Introductory text

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the fourth indent of Article 127(2) thereof,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular the fourth indent of Article 3.1, and Article 34 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2532/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the powers of the European Central Bank to impose sanctions^f1, and in particular Article 2 thereof,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 2157/1999 of the European Central Bank of 23 September 1999 on the powers of the European Central Bank to impose sanctions (ECB/1999/4)^f2,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 of the European Central Bank of 3 July 2014 on oversight requirements for systemically important payment systems (ECB/2014/28)^f3, and in particular Article 23 thereof,

Whereas:

The Eurosystem promotes the smooth operation of payment systems by, among other things, conducting oversight. In particular, oversight of systemically important payments systems (SIPS) is conducted pursuant to the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 (ECB/2014/28).

Article 23 of Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 (ECB/2014/28) empowers the European Central Bank (ECB) to impose sanctions for infringements of that Regulation. For the purposes of enhancing the transparency of the principles and procedures that the ECB will follow when imposing such sanctions, that Article requires the ECB to adopt a decision on the methodology for the calculation of the amount of the sanctions.

By adopting this Decision, the ECB demonstrates the manner in which it is guided by the principle of proportionality when determining an appropriate sanction,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: