The online course addresses ensuring efficient, strong and reliable payment and settlement systems. It will give an overview of the legal basis of oversight, Eurosystem oversight policy framework and international guidelines.

We will focus on the oversight of payment systems, payment infrastructures and service providers, and securities settlement systems. Participants will receive a good overview of payment and settlement systems, international guidelines, European and national frameworks. Actual challenges of oversight will be discussed, especially in connection to innovations in payment systems. We will discuss operational issues and coordination with other stakeholders. The workshop will provide practical a lot of room for discussion and exchange of different practices and identified challenges. Participants are expected to actively participate and share their experience. Good command of English is necessary.

It will be delivered in a form of four webinars, which will last approximately 1.5-2 hours. They will take place on June 23, June 26, June 30 and July 3 - all at 10am CET.

Participants are expected to turn in a short assignment during the course.

Topics to be covered

Overview of payments systems in Europe

• Large value payment systems
• Retail payment systems

The conduct of oversight

• Principles and organization
• Oversight at the national level
• Oversight at the European level

How the Bank of France conducts oversight

• Organization
• The concept of continuous oversight
• Assessments

How the Bank of Slovenia conducts oversight

• Oversight in practice, case of a small central bank

Target2 and Target2Securities

• Common features and optional features
• Participation criteria
• The consolidation project: future RTGS services
• Oversight and the consolidation project

Oversight in action

• Cyber resilience
• Financial security mechanisms
• Instant payments

Target audience

Employees from central banks or ministries of finance involved in oversight of payment and settlement systems or those involved in policy and development of financial market infrastructures are welcome to apply.  The workshop might be of interest to central bank internal auditors in charge of auditing payment systems.

Faculty

• Yasmina Safy, Head of Markets and Operations Unit, International Banking and Finance Institute, Banque de France

Yasmina graduated in electrical engineering in Lyon (Institut National des Sciences Appliquées). After two years as a microchip software programmer, she joined a large French bank and specialized in electronic payments where she also acted for 12 years as representative within French, European and International organizations in the means of payment area such as ISO, ECBS, EBA CLEARING and EPC. In 2004, she joined EBA CLEARING as a project manager of the Italian credit transfers migration to the European platform STEP2 and acted as a relationship manager for all services (retail and high value payment services, payment initiation services). In 2012, she joined the Interbank Settlement Division of the Banque de France in charge of TARGET2 operations (daily monitoring, crisis management, relations with French banks and back-offices of the Banque de France) and is now in charge of the Markets and Operations Unit at the IBFI of the Banque de France.

• Benjamin Alford, Expert in Financial Market Infrastructure Oversight, Payment Systems and Market Infrastructures Oversight Division, Banque de France

Born in Southampton (United Kingdom), Benjamin moved to France in 2001 where he has lived ever since. He graduated from Sciences Po Rennes in 2018 with a master’s degree in public administration. He then passed the Banque de France’s entrance exam and subsequently joined the Payment Systems and Market Infrastructures Oversight Division. As part of the Oversight team, Benjamin oversees a number of French and European payment systems (such as CORE(FR), STEP2-T and TARGET2), while also contributing towards policy questions related to payment systems and other FMIs.

• Samo Lučev, Senior Supervisor, Payment and Settlement Systems Department, Bank of Slovenia

Samo has been working at the Bank of Slovenia since 2007. He is responsible for various tasks on the field of central bank function of oversight of payment systems. As a representative of the Bank of Slovenia, Samo Lučev is a member of the Payment and Securities Working Group at the ESCB level and of the European Forum for the Security of Retail Payments (SecuRe Pay). Samo graduated at the Faculty of Economics and Business in Maribor.

• Anže Božič, Senior Supervisor, Payment and Settlement Systems Department, Bank of Slovenia

Graduate of the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana, and holder of an LL.M. degree, Institute for Law and Finance, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Anže started working at the Bank of Slovenia in 2012. After working in International Relations and Secretariat, Anže moved to the Payment and Settlement Systems Department in 2019, where his work mainly relates to the oversight of payment systems. Anže is also an alternate member of the Payment and Securities Working Group at the ESCB level.

Partners

This learning initiative was supported by: