Decision on Safe, Liquid and Low‑Risk Assets for Protecting Funds of Payment and Electronic Money Institutions

Pursuant to Article 47 paragraph 1 item 6 of the Law on the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 158/10, 123/12, 43/14, 153/15, 6/16 and 83/18 and Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia No. 110/21) and Article 32 paragraph 4 of the Law on Payment Services and Payment Systems (Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia No. 90/22), the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia Council has adopted the following DECISION on the type of safe, liquid and low-risk-bearing assets used to protect funds by payment institutions and electronic money institutions
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. This Decision lays down the type of safe, liquid and low-risk-bearing assets
   in which payment institutions and electronic money institutions can invest for the purpose of protection of received funds.
2. For the purposes of this Decision, “received funds” shall denote:

• funds that the payment institution received from or in favor of the payment
  services users for carrying out payment transactions or funds received from another payment services provider in favor of the payment services user for carrying out payment transactions,
• funds that the electronic money institution received from the payment
  services user or from another payment services provider for carrying out payment transactions with the electronic money institution when providing services that are not related to the issuance of electronic money, or
• funds that the electronic money institution received for the purpose of
  issuing electronic money.
  For the purposes of this Decision, “institution” shall denote payment institution and electronic money institution.
  II. TYPES OF SAFE, LIQUID AND LOW-RISK-BEARING ASSETS

3. Safe, liquid and low-risk-bearing assets in which the institution can invest
   for the purpose of protection of received funds shall denote short-term debt securities issued or guaranteed by the Republic of North Macedonia, denominated in denars. Debt securities referred to in paragraph 1 of this item can be considered as safe, liquid and low-risk-bearing assets if there are no limitations or bans that would hinder their free disposal by the institution.
4. If the debt securities in which the institution invested no longer meet the
   conditions referred to in item 3 of this Decision, the institution shall be obliged to immediately notify the National Bank and to replace them within a period which may not be longer than one month from the day of the notification to the National Bank.
5. The institution shall be obliged to adopt and implement a policy on investing
   in safe, liquid and low-risk-bearing assets which, among other things, should prescribe

2 the procedure and the deadline for replacing the debt securities referred to in item 3 of this Decision, taking into consideration item 4 of this Decision. The institution shall be obliged to revise and update the policy referred to in paragraph 1 of this item, at least every three years.
6. Debt securities referred to in item 3 of this Decision shall be held by a
person authorized to provide the service of holding securities (so-called custodial services), on the basis of a special agreement for holding securities concluded between this person and the institution. The agreement referred to in paragraph 1 of this item should clearly define the rights and obligations of both parties, and especially the custodial services to be provided, the manner of holding the investments of the institution and their clear separation from other assets of the person providing custodial services, including in conditions of opening a bankruptcy or liquidation procedure against the person providing custodial services.
7. If the institution is subject to consolidated supervision of the National Bank,
the requirements from this Section shall also refer to the investments of other institutions that are subsidiaries of the institution subject to consolidated supervision, except if the regulations in the countries where these subsidiaries operate, prescribe that the received funds should be protected in a different manner and under different conditions, from the manner and conditions stipulated by this Decision.
III. CLOSING PROVISIONS
8. This Decision shall enter into force on the eighth day after the date of its
publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia, and shall apply from 1 January 2023. D No. 02-15/XX-5/2022 25 November 2022 Skopje Anita Angelovska Bezhoska Governor and Chairperson of the Council of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia