On 16 August 2019, there was published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ), the European Central Bank (ECB) decision of 26 July 2019 on the procedure and conditions for exercise by a Member State competent authority of certain powers in relation to the oversight of systemically important payment systems (SIPs).

In April 2012, the Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems were replaced by the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the International Organization of Securities Commission’s (IOSCO) principles for financial market infrastructures (the CPSS-IOSCO principles).

ECB Regulation No 795/2014 of 3 July 2014 on oversight requirements for SIPs (ECB Regulation 795) implements from the EU perspective the CPSS-IOSCO principles. ECB Regulation 795 covers SIPs, including both large-value payment systems and retail payment systems of systemic importance. It applies to payment systems operated both by central banks and private operators.

ECB Regulation 795 was subsequently amended by ECB Regulation 2017/2094 of 3 November 2017. Among other things this ECB Regulation amended Article 21 of ECB Regulation 795 dealing with the powers of Member State competent authorities.

The ECB decision now published in the OJ sets out the procedure a Member State competent authority should follow and the conditions it shall comply with when exercising powers under Article 21(1) of ECB Regulation 795 (as amended).

The ECB decision enters into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the OJ (5 September 2019).