Information for UK payment and e-money institutions exercising EU passporting rights in Germany

BaFin | Postfach 12 53 | 53002 Bonn
IT Supervision:
Payment Transactions/
Cyber Security
Main address:
Bundesanstalt für
Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht
Graurheindorfer Str. 108
53117 Bonn | Germany
Contact:
GIT
Division GIT
Tel. +49 (0)2 28 41 08-0
Fax +49 (0)2 28 41 08-1550
GIT2@bafin.de www.bafin.de
Main numbers:
Tel. +49 (0)2 28 41 08-0
Fax +49 (0)2 28 41 08-1550
BaFin locations:
53117 Bonn
Graurheindorfer Str. 108
53175 Bonn
Dreizehnmorgenweg 13-15
Dreizehnmorgenweg 44-48
60439 Frankfurt
Marie-Curie-Str. 24-28
Lurgiallee 10
Legally valid transmission of doc￾uments signed with a qualified electronic signature (section 3a of the VwVfG) solely via: qes￾posteingang@bafin.de UK domiciled payment and e-money institutions exercising cross-border passporting rights in Ger￾many Ref. no.: GIT-K 5100-2020/0001 (please quote in all correspondence) 22 December 2020 2020/4729937 EU passport under Article 28 of Directive 2015/2366/EU (PSD2) and/or Arti￾cle 3 (4) of Directive 2009/110/EC (EMD2) Dear Sir or Madam, We are writing to draw your attention to the European Commission’s notice to stakeholders of 7 July 2020 “Withdrawal of the United Kingdom and EU rules in the field of banking and payment services”. Upon your request, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) notified us that you intend to provide payment services and/or issue electronic money in Germany using the relevant EU passport. Subject to any transitional arrangements, UK entities and EEA branches of UK entities will no longer have the freedom to provide payment services under Annex I of the PSD2 and/or to issue electronic money to existing or new clients in Germany after the end of the transition period. They will lose the EU passport and will be treated as third-country entities. This will also affect contract continuity with your clients in Germany: after the end of the transition period. As a rule, payment services and electronic money services (issuance, distribution or redemption of e-money) provided by UK service providers to clients in Germany require prior authorisation from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – BaFin). If you intend to continue your business with clients in Germany after the end of the transition period, we strongly recommend that you contact the

German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Fi￾nanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – BaFin). Otherwise, BaFin may issue and enforce cease and desist orders against your institution. If you conduct your busi￾ness via branch, please send a copy of your intent also to the Deutsche Bundesbank. Please be aware that your institution will lose the freedom to provide ser￾vices in Germany. We therefore recommend that you develop a solution to mitigate the resulting risks. If you have already contacted BaFin or otherwise taken the necessary steps, you may disregard this information. Yours faithfully, Jens Obermöller