and processing entities have to comply with for ensuring independence of their accounting, organisation and decision-making process as set out Article 71(a) IFR.
The draft RTS require payment card schemes and processing entities to:
- have accounting processes in place to produce annual audited information related to separated balance sheets, and profit & loss accounts;
- separate workspaces; and
- ensure the independence of senior management, management bodies and staff.
The draft RTS also set out requirements related to:
- the use of shared services and a shared information management system;
- the treatment of sensitive information;
- a code of conduct; and
- the separation of annual operating plans.
The deadline for comments on the consultation paper is 8 March 2016. The EBA will assess the responses received and use them as input for the development of the final draft RTS, which it will publish in Q2 2016.
View EBA consults on separation of payment card schemes and processing entities under the IFR, 8 December 2015
