This has now been published in the Official Journal.

This consultation covers risks related to legal, financial and operational arrangements, as well as issues related to access, governance and efficiency. Responses are required by 18 May 2012.

EPC has published guidance material for business, consumers/direct debit for consumers, IT providers and the public sector.

This press release notes that the Council has adopted a regulation setting technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debit transactions in euros. The regulation sets 1 February 2014 as the migration deadline for credit transfers and (in respect of most requirements) for direct debits. It phases out MIFs by 1 February 2017 for national payments. It also phases out, at the latest by 1 February 2016, the requirement to provide the BIC, with only the IBAN remaining as the account identifier for cross-border and national payments.

This statement notes that, during its review of the functioning of the SEPA Council in 2012, the EC will consider the governance of the whole SEPA project and how to take better account of consumer, small and medium-sized enterprises, retailers and other user interests. The EC will also review the composition of the EPC, the interaction between the EPC and an overarching governance structure, such as the EPA Council. The EC will also include a review of the existing direct debit refund rights in the EU within the scope of its report under Article 87 PSD. The EC will present that report no later than 1 November 2012 to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Central Bank.

The European Parliament has announced the passing of SEPA legislation on 14 February 2012 (adopted text appears in the second link below. The deadline for banks to migrate to the new system is 1 February 2014.

This press release is an interview with Sari Essayah, the Finnish MEP responsible for steering the SEPA legislation through the European Parliament. A vote on the legislation was taking place on 14 February 2012.

Text of this speech, given at the BAFT-IFSA Global Annual Meeting discusses bow the financial crisis has influenced the perspective of financial stability policymakers towards payment operations. He argues that authorities are likely to place more attention on the overall network of payment operations within a financial system; and in the context of resolution plans, are likely to ask more questions about the internal organisation of firms’ operations. He concludes by encouraging those in the transactions banking world to consider the attitudes of financial stability authorities and the broader regulatory back-drop when developing their medium-term planning.

This Green Paper assesses the current landscape of card, internet and mobile payments in Europe, identifies the gaps between the current situation and the vision of a fully integrated payments market and the barriers which have created these gaps. The objective of the Green Paper is to launch a broad-scale consultation process with stakeholders to validate or contribute to the Commission’s analysis and to help identify the right way to improve market integration. Responses are required by 4 April 2012.

FSA has published a new version of this document, together with a tracked changes version to show changes made since the last version. It is intended to reflect the end of the transitional provisions, including the provision which allowed payment service providers to agree with their customers that funds would take up to three business days longer to be credited than required under the PSRs (which ended on 31 December 2011), and now also includes information on how to make a complaint about FSA.