Application of European Regulation 2015/847 on Funds Transfers to the United Kingdom

NBB_2020_050 – 22 December 2020 Communication – Page 1/3 de Berlaimontlaan 14 – BE-1000 Brussels tel. +32 2 221 54 65 enterprise number: 0203.201.340 RPR Brussels www.nbb.be

Communication
Brussels, 22 December 2020
Reference: NBB_2020_050 your correspondent:
Benoît Bienfait tel. +32 2 221 36 42 benoît.bienfait@nbb.be

Application of European Regulation 2015/847 concerning funds transfers on transfers to the United Kingdom

Scope of Application
Credit institutions under Belgian law, including branches in Belgium of institutions subject to the law of another country of the European Economic Area (EEA) or of a third country; Payment institutions and electronic money institutions under Belgian law, including branches in Belgium of institutions subject to the law of another EEA country or of a third country, as well as payment institutions and electronic money institutions authorized in another EEA country that must designate a central contact point established in Belgium; Central securities depositories authorized in Belgium.

Summary/Objectives
This communication draws attention to the consequences of the application of European Regulation 2015/847 concerning funds transfers on transfers to the United Kingdom.

1 Regulation (EU) 2015/847 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on information accompanying transfers of funds (hereinafter 'Regulation 2015/847')

Communication – Page 2/3 NBB_2020_050 – 22 December 2020

Dear Madam, Dear Sir,

As you are aware, the United Kingdom will effectively leave the European Union on 1 January 2021.

Under European Regulation 2015/847, full information about the payer must be included with funds transfers to third countries. Article 4, paragraph 1 of that regulation lists what this information is:
a) the name of the payer; b) the payer's payment account number; and c) the address of the payer, the number of his official personal document, his client identification number, or place and date of his birth.

Furthermore, such funds transfers must include the information about the beneficiary referred to in Article 4, paragraph 2 of that regulation, namely:
a) the name of the beneficiary; and b) the beneficiary's payment account number.

This applies to all funds transfers as defined in Article 3, point 9) of Regulation 2015/847, namely “a transaction, regardless of the point of initiation, executed on behalf of a payer and involving at least one payment account, carried out electronically by a payment service provider with the intention of making funds available to a beneficiary, regardless of whether the payer and the beneficiary are the same person and regardless of whether the payment service provider of the payer and that of the beneficiary are the same, including:
a) a transfer as described in Article 2, point 1), of Regulation (EU) No 260/2012[2; b) a direct debit as described in Article 2, point 2), of Regulation (EU) No 260/2012; c) a domestic or cross-border fund transfer as described in Article 4, point 13), of Directive 2007/64/EG3; d) a transfer involving the use of a payment card, an electronic money instrument, a mobile phone or any other digital or information technology advance or post-paid device with similar characteristics.”

Since the United Kingdom will effectively no longer be a Member State of the European Union from 1 January 2021, transfers to this country will no longer qualify for the relaxation of the above-mentioned obligations provided for in Article 5 of European Regulation 2015/847.

A funds transfer to the United Kingdom will therefore no longer be deemed to be accompanied by the required full information if only the payment account number of both the payer and the beneficiary or the unique transaction identification code is included, when Article 4, paragraph 3 of European Regulation 2015/847 applies.

The British authorities have drawn the attention of the National Bank of Belgium (hereinafter 'the Bank') to the fact that financial institutions established in the United Kingdom will be obliged from 1 January 2021 to refuse funds transfers, including standing payment orders, which they receive without the full information about the payer and the beneficiary mentioned above. In the context of standing payment orders carried out within the framework of SEPA, the Belgian payment service provider of the beneficiary must also make the required data available to the British payment service provider of the payer.

The Bank expects that Belgian payment service providers, particularly from this perspective, have analyzed the consequences of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union for the manner in which they conduct their activities, and that they have identified the changes that must be made in their systems by 1 January 2021 at the latest, so that they can continue to conduct their activities fully in accordance with their legal and regulatory obligations after that date. If this is not the case, the Bank urges your institution to take urgent measures to prevent a disruption in payment flows to the United Kingdom to the detriment of its clients and the beneficiaries of their funds transfers or payment transactions.

Yours faithfully,

Pierre Wunsch
Governor