Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

AddedThe competent authorities shall be either:

Added(a) public authorities;

Added(b) bodies recognised by national law or by public authorities expressly empowered for that purpose by national law, including national central banks.

AddedThe competent authorities shall be independent from economic bodies and avoid conflicts of interest. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, point (b), payment institutions, credit institutions, or post office giro institutions shall not be designated as competent authorities.

Added3. The competent authorities referred to in paragraph 2 shall possess all investigatory powers and adequate resources necessary for the performance of their tasks.

AddedThose powers shall include:

Added(a) in the course of procedures to investigate potential breaches of this Regulation, the power to require from, inter alia, the following natural or legal persons, all information necessary to carry out that investigation:

Added(i) payment services providers;

Added(ii) technical service providers and payment system operators;

Added(iii) ATM deployers which do not service payment accounts;

Added(iv) electronic communications services providers;

Added(v) natural persons belonging to the entities referred to in points (i), (ii) and (iii);

Added(vi) third parties to whom the entities referred to in points (i), (ii) and (iii) have outsourced operational functions or activities;

Added(vii) agents and distributors of the entities referred to in points (i), (ii) and (iii) and their branches established in the Member State concerned;

Added(b) the power to conduct all necessary investigations of any person referred to in points (a) (i) to (vii) established or located in the Member State of the competent authority or providing services therein, where necessary to carry out the tasks of the competent authorities, including the power to:

Added(i) require the submission of documents;

Added(ii) examine the books and records of the persons referred to in points (a) (i) to (vii) and take copies or extracts from such books and records;

Added(iii) obtain written or oral explanations from any person referred to in points (a) (i) to (vii) or their representatives or staff, where applicable;

Added(iv) interview any other natural person who consents to be interviewed for the purpose of collecting information relating to the subject matter of an investigation;

Added(c) the power to conduct all necessary inspections at the business premises of the legal persons or of the natural persons referred to in points (a)(i) to (vii), subject to the prior notification of the competent authorities concerned.

Added4. Where the law of a Member State lays down criminal sanctions applicable to infringements of this Regulation in accordance with Article 96, paragraph (2), that Member State shall have in place the necessary laws, regulations and administrative provisions to enable competent authorities:

Added(a) to liaise with competent judicial authorities in order to receive specific information regarding criminal investigations of alleged infringements of this Regulation, criminal proceedings commenced in respect of such alleged infringements, and the outcome of such proceedings including the final judgement;

Added(b) to provide such information to other competent authorities and the EBA to fulfil their obligation of cooperating with each other and with the EBA for the purposes of this Regulation.

Added5. The implementation and the exercise of powers set out in this Article shall be proportionate and shall comply with Union and national law, including with applicable procedural safeguards and with the principles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The investigation and enforcement measures adopted in application of this Regulation shall be appropriate to the nature and the overall actual or potential harm of the infringement.

Added6. By [ OP please insert the date= the date of entry into force of this Regulation], the EBA shall issue guidelines in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, on complaints procedures, including the channels for submission of complaints, the information requested from complainants, and the disclosure of the aggregate analysis of complaints referred to in Article 90(1).

AddedProfessional secrecy

Added1. Without prejudice to cases covered by national criminal law, all persons who work or who have worked for competent authorities, and any experts acting on behalf of the competent authorities, shall be bound by the obligation of professional secrecy regarding the information related to investigations conducted by the competent authorities.

Added2. The information exchanged in accordance with Article 93 shall be subject to the obligation of professional secrecy by both the sharing and recipient authority.

AddedJurisdiction and cooperation of competent authorities

Added1. In the event of infringement or suspected infringement of Titles II and III, the competent authorities shall be those of the home Member State of the payment service provider, except for agents and branches conducting business under the right of establishment, where the competent authorities shall be those of the host Member State.

Added2. In the event of infringements or suspected infringements of Titles II and III by technical service providers, payment system operators ATM deployers which do not service payment accounts, electronic communications services providers or by their agents or branches, the competent authorities shall be those of the Member State where the service concerned is provided.

Added3. In the exercise of their investigatory and sanctioning powers, including in cross border cases, competent authorities shall cooperate with each other and with other authorities from any sector concerned as applicable to each case and in accordance with Union and national law by exchanging information with each other and ensuring the mutual assistance to other competent authorities concerned as necessary for the effective enforcement of administrative sanctions and administrative measures.

Added4. The authorities from other sectors concerned, referred to in paragraph 3, shall cooperate with competent authorities for the effective enforcement of administrative sanctions and administrative measures.

AddedDispute resolution procedures and penalties

AddedDispute resolution

Added1. Payment service providers shall put in place and apply adequate and effective complaint resolution procedures for the settlement of complaints of payment service users concerning the rights and obligations under Titles II and III. The competent authorities shall monitor the performance of those procedures.

AddedThose procedures shall be applied in every Member State where the payment service provider offers the payment services and shall be available in an official language of the relevant Member State or in another language if agreed between the payment service provider and the payment service user.

Added2. Payment service providers shall ▐reply, on paper or, if agreed between the payment service provider and the payment service user, on another durable medium, to the payment service users’ complaints. Such a reply shall address all points raised, within an adequate timeframe and at the latest within 15 business days of receipt of the complaint. In exceptional situations, if the answer cannot be given within 15 business days for reasons beyond the control of the payment service provider, it shall send a holding reply, clearly indicating the reasons for a delay in answering to the complaint and specifying the deadline by which the payment service user will receive the final reply. In any event, the deadline for receiving the final reply shall not exceed 35 business days.

AddedMember States may introduce or maintain rules on dispute resolution procedures that are more advantageous to the payment service user than that referred to in the first subparagraph. Where Member States do so, those rules shall apply.

Added3. The payment service provider shall inform the payment service user about at least one ADR entity which is competent to deal with disputes concerning the rights and obligations under Titles II and III.

Added4. The information referred to in paragraph 3 shall be mentioned in a clear, comprehensive and easily accessible way on the website of the payment service provider and on the respective mobile application, where they exist, at the branch, and in the general terms and conditions of the contract between the payment service provider and the payment service user. The payment service provider shall specify how further information on the ADR entity concerned and on the conditions for using it can be accessed.

AddedADR procedures

Added1. Member States shall establish adequate, independent, impartial, transparent and effective ADR procedures for the settlement of disputes between payment service users and payment service providers concerning the rights and obligations under Titles II and III according to the relevant Union and national law in accordance with the quality requirements laid down in Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and the Council, using existing competent bodies where appropriate. ADR procedures shall be applicable to payment service providers.

Added1a. The participation of payment service providers in ADR procedures for consumers shall be mandatory unless the Member State demonstrates to the Commission that other mechanisms are equally effective.

Added2. The bodies referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall cooperate effectively for the resolution of cross-border disputes concerning the rights and obligations under Titles II and III.

Added3. Member States shall designate a competent authority to accredit, monitor and publish the quality level of the ADR entity or entities on their territory to resolve disputes concerning rights and obligations under Titles II and III, in line with Article 18 of Directive 2013/11/EU.

Added4. Competent authorities, referred to in paragraph 3 shall notify ADR entity or entities in their territories to resolve disputes concerning rights and obligations under Titles II and III to the Commission, in line with Article 20 of Directive 2013/11/EU.

Added5. The Commission shall make publicly available a list of the ADR entities notified to it in accordance with paragraph 4 and update that list whenever changes are communicated.

AddedAdministrative sanctions and administrative measures

Added1. Without prejudice to the supervisory powers of competent authorities designated under Directive (EU) XXX (PSD3), in accordance with Title II, Chapter 1, section 3 of that Directive, and the right of Member States to lay down criminal sanctions, Member States shall lay down rules on administrative sanctions and administrative measures applicable to infringements of this Regulation and shall ensure that they are implemented. The administrative sanctions and administrative measures shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

Added2. Member States may decide not to lay down rules on administrative sanctions and administrative measures applicable to breaches of this Regulation which are subject to sanctions under national criminal law. In such a case, Member States shall notify the Commission of the relevant criminal law provisions and any subsequent amendments thereto in accordance with Article 103.

Added3. Where the national rules referred to in paragraph 1 apply to payment service providers and other legal persons, in case of infringements and subject to the conditions laid down in national law, administrative sanctions and administrative measures shall be applicable to the members of the management body of such payment services providers and legal persons and to other natural persons found to be responsible for a breach of this Regulation.

Added4. Member States may lay down rules, in accordance with their national law, enabling their competent authorities to close an investigation concerning an alleged infringement of this Regulation, following a settlement agreement or an expedited enforcement procedure.

AddedThe empowerment of competent authorities to settle or open expedite enforcement procedures does not affect the obligations upon Member States under paragraph 1.

AddedAdministrative sanctions and other administrative measures for specific infringements

Added1. Without prejudice to Article 96(2), national laws, regulations and administrative provisions shall lay down the administrative sanctions and other administrative measures referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article in respect of the breaching or circumvention of the following provisions:

Added(a) the rules on access to accounts maintained with a credit institution laid down in Article 32;

Added(b) the secure data access rules by either account servicing payment service provider or by account information service providers and payment initiation service providers laid down in of Title III, Chapter 3, without prejudice to Article 45;

Added(c) the obligation to organise or perform fraud prevention mechanisms including strong customer authentication as set out in Articles 85, 86 and 87;

Added(d) the duty to comply with the requirements for transparency on fees by ATM operators or other cash distributors, in accordance with Article 20(c) point (ii);