Regulation and Frameworks

The oversight function is anchored in both European and national law.

Oversight is one of the core activities of the Eurosystem/ESCB and, at the same time, an integral part of European institutional law, governed by Article 3.1 of the ESCB Statute as well as by Article 127(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

In Slovakia, oversight is anchored in Act No 492/2009 on payment services (and amending certain laws), as amended.

Bank Board of National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) approved the Oversight policy of NBS – Oversight of payment systems and payment instruments.

As a Eurosystem member, NBS conducts oversight pursuant solely to the Eurosystem’s regulatory framework. For the Eurosystem’s oversight function, the ECB’s Governing Council has adopted the basic standards laid down in the CPSS-IOSCO Principles for financial market infrastructures (PFMIs), whose adoption by the Eurosystem is enacted in Regulation (EU) Regulation (EU) 2017/2095 of the European Central Bank of 3 November 2017 amending Regulation (EC) No 2157/1999 on the powers of the European Central Bank to impose sanctions (ECB/2017/34).

For the purposes of oversight of payment systems, PFMIs were implemented in ECB amending Regulation on oversight requirements for systemically important payment systems (ECB/2017/32) (SIPS Regulation).

The SIPS Regulation also incorporates the ECB’s Revised oversight framework for retail payment systems, which classifies retail payment systems into different categories according to their significance. Retail payment systems must be assessed against the PFMIs assigned to their relevant category.

Within the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) there is an interconnection of retail payment systems, i. e. the establishment of links enabling cross-border processing of payments. For payment systems to be linked, they must meet the relevant PFMIs as well as the ECB’s Oversight expectations for links between retail payment systems.

For the purposes of oversight of electronic payment instruments, the Eurosystem has prepared in 2021 the specific oversight framework, Eurosystem oversight framework for electronic payment instruments, schemes and arrangements (the PISA framework). This framework covers electronic payment instruments, schemes and arrangements.

On 3 December 2018 the ECB published a document entitled Cyber resilience oversight expectations for financial market infrastructures. This provides FMIs with guidance on how to ensure their cyber resilience over a sustained period of time, and it clearly outlines overseers’ responsibilities in regard to assessing the cyber risks faced by FMIs, as well as providing them with an assessment methodology.