ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Practitioners Creating Pan-European Estación de Atocha Cover L’aéroport de Roissy- Madrid Atocha railway Payment Infrastructures Charles-de-Gaulle station is the largest railway station in Madrid with Paris Charles de Gaulle 16 million passengers per year. Airport is the second largest international airport in Europe, handling close to 70 million passengers and almost 500,000 aircraft movements in 2017. Haven van Rotterdam Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe. It is hard to imagine what our lives In 2012, Rotterdam was the would look like without the infrastructure world’s sixth­largest port in terms of annual cargo systems that enable and support our tonnage. The port covers daily activities. 105 square kilometres and stretches over a distance of 40 kilometres. They supply water, power and heat; they provide access to goods, knowledge and money; they help us embark on physical and spiritual journeys. Like other infrastructures, EBA CLEARING’s payment systems require careful planning and smooth operations to optimally serve their users on a daily basis. This involves close monitoring as well as regular maintenance, enhancement and, where needed, renewal. What is different about other infrastructures though is that some of them make for great pictures… Channel Tunnel / Piazza Gae Aulenti Le tunnel sous la Manche Piazza Gae Aulenti is the epi­ The Channel Tunnel is a centre of Milan’s most modern 50.45­kilometre rail tunnel neighbourhood. The square linking Folkestone, Kent, was inaugurated in 2012 and is in the United Kingdom, with dedicated to the architect Coquelles, Pas­de­Calais, Gae Aulenti. The pavilion that near Calais in northern France. hosted the EBA CLEARING SHM At its lowest point, it is 75 m in 2016 is at the heart of the deep below the sea bed and square and next to the highest 115 m below sea level. skyscraper in Italy. 8 The Company’s Mission and Strategic Aims 10 Chairman’s Statement 14 CEO’s Statement 19 85 Company’s Activities Appendices in 2017 and 86 Appendix 1: Outlook for 2018 List of EBA CLEARING Shareholders 20 Our Services 20 Introduction 87 Appendix 2: 22 EURO1 List of Participants 28 STEP1 in EURO1/STEP1 30 STEP2 34 RT1 91 Appendix 3: 40 STEP2 Card Clearing List of Direct Participants 44 SEDA in STEP2­T 46 Operations 96 Appendix 4: 50 Legal, Regulatory and Compliance List of Direct Participants 55 Risk Management in RT1 57 Internal Audit 96 Appendix 5: 58 Corporate Governance List of Direct Participants 72 Oversight of EBA CLEARING in STEP2 CC 75 EBA CLEARING’s Subsidiary PRETA 97 Appendix 6: Annual Accounts for 2017 76 Financial Situation: Statutory Accounts Via Appia The Appian Way was one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Many parts of the original road beyond Rome’s environs have been preserved, and some are now used by cars. E xcellence U ser-driven R obustness O penness to stakeholders’ needs P an-European A gility Our mission Our objectives EBA CLEARING’s mission is to deliver market EBA CLEARING aims to allow cost optimisa- infrastructure solutions for the pan-European tion for its users, and is not seeking profit or payments industry, to support its users’ needs shareholder value maximisation. In pursuing The Company’s Mission in line with user requirements. its mission, EBA CLEARING is guided by the objective to offer its users solutions that are fit The strategic aims of the Company are to for purpose and efficient, with a special focus and Strategic Aims ensure a pan-European and country-neutral on safety and ensuring compliance with approach for the development and delivery of regulatory and oversight requirements. EBA infrastructure solutions, thereby ensuring CLEARING recognises its role in supporting excellence and robustness in delivering our financial stability and promoting fair and effi- services. EBA CLEARING will maintain its cient markets; it is committed to discharging track record of timely delivery of user-driven these responsibilities. solutions responding to evolving and new demands for infrastructure solutions, thereby demonstrating its openness to stakeholders’ needs and agility in its role as market infra- structure solutions provider. Annual Report 2017 Annual Report 2017 CLEARING CLEARING 104 Mission and Strategic Aims 104 Mission and Strategic Aims EBA 8 EBA 9 Chairman’s Statement 2017 was a pivotal year in European pay- Against this background, EBA CLEARING’s ments. Key industry and regulatory require- focus in 2017 was to remain on its firm course ments were met over the past year and, at the of creating and operating services that are same time, many new requirements were put pan-European by design, with a focus on effi- on the table for payment service providers ciency and effectiveness for the users. In line (PSPs) and financial market infrastructures with this course, the Company continued to (FMIs) to tackle. pursue its unchanged high-level objective to maintain a stable and compliant processing In terms of practical achievements, the indus- environment for the reliable, efficient and cost- try saw the launch of the SEPA Instant Credit effective day-to-day operation of its payment Transfer (SCT Inst) Scheme and the first sys- systems. Supporting the needs of its users is tems and PSPs processing instant payments. a core component of the Company’s mission, Among many other deliveries, 2017 also wit- and I would like to thank our user community I would like to thank our nessed palpable progress on collective deliv- across SEPA for their committed and valued erables helping to fulfil Access-to-Account support in defining the user requirements for user community across SEPA requirements. evolving existing systems and creating new for their committed and services. During the same period, on the FMI side, the valued support in defining revised SIPS Regulation, TARGET2/TARGET2- The go-live of the RT1 System on the launch the user requirements Securities consolidation and the Eurosystem date of the SCT Inst Scheme added another Cyber Resilience Strategy for FMIs – to name milestone to EBA CLEARING’s track record of for evolving existing systems only a few regulatory or public-sector initia- delivering pan-European payment infrastruc- and creating new services. tives that surfaced over the past year – set out ture in time, on budget and in line with the re- Annual Report 2017 Annual Report 2017 new requirements and roadmaps with long- quirements of PSPs across Europe. The Board term implications on both payment system operators and the users of their services. CLEARING CLEARING Statement 104 Chairman’s Statement 104 Chairman’s EBA 11 EBA 10 has paid particular attention to ensuring reach- The Business Committees for EURO1 and witnessed important developments with re- ability for SCT Inst transactions across SEPA STEP2 have been in place since the start of the gard to oversight and regulatory standards for and easing SCT Inst migration efforts for year. The identical structure for the two sys- FMIs. A number of changes to services were PSPs. Additional service enhancements are tems serves to better reflect the balance be- introduced while, at the same time, the under development to further support the tween the SIPS operated by EBA CLEARING. grounds were being laid for readying the Com- evolving needs of a growing number of RT1 The flexibility for different approaches for pany’s service portfolio to optimally support users in the face of the ongoing instant pay- other or new services has been maintained users over the years to come. ment ramp-up across Europe. and the Board has paid careful attention to re- spond to the need expressed by the users for Working together on these and the many other For its EURO1 and STEP2 Systems, the Com- an efficient organisation of the different groups tasks in an atmosphere of commitment and pany launched comprehensive user consulta- and their remit. mutual trust has made this journey a very spe- tions in support of the future positioning of cial experience, for which I am very grateful. I EURO1 2020 and beyond, and the review of During 2017 and 2018, the Nomination and take this opportunity to thank the Sharehold- the settlement model for the STEP2 system Governance Committee of the Board accom- ers of this Company, the critical service pro- driven by the revised SIPS Regulation. panied the elaboration of a proposed ap- viders of EBA CLEARING and, most impor- proach for establishing compliance with the tantly, my colleagues in the Board as well as The governance and user 2017 also saw an increased focus on security- new requirement of the revised SIPS Regula- the management and the staff for this suc- related topics, including cyber security. The tion regarding Board composition of SIPS. The cessful journey and I wish a fruitful continua- say arrangements have been Board recognises the prime importance for Board has endorsed a proposed approach, tion of this journey to the Company and to its further reviewed to make payment infrastructures and their users to which I will present at the SHM 2018. service users and partners. meet best industry practices in this field, and them future-proof so that the topic of cyber security has become a As part of its responsibilities as a SIPS opera- Looking forward, I see many open questions in they can accommodate standing item on the agenda of the Board. tor, EBA CLEARING has in the period under our sector that may affect the infrastructure report continued to attach prime importance domain. A payment system is part of the finan- foreseeable changes in the In 2013, when I took office as newly elected to the resilience of its systems and their un- cial ecosystem where persons and companies short to medium term.