Financial Services Regulation and Compliance - Banking and Payments November 2023

Domestic

CBI publishes updated guidance in respect of PI XBRL returns

On 15 November 2023, the CBI published updated guidance in respect of the Payment Institution (PI) Accounts Return XBRL and the Supplementary Return.

PI Accounts Return XBRL

The purpose of this note is to assist firms in completing the PI Accounts Return XBRL which replaces and updates the Payment Institution Accounts return.

PI Supplementary Returns XBRL

The purpose of the updated guidance is to assist firms in completing the PI Supplementary XBRL Return. This guidance aligns to the version of the PI XBRL Return that uses CBI Taxonomy 2.2.2. The validity period of this taxonomy and the guidance is for all reporting dates from 31 December 2023 until further notice.

The latest version of the CBI taxonomy is 2.2.2 and this should be used for all reporting dates from 31 December 2023. CBI taxonomy 2.1.1 is no longer valid and should only be used for re-submissions of XBRL returns for reporting periods from 30 June 2023 and before 31 December 2023.

European

European Parliament publishes draft proposals in respect of PSD3 and PSR

On 16 November 2023, the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee published draft reports on the European Commission's legislative proposals on the proposed Payment Services Directive 3 (PSD3) and Payment Services Regulation (PSR). The rapporteurs for both reports put forward amendments to areas they believed required further improvements.

Draft report on PSD3

The rapporteur identified issues which need to be addressed by improving the text around the following areas:

  • authorisation and grandfathering
  • settlement finality directive
  • central contact point
  • access to cash
  • opening of accounts by payment institutions

Draft Report on PSR

The rapporteur highlighted the following areas for improvement:

  • better information should be provided in ATMs or while conducting other types of payments, and on currency exchange and mark-ups on the exchange reference rates
  • more transparency should be provided when Account Information Service Providers (AISPs) and Payment Initiation Service Providers (PSPs) access the data of the Payment Service Users (PSUs) and if they access the data not through an application programming interface
  • the European Banking Authority should set out a list of the methods that can be used to identify unambiguously another PSU
  • verification carried out by PSPs should not solely focus on the IBAN number but also factor other proxies
  • consumers should be better protected from fraud and this responsibility lies not only with PSP but also with the electronic communications service
  • PSPs should offer appropriate means to customers to notify about fraudulent transactions

SPAA Scheme Rulebook: call for change requests

On 24 November 2023, the European Payments Council (EPA) launched a call for change requests for possible modifications to be introduced into the SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) scheme rulebook. The call will run until 2 February 2024.

The EPC will analyse the legal and technical feasibility of all change requests received and is expected to organise a three-month public consultation around the end of May 2024. Change requests that receive broad acceptance will be included in version 2.0 of the SPAA scheme rulebook which is anticipated to be published by end of 2024.

European Council and Parliament reach provisional agreement on instant payments

On 11 November 2023, the European Council announced that it had reached a provisional political agreement with the European Parliament on the instant payments proposal, which will make instant payments in euro available to all individuals and businesses holding a bank account in the EEA. The new rules are aimed at improving the strategic autonomy of the European economic and financial sector as they will assist with reducing any excessive reliance on third-country financial institutions and infrastructures.

Under the provisionally agreed text:

  • payment service providers will also be required to offer instant payments in euro
  • the charges that apply (if any) for instant transfers must not be higher than the charges that apply for standard credit transfers
  • instant payment providers will need to verify that the beneficiary's IBAN and name match in order to alert the payer to possible mistakes or fraud before a transaction is made (this requirement will apply to regular transfers too)

It has been agreed between the European Council and Parliament that the new rules will come into force after a transition period that will be faster in the euro area and longer in the non-euro area, who need more time to adjust. The provisional political agreement will now have to be approved by the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee and the European Council. Once approved, it will go through the formal adoption procedure.

FSB and the Basel Committee publish updates on G-SIBs

On 27 November 2023, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published the 2023 list of global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) using end-2022 data and applying the assessment methodology designed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (the Basel Committee)

One bank (Bank of Communications) has been added to the list of G-SIBs that were identified in 2022, and two banks (Credit Suisse and UniCredit) have been removed. The overall number of G-SIBs has decreased from 30 to 29.

To accompany the FSB publication, the Basel Committee also published further information related to its 2023 assessment of G-SIBs which includes additional details to help understand the scoring methodology and includes:

  • the denominators of the high-level indicators used to calculate banks' scores
  • the high-level indicators for each bank in the sample used to calculate these denominators

EPC launches OCT Instant Scheme

On 28 November 2023, the European Payments Council (EPC) announced that the One-Leg Out Instant Credit Transfer scheme (OCT Instant scheme) had launched. The OCT Instant scheme is a cross-currency payment scheme to support the processing of incoming and outgoing international instant account-to-account based credit transfers.

The launch of the OCT Instant scheme is significant for the EPC as it is the first EPC scheme which exclusively covers the Euro leg of international instant credit transfers entering or leaving the geographical scope of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The scheme allows payment service providers in SEPA to process incoming and outgoing international credit transfers through highly automated funds transfer systems available in the Euro leg, and via similar systems in the respective non-Euro leg countries or jurisdictions.

SRB work programme for 2024

On 30 November 2023, the Single Resolution Board (SRB) published its Work Programme for 2024.

The SRB notes that 2024 will mark the beginning of a new phase, as the Single Resolution Mechanism which will be adopted in early 2024 which will shape its strategy.

The Work Programme focuses on the following three strategic areas:

  • core business
  • governance, organisation and tools
  • human resources

The SRB will establish further measures to ensure the resolvability of banks and develop a comprehensive implementation plan for resolvability testing in 2024. In addition, the SRB, will continue implementing activities that have become part of its regular portfolio, such as the management of the Single Resolution Fund and the Less Significant Institutions oversight.

ECB publishes opinion on the proposed regulation for a digital euro

On 3 November 2023, the European Central Bank (ECB) published its legal opinion and a technical working document on the proposal for a regulation on the establishment of the digital euro.

The ECB stated that it strongly welcomes the proposed regulation goal of facilitating the possible introduction of a digital euro, which is needed to ensure that central bank money, as a monetary anchor, evolves in response to changes in technology and payment behaviour that led to an increase in digital payments. The ECB also noted that the digital euro would:

  •  safeguard the strategic autonomy of the Union’s payment ecosystem
  •  support competition and innovation in payments to the benefit of consumers and merchants alike

For more information on these topics please contact any member of A&L Goodbody's Financial Regulation Advisory team.

Date published: 14 December 2023