ANNEX

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF TARGET2-ECB

TITLE I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Definitions

For the purposes of these Terms and Conditions (hereinafter the ‘Conditions’), the following definitions apply:

—

‘addressable BIC holder’ means an entity which: (a) holds a Bank Identifier Code (BIC); (b) is not recognised as an indirect participant; and (c) is a correspondent or customer of a direct participant or a branch of a direct or indirect participant, and is able to submit payment orders to and receive payments from a TARGET2 component system via the direct participant,

—

‘ancillary system (AS)’ means a system managed by an entity that is subject to supervision and/or oversight by a competent authority, in which payments and/or financial instruments are exchanged and/or cleared while the resulting monetary obligations are settled in TARGET2 in accordance with Guideline ECB/2007/2 and a bilateral arrangement between the ancillary system and the relevant CB,

—	‘ancillary system central bank (ASCB)’ means the Eurosystem CB with which the relevant AS has a bilateral arrangement for the settlement of AS payment instructions in the PM,

—	‘Ancillary System Interface (ASI)’ means the technical device allowing an AS to use a range of special, predefined services for the submission and settlement of AS payment instructions,

—	‘available liquidity’ (or ‘liquidity’) means a credit balance on a TARGET2 participant's PM account and, if applicable, any intraday credit line granted by the relevant CB in relation to such account,

—	‘Banking Directive’ means Directive 2006/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions (recast) (1);

—	‘Bank Identifier Code (BIC)’ means a code as defined by ISO Standard No 9362,

—	‘branch’ means a branch within the meaning of § 24a of the Gesetz über das Kreditwesen (KWG, German Law on banking),

—	‘business day’ means any day on which TARGET2 is open for the settlement of payment orders, as set out in Appendix V,

—	‘capacity opinion’ means a participant-specific opinion that contains an assessment of a participant's legal capacity to enter into and carry out its obligations under these Conditions,

—	‘central banks (CBs)’ means the Eurosystem CBs and the connected CBs,

—	‘connected CB’ means a national central bank (NCB), other than a Eurosystem CB, which is connected to TARGET2 pursuant to a specific agreement,

—	‘Contingency Module’ means the SSP module enabling the processing of critical and very critical payments in contingency situations,

—	‘credit institution’ means a credit institution within the meaning of § 1(1) of the KWG,

—	‘credit instruction’ means a payment instruction submitted by an AS and addressed to the ASCB to debit one of the accounts kept and/or managed by the AS in the PM, and to credit a settlement bank's PM account or sub-account by the amount specified therein,

—	‘credit transfer order’ means an instruction by a payer to make funds available to a payee by means of a book entry on a PM account,

—

‘debit instruction’ means a payment instruction addressed to the SCB and submitted by an AS to debit a settlement bank's PM account or sub-account by the amount specified therein, on the basis of a debit mandate, and to credit either one of the AS's accounts in the PM or another settlement bank's PM account or sub-account,

—	‘direct debit authorisation’ means a general instruction by a payer to its CB entitling and obliging that CB to debit the payer's account upon a direct debit instruction from a payee,

—	‘direct debit instruction’ means an instruction from a payee submitted to its CB pursuant to which the CB of the payer debits the payer's account by the amount specified in the instruction, on the basis of a direct debit authorization,

—

‘debit mandate’ means an authorisation by a settlement bank in the form provided by the Eurosystem CBs in the static data forms addressed to both its AS and its SCB, entitling the AS to submit debit instructions, and instructing the SCB to debit the settlement bank's PM account or sub-account as a result of debit instructions,

—	‘entry disposition’ means a payment processing phase during which TARGET2-ECB attempts to settle a payment order which has been accepted pursuant to Article 12, by means of specific procedures, as described in Article 18,

—	‘Eurosystem CB’ means the ECB or the NCB of a Member State that has adopted the euro,

—

‘event of default’ means any impending or existing event, the occurrence of which may threaten the performance by a participant of its obligations under these Conditions or any other rules applying to the relationship between that participant and the ECB or any other CB, including: (a) where the participant no longer meets the access criteria laid down in Article 4 or the requirements laid down in Article 6(1)(i); (b) the opening of insolvency proceedings in relation to the participant; (c) the submission of an application relating to the proceedings referred to in subparagraph (b); (d) the issue by the participant of a written declaration of its inability to pay all or any part of its debts or to meet its obligations arising in relation to intraday credit; (e) the entry of the participant into a voluntary general agreement or arrangement with its creditors; (f) where the participant is, or is deemed by its CB to be, insolvent or unable to pay its debts; (g) where the participant's credit balance on its PM account or all or a substantial part of the participant's assets are subject to a freezing order, attachment, seizure or any other procedure that is intended to protect the public interest or the rights of the participant's creditors; (h) where participation of the participant in another TARGET2 component system and/or in an ancillary system has been suspended or terminated; (i) where any material representation or pre-contractual statement made by the participant or which is implied to have been made by the participant under the applicable law is incorrect or untrue; or (j) the assignment of all or a substantial part of the participant's assets;

—	‘Information and Control Module (ICM)’ means the SSP module that allows participants to obtain on-line information and gives them the possibility to submit liquidity transfer orders, manage liquidity and initiate backup payment orders in contingency situations,

—	‘ICM broadcast message’ means information made simultaneously available to all or a selected group of TARGET2 participants via the ICM,

—

‘indirect participant’ means a credit institution established in the European Economic Area (EEA), which has entered into an agreement with a direct participant to submit payment orders and receive payments via such direct participant's PM account, and which has been recognised by a TARGET2 component system as an indirect participant,

—	‘insolvency proceedings’ means insolvency proceedings within the meaning of Article 2(j) of the Settlement Finality Directive,

—	‘instructing participant’ means a TARGET2 participant that has initiated a payment order,

—	‘intraday credit’ means credit extended for a period of less than one business day,

—	‘liquidity transfer order’ means a payment order, the main purpose of which is to transfer liquidity between different accounts of the same participant,

—	‘marginal lending facility’ means a Eurosystem standing facility which counterparties may use to receive overnight credit from a Eurosystem CB at the pre-specified marginal lending rate,

—	‘marginal lending rate’ means the interest rate applicable to the marginal lending facility,

—

‘multi-addressee access’ means the facility by which branches or credit institutions established in the EEA can access the relevant TARGET2 component system by submitting payment orders and/or receiving payments directly to and from the TARGET2 component system; this facility authorises these entities to submit their payment orders through the direct participant's PM account without that participant's involvement,

—	‘network service provider’ means the undertaking appointed by the ECB's Governing Council to provide computerised network connections for the purpose of submitting payment messages in TARGET2,

—	‘non-settled payment order’ means a payment order that is not settled on the same business day as that on which it is accepted,

—	‘participant’ (or ‘direct participant’) means an entity that holds at least one PM account with the ECB,

—	‘Participant Interface (PI)’ means the technical device allowing direct participants to submit and settle payment orders via the services offered in the PM,

—	‘payee’ means a TARGET2 participant whose PM account will be credited as a result of a payment order being settled,

—	‘payer’ means a TARGET2 participant whose PM account will be debited as a result of a payment order being settled,

—	‘payment instruction’ or ‘AS payment instruction’ means a credit instruction or a debit instruction,

—	‘payment order’ means a credit transfer order, a liquidity transfer order or a direct debit instruction,

—	‘Payments Module (PM)’ means an SSP module in which payments of TARGET2 participants are settled on PM accounts,

—	‘PM account’ means an account held by a TARGET2 participant in the PM with a CB which is necessary for such TARGET2 participant to: (a) submit payment orders or receive payments via TARGET2; and (b) settle such payments with such CB;

—

‘public sector body’ means an entity within the ‘public sector’, the latter term as defined in Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 3603/93 of 13 December 1993 specifying definitions for the application of the prohibitions referred to in Articles 104 and 104b(1) of the Treaty (2) (now Articles 101 and 103(1)),

—	‘settlement bank’ means a participant whose PM account or sub-account is used to settle AS payment instructions,

—	‘settlement central bank (SCB)’ means a Eurosystem CB holding a settlement bank's PM account,

—	‘Settlement Finality Directive’ means Directive 98/26/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 1998 on settlement finality in payment and securities settlement systems (3);

—	‘Single Shared Platform (SSP)’ means the single technical platform infrastructure provided by the SSP-providing CBs,

—	‘SSP-providing CBs’ means the Deutsche Bundesbank, the Banque de France and the Banca d'Italia in their capacity as the CBs building and operating the SSP for the Eurosystem's benefit,

—	‘static data collection form’ means a form developed by the ECB for the purpose of registering applicants for TARGET2-ECB services and registering any changes in relation to the provision of such services,

—	‘suspension’ means the temporary freezing of the rights and obligations of a participant for a period of time to be determined by the ECB,

—	‘TARGET2-ECB’ means the TARGET2 component system of the ECB,

—	‘TARGET2’ means the entirety resulting from all TARGET2 component systems of the CBs,

—	‘TARGET2 component system’ means any of the CBs' real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems that form part of TARGET2,

—	‘TARGET2 CUG’ means a subset of the network service provider's customers grouped for the purpose of their use of the relevant services and products of the network service provider when accessing the PM,

—	‘TARGET2 participant’ means any participant in any TARGET2 component system,

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‘technical malfunction of TARGET2’ means any difficulty, defect or failure in the technical infrastructure and/or the computer systems used by TARGET2-ECB, or any other event that makes it impossible to execute and complete the same-day processing of payments in TARGET2-ECB or, during the migration period, payments from national RTGS systems that have not yet migrated to TARGET2 and vice versa.

Article 2

Appendices

1.   The following Appendices form an integral part of these Conditions:

Appendix I	:	Technical specifications for the processing of payment orders
Appendix II	:	TARGET2 compensation scheme
Appendix III	:	Terms of reference for capacity and country opinions
Appendix IV	:	Business continuity and contingency procedures
Appendix V	:	Operating schedule
Appendix VI	:	Fee schedule and invoicing

2.   In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between the content of any appendix and the content of any other provision in these Conditions, the latter shall prevail.

Article 3

General description of TARGET2-ECB and TARGET2

1.   TARGET2 provides real-time gross settlement for payments in euro, with settlement in central bank money.

2.   The following payment orders are processed in TARGET2-ECB:

(a)	payment orders directly resulting from or made in connection with Eurosystem monetary policy operations;

(b)	settlement of the euro leg of foreign exchange operations involving the Eurosystem;

(c)	settlement of euro transfers resulting from transactions in cross-border large-value netting systems;

(d)	settlement of euro transfers resulting from transactions in euro retail payment systems of systemic importance; and

(e)	any other payment orders in euro addressed to TARGET2 participants.

3.   TARGET2 is established and functions on the basis of the SSP. The Eurosystem specifies the SSP's technical configuration and features. The SSP services are provided by the SSP-providing CBs for the benefit of the Eurosystem CBs, pursuant to separate agreements.

4.   The ECB is the provider of services under these Conditions. Acts and omissions of the SSP-providing CBs shall be considered acts and omissions of the ECB, for which it shall assume liability in accordance with Article 25 below. Participation pursuant to these Conditions shall not create a contractual relationship between participants and the SSP-providing CBs when the latter act in that capacity. Instructions, messages or information which a participant receives from, or sends to, the SSP in relation to the services provided under these Conditions are deemed to be received from, or sent to, the ECB.

5.   TARGET2 is legally structured as a multiplicity of payment systems composed of all the TARGET2 component systems, which are designated as ‘systems’ under the national laws implementing the Settlement Finality Directive. TARGET2-ECB is designated as a ‘system’ under § 1(16) of the KWG.

6.   Participation in TARGET2 takes effect via participation in a TARGET2 component system. These Conditions describe the mutual rights and obligations of participants in TARGET2-ECB and the ECB. The rules on the processing of payment orders (Title IV) refer to all payment orders submitted or payments received by any TARGET2 participant.

7.   No intraday credit is provided to participants in TARGET2-ECB.

TITLE II

PARTICIPATION

Article 4

Access criteria

Organisations providing clearing or settlement services (including entities established outside the EEA) that are subject to oversight by a competent authority and whose access to TARGET2-ECB has been approved by the Governing Council, shall be the only entities that are eligible for participation in TARGET2-ECB.

Article 5

Direct participants

Direct participants in TARGET2-ECB shall comply with the requirements set out in Article 6(1) and (2). They shall have at least one PM account with the ECB.

Article 6

Application procedure

1.   To join TARGET2-ECB, applicant participants shall fulfil the following technical and legal requirements:

(a)

install, manage, operate and monitor and ensure the security of the necessary IT infrastructure to connect to TARGET2-ECB and submit payment orders to it. In doing so, applicant participants may involve third parties, but retain sole liability. In particular, applicant participants shall enter into an agreement with the network service provider to obtain the necessary connection and admissions, in accordance with the technical specifications in Appendix I; and

(b)	have passed the tests required by the ECB;

(c)	provide a capacity opinion in the form specified in Appendix III, unless the information and representations to be provided in such capacity opinion have already been obtained by the ECB in another context; and

(d)	for entities established outside the EEA, provide a country opinion in the form specified in Appendix III, unless the information and representations to be provided in such country opinion have already been obtained by the ECB in another context.

2.   Applicants shall apply in writing to the ECB, as a minimum enclosing the following documents/information:

(a)	completed static data collection forms as provided by the ECB,

(b)	the capacity opinion, if required by the ECB, and

(c)	the country opinion, if required by the ECB.

3.   The ECB may also request any additional information it deems necessary to decide on the application to participate.

4.   The ECB shall reject the application to participate if:

(a)	access criteria referred to in Article 4 are not met;

(b)	one or more of the participation criteria referred to in paragraph 1 are not met; and/or

(c)

in the ECB's assessment, such participation would endanger the overall stability, soundness and safety of TARGET2-ECB or of any other TARGET2 component system, or would jeopardise the ECB's performance of its tasks as described in the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank.

5.   The ECB shall communicate its decision on the application to participate to the applicant within one month of the ECB's receipt of the application to participate. Where the ECB requests additional information pursuant to paragraph 3, the decision shall be communicated within one month of the ECB's receipt of this information from the applicant. Any rejection decision shall contain reasons for the rejection.

Article 7

TARGET2 directory

1.   The TARGET2 directory is the database of BICs used for the routing of payment orders addressed to:

(a)	TARGET2 participants and their branches with multi-addressee access;

(b)	indirect participants of TARGET2, including those with multi-addressee access; and

(c)	addressable BIC holders of TARGET2.

It shall be updated weekly.

2.   Unless otherwise requested by the participant, BICs shall be published in the TARGET2 directory.

3.   Participants may only distribute the TARGET2 directory to their branches and entities with multi-addressee access.

4.   Entities specified in paragraph 1(b) and (c) shall only use their BIC in relation to one direct participant.

TITLE III

OBLIGATIONS OF THE PARTIES

Article 8

Obligations of the ECB and the participants

1.   The ECB shall offer the services described in Title IV. Save where otherwise provided in these Conditions or required by law, the ECB shall use all reasonable means within its power to perform its obligations under these Conditions, without guaranteeing a result.

2.   Participants shall pay to the ECB the fees laid down in Appendix VI.

3.   Participants shall ensure that they are connected to TARGET2-ECB on business days, in accordance with the operating schedule in Appendix V.

4.   The participant represents and warrants to the ECB that the performance of its obligations under these Conditions does not breach any law, regulation or by-law applicable to it or any agreement by which it is bound.

Article 9

Cooperation and information exchange

1.   In performing their obligations and exercising their rights under these Conditions, the ECB and participants shall cooperate closely to ensure the stability, soundness and safety of TARGET2-ECB. They shall provide each other with any information or documents relevant for the performance of their respective obligations and the exercise of their respective rights under these Conditions, without prejudice to any banking secrecy obligations.

2.   The ECB shall establish and maintain a system support desk to assist participants in relation to difficulties arising in connection with system operations.

3.   Up-to-date information on the SSP's operational status shall be available on the TARGET2 Information System (T2IS). The T2IS may be used to obtain information on any event affecting the normal operation of TARGET2.

4.   The ECB may either communicate messages to participants by means of an ICM broadcast or by any other means of communication.

5.   Participants are responsible for the timely update of existing static data collection forms and the submission of new static data collection forms to the ECB. Participants are responsible for verifying the accuracy of information relating to them that is entered into TARGET2-ECB by the ECB.

6.   The ECB shall be deemed to be authorised to communicate to the SSP-providing CBs any information relating to participants which the SSP-providing CBs may need in their role as service administrators, in accordance with the contract entered into with the network service provider.

7.   Participants shall inform the ECB about any change in their legal capacity and relevant legislative changes affecting issues covered by the country opinion relating to them.

8.   Participants shall immediately inform the ECB if an event of default occurs in relation to them.

TITLE IV

MANAGEMENT OF PM ACCOUNTS AND PROCESSING OF PAYMENT ORDERS

Article 10

Opening and management of PM accounts

1.   The ECB shall open and operate at least one PM account and, if applicable, sub-accounts, for each participant.

2.   No debit balance shall be allowed on PM accounts.

3.   PM accounts and their sub-accounts shall be interest free.

4.   Participants shall use the ICM to obtain information on their liquidity position. The ECB shall provide a daily statement of accounts to any participant that has opted for such service.

Article 11

Types of payment orders

The following are classified as payment orders for the purposes of TARGET2:

(a)	credit transfer orders;

(b)	direct debit instructions carried out under a direct debit authorisation; and

(c)	liquidity transfer orders.

Article 12

Acceptance and rejection of payment orders

1.   Payment orders submitted by participants are deemed accepted by the ECB if:

(a)	the payment message complies with the rules established by the network service provider;

(b)	the payment message complies with the formatting rules and conditions of TARGET2-ECB and passes the double-entry check described in Appendix I; and

(c)	in cases where a payer or a payee has been suspended, the suspended participant's CB's explicit consent has been obtained.

2.   The ECB shall immediately reject any payment order that does not fulfil the conditions laid down in paragraph 1. The ECB shall inform the participant of any rejection of a payment order, as specified in Appendix I.

Article 13

Priority rules

1.   Instructing participants shall designate every payment order as one of the following:

(a)	normal payment order (priority class 2);

(b)	urgent payment order (priority class 1); or

(c)	highly urgent payment order (priority class 0).

If a payment order does not indicate the priority, it shall be treated as a normal payment order.

2.   Highly urgent payment orders may only be designated by:

(a)

CBs; and

(b)	participants, in cases of payments to and from CLS International Bank and liquidity transfers in favour of ancillary systems.

All payment instructions submitted by an ancillary system through the Ancillary System Interface to debit or credit the participants' PM accounts shall be deemed to be highly urgent payment orders.

3.   In the case of urgent and normal payment orders, the payer may change the priority via the ICM with immediate effect. It shall not be possible to change the priority of a highly urgent payment.

Article 14

Liquidity limits

1.   A participant may limit the use of available liquidity for payment orders in relation to other TARGET2 participants, except any of the CBs, by setting bilateral or multilateral limits. Such limits may only be set in relation to normal payment orders.

2.   By setting a bilateral limit, a participant instructs the ECB that an accepted payment order shall not be settled if the sum of its outgoing normal payment orders to another TARGET2 participant's PM account minus the sum of all incoming urgent and normal payments from such TARGET2 participant's PM account would exceed this bilateral limit.

3.   A participant may set a multilateral limit for any relationship that is not subject to a bilateral limit. A multilateral limit may only be set if the participant has set at least one bilateral limit. If a participant sets a multilateral limit, it instructs the ECB that an accepted payment order shall not be settled if the sum of its outgoing normal payment orders to all TARGET2 participants' PM accounts in relation to which no bilateral limit has been set, minus the sum of all incoming urgent and normal payments from such PM accounts would exceed this multilateral limit.

4.   The minimum amount of any of the limits shall be EUR 1 million. A bilateral or a multilateral limit with an amount of zero shall be treated as if no limit has been set. Limits between zero and EUR 1 million are not possible.

5.   Limits may be changed in real time with immediate effect or with effect from the next business day via the ICM. If a limit is changed to zero, it shall not be possible to change it again on the same business day. The setting of a new bilateral or multilateral limit shall only be effective from the next business day.

Article 15

Liquidity reservation facilities

1.   Participants may reserve liquidity for highly urgent or urgent payment orders via the ICM.

2.   By requesting to reserve a certain amount of liquidity for highly urgent payment orders, a participant instructs the ECB only to settle urgent and normal payment orders if there is available liquidity after the amount reserved for highly urgent payment orders has been deducted.

3.   By requesting to reserve a certain amount of liquidity for urgent payment orders, a participant instructs the ECB only to settle normal payment orders if there is available liquidity after the amount reserved for urgent and highly urgent payment orders has been deducted.

4.   After receipt of the reservation request the ECB shall check whether the amount of liquidity on the participant's PM account is sufficient for the reservation. If this is not the case, only the liquidity available on the PM account shall be reserved. The rest of the requested liquidity reservation shall not be reserved automatically at any later point in time, even if the amount of liquidity available on the participant's PM account reaches the level of the initial reservation request.

5.   The level of the liquidity reservation may be changed. Participants may make a request via the ICM to reserve new amounts with immediate effect or with effect from the next business day.

Article 16

Predetermined settlement times

1.   Instructing participants may predetermine the settlement time of the payment orders within a business day by using the Earliest Debit Time Indicator or the Latest Debit Time Indicator.

2.   When the Earliest Debit Time Indicator is used, the accepted payment order is stored and only entered into the entry disposition at the indicated time.

3.   When the Latest Debit Time Indicator is used, the accepted payment order shall be returned as non-settled if it cannot be settled by the indicated debit time. 15 minutes prior to the defined debit time, the instructing participant shall be sent an automatic notification via the ICM. Instructing participant may also use the Latest Debit Time Indicator solely as a warning indicator. In such cases, the payment order concerned shall not be returned.

4.   Instructing participants can change the Earliest Debit Time Indicator and the Latest Debit Time Indicator via the ICM.

5.   Further technical details are contained in Appendix I.

Article 17

Payment orders submitted in advance

1.   Payment orders may be submitted up to five business days before the specified settlement date (warehoused payment orders).

2.   Warehoused payment orders shall be accepted and entered into the entry disposition on the date specified by the instructing participant at the start of daytime processing, as referred to in Appendix V. They shall be placed in front of payment orders of the same priority.

3.   Articles 13(3), 20(2) and 23(1)(a) shall apply mutatis mutandis to warehoused payment orders.

Article 18

Settlement of payment orders in the entry disposition

1.   Unless instructing participants have indicated the settlement time in the manner described in Article 16, accepted payment orders shall be settled immediately or at the latest by the end of the business day on which they were accepted, provided that sufficient funds are available on the payer's PM account and taking into account any liquidity limits and liquidity reservations as referred to in Articles 14 and 15.

2.   Funding may be provided by:

(a)	the available liquidity on the PM account; or

(b)	incoming payments from other TARGET2 participants, subject to the applicable optimisation procedures.

3.   For highly urgent payment orders the ‘first in, first out’ (FIFO) principle shall apply. This means that highly urgent payment orders shall be settled in chronological order. Urgent and normal payment orders shall not be settled for as long as highly urgent payment orders are queued.

4.   For urgent payment orders the FIFO principle shall also apply. Normal payment orders shall not be settled if urgent and highly urgent payment orders are queued.

5.   By derogation from paragraphs 3 and 4, payment orders with a lower priority (or of the same priority but accepted later) may be settled before payment orders with a higher priority (or of the same priority which were accepted earlier), if the payment orders with a lower priority would net out with payments to be received and result on balance in a liquidity increase for the payer.

6.   Normal payment orders shall be settled in accordance with the FIFO by-passing principle. This means that they may be settled immediately (independently of other queued normal payments accepted at an earlier time) and may therefore breach the FIFO principle, provided that sufficient funds are available.

7.   Further details on the settlement of payment orders in the entry disposition are contained in Appendix I.

Article 19

Settlement and return of queued payment orders

1.   Payment orders that are not settled immediately in the entry disposition shall be placed in the queues in accordance with the priority to which they were designated by the relevant participant, as referred to in Article 13.

2.   To optimise the settlement of queued payment orders, the ECB may use the optimisation procedures described in Appendix I.

3.   The payer may change the queue position of payment orders in a queue (i.e. reorder them) via the ICM. Payment orders may be moved either to the front or to the end of the respective queue with immediate effect at any time during daytime processing, as referred to in Appendix V.

4.   Liquidity transfer orders initiated in the ICM shall be immediately returned as non-settled if there is insufficient liquidity. Other payment orders shall be returned as non-settled if they cannot be settled by the cut-off times for the relevant message type, as specified in Appendix V.

Article 20

Entry of payment orders into the system and their irrevocability

1.   For the purposes of the first sentence of Article 3(1) of the Settlement Finality Directive and the third sentence of § 116, § 96(2), § 82 and § 340(3) of the Insolvenzordnung (German Insolvency Code) and the sixth sentence of § 46a(1) of the KWG, payment orders are deemed entered into TARGET2-ECB at the moment that the relevant participant's PM account is debited.

2.   Payment orders may be revoked until they are entered into TARGET2-ECB in accordance with paragraph 1. Payment orders that are included in an algorithm, as referred to in Appendix I, may not be revoked during the period that the algorithm is running.

TITLE V

SECURITY REQUIREMENTS AND CONTINGENCY ISSUES

Article 21

Business continuity and contingency procedures

In the event of an abnormal external event or any other event which affects the operation of the SSP, the business continuity and contingency procedures described in Appendix IV shall apply.

Article 22

Security requirements

1.   Participants shall implement adequate security controls to protect their systems from unauthorised access and use. Participants shall be exclusively responsible for the adequate protection of the confidentiality, integrity and availability of their systems.

2.   Participants shall inform the ECB of any security-related incidents in their technical infrastructure and, where appropriate, security-related incidents that occur in the technical infrastructure of the third party providers. The ECB may request further information about the incident and, if necessary, request that the participant take appropriate measures to prevent a recurrence of such an event.

3.   The ECB may impose additional security requirements on all participants and/or on participants that are considered critical by the ECB.

TITLE VI

THE INFORMATION AND CONTROL MODULE

Article 23

Use of the ICM

1.   The ICM:

(a)	allows participants to access information relating to their accounts and to manage liquidity;

(b)	may be used to initiate liquidity transfer orders; and

(c)	allows participants to initiate backup lump sum and backup contingency payments in the event of a failure of the participant's payment infrastructure.

2.   Further technical details relating to the ICM are contained in Appendix I.

TITLE VII

COMPENSATION, LIABILITY REGIME AND EVIDENCE

Article 24

Compensation scheme

If a payment order cannot be settled on the same business day on which it was accepted due to a technical malfunction of TARGET2, the ECB shall offer to compensate the direct participants concerned in accordance with the special procedure laid down in Appendix II.

Article 25

Liability regime

1.   In performing their obligations pursuant to these Conditions, the ECB and the participants shall be bound by a general duty of reasonable care in relation to each other.

2.   The ECB shall be liable to its participants in cases of fraud (including but not limited to wilful misconduct) or gross negligence, for any loss arising out of the operation of TARGET2-ECB. In cases of ordinary negligence, the ECB's liability shall be limited to the participant's direct loss, i.e. the amount of the transaction in question and/or the loss of interest thereon, excluding any consequential loss.

3.   The ECB is not liable for any loss that results from any malfunction or failure in the technical infrastructure (including but not limited to the ECB's computer infrastructure, programmes, data, applications or networks), if such malfunction or failure arises in spite of the ECB having adopted those measures that are reasonably necessary to protect such infrastructure against malfunction or failure, and to resolve the consequences of such malfunction or failure (the latter including but not limited to initiating and completing the business continuity and contingency procedures referred to in Appendix IV).

4.   The ECB shall not be liable:

(a)	to the extent that the loss is caused by the participant; or

(b)	if the loss arises out of external events beyond the ECB's reasonable control (force majeure).

5.   Notwithstanding § § 676a, 676b, 676c, 676e and 676g of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (German Civil Code), paragraphs 1 to 4 shall apply to the extent that the ECB's liability can be excluded.

6.   The ECB and the participants shall take all reasonable and practicable steps to mitigate any damage or loss referred to in this Article.

7.   In performing some or all of its obligations under these Conditions, the ECB may commission third parties in its own name, particularly telecommunications or other network providers or other entities, if this is necessary to meet the ECB's obligations or is standard market practice. The ECB's obligation shall be limited to the due selection and commissioning of any such third parties and the ECB's liability shall be limited accordingly. For the purposes of this paragraph, the SSP-providing CBs shall not be considered as third parties.

Article 26

Evidence

1.   Unless otherwise provided in these Conditions, all payment and payment processing-related messages in relation to TARGET2, such as confirmations of debits or credits, or statement messages, between the ECB and participants shall be made through the network service provider.

2.   Electronic or written records of the messages retained by the ECB or by the network service provider shall be accepted as a means of evidence of the payments processed through the ECB. The saved or printed version of the original message of the network service provider shall be accepted as a means of evidence, regardless of the form of the original message.

3.   If a participant's connection to the network service provider fails, the participant shall use the alternative means of transmission of messages laid down in Appendix IV. In such cases, the saved or printed version of the message produced by the ECB shall have the same evidential value as the original message, regardless of its form.

4.   The ECB shall keep complete records of payment orders submitted and payments received by participants for a period of 10 years from the time at which such payment orders are submitted and payments are received.

5.   The ECB's own books and records (whether kept on paper, microfilm, microfiche, by electronic or magnetic recording, in any other mechanically reproducible form or otherwise) shall be accepted as a means of evidence of any obligations of the participants and of any facts and events that the parties rely on.

TITLE VIII

TERMINATION OF PARTICIPATION AND CLOSURE OF ACCOUNTS

Article 27

Duration and ordinary termination of participation

1.   Without prejudice to Article 28, participation in TARGET2-ECB is for an indefinite period of time.

2.   A participant may terminate its participation in TARGET2-ECB at any time giving 14 business days' notice thereof, unless it agrees a shorter notice period with the ECB.

3.   The ECB may terminate a participant's participation in TARGET2-ECB at any time giving three months' notice thereof, unless it agrees a different notice period with that participant.

4.   On termination of participation, the confidentiality duties laid down in Article 32 remain in force for a period of five years starting on the date of termination.

5.   On termination of participation, the PM accounts of the participant concerned shall be closed in accordance with Article 29.

Article 28

Suspension and extraordinary termination of participation

1.   A participant's participation in TARGET2-ECB shall be immediately terminated without prior notice or suspended if one of the following events of default occurs:

(a)	the opening of insolvency proceedings; and/or

(b)	the participant no longer meets the access criteria laid down in Article 4.

2.   The ECB may terminate without prior notice or suspend the participant's participation in TARGET2-ECB if:

(a)	one or more events of default (other than those referred to in paragraph 1) occur;

(b)	the participant is in material breach of these Conditions;

(c)	the participant fails to carry out any material obligation to the ECB;

(d)	the participant is excluded from, or otherwise ceases to be a member of, a TARGET2 CUG; and/or

(e)

any other participant-related event occurs which, in the ECB's assessment, would threaten the overall stability, soundness and safety of TARGET2-ECB or of any other TARGET2 component system, or which would jeopardise the ECB's performance of its tasks as described in the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank.

3.   In exercising its discretion under paragraph 2, the ECB shall take into account, inter alia, the seriousness of the event of default or events mentioned in subparagraphs (a) to (c).

4.

(a) In the event that the ECB suspends or terminates a participant's participation in TARGET2-ECB under paragraph 1 or 2, the ECB shall immediately inform that participant, other CBs and the other participants of such suspension or termination by means of an ICM broadcast message. (b) In the event that the ECB is informed by another CB of a suspension or termination of a participant in another TARGET2 component system, the ECB shall immediately inform its participants of such suspension or termination by means of an ICM broadcast message. (c) Once such an ICM broadcast message has been received by the participants, the latter shall be deemed informed of the termination/suspension of a participant's participation in TARGET2-ECB or another TARGET2 component system. The participants shall bear any losses arising from the submission of a payment order to participants whose participation has been suspended or terminated if such payment order was entered into TARGET2-ECB after receipt of the ICM broadcast message.

5.   Upon termination of a participant's participation, TARGET2-ECB shall not accept any new payment orders from such participant. Payment orders in the queue, warehoused payment orders or new payment orders in favour of such participant shall be returned.

6.   If a participant is suspended from TARGET2-ECB, all its incoming payments and outgoing payment orders shall be stored and only entered into the entry disposition after they have been explicitly accepted by the suspended participant's CB.

Article 29

Closure of PM accounts

1.   Participants may close their PM accounts at any time provided they give the ECB 14 business days' notice thereof.

2.   On termination of participation, pursuant to either Article 27 or 28, the ECB shall close the PM accounts of the participant concerned, after having:

(a)	settled or returned any queued payment orders; and

(b)	made use of its rights of pledge and set-off under Article 30.

TITLE IX

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 30

The ECB's rights of pledge and set-off

1.   The ECB shall have a pledge over the participant's existing and future credit balances on its PM accounts, thereby collateralising any current and future claims arising out of the legal relationship between the parties.

2.   On the occurrence of:

(a)	an event of default referred to in Article 28(1); or

(b)	any other event of default or event referred to in Article 28(2) that has led to the termination or suspension of the participant's participation in TARGET2-ECB

notwithstanding the commencement of any insolvency proceedings in respect of a participant and notwithstanding any assignment, judicial or other attachment or other disposition of or in respect of the participant's rights, all obligations of the participant shall be automatically and immediately accelerated, without prior notice and without the need for any prior approval of any authority, so as to be immediately due. In addition, the mutual obligations of the participant and the ECB shall automatically be set off against each other, and the party owing the higher amount shall pay to the other the difference.

3.   The ECB shall promptly give the participant notice of any set-off pursuant to paragraph 2 after such set-off has taken place.

4.   The ECB may without prior notice debit any participant's PM account by any amount which the participant owes the ECB resulting from the legal relationship between the participant and the ECB.

Article 31

Security rights in relation to funds on sub-accounts

1.   The ECB shall have a pledge over the balance on a participant's sub-account opened for the settlement of AS-related payment instructions under the arrangements between the relevant ancillary system and its CB. Such balance shall collateralise the participant's obligation referred to in paragraph 7 towards the ECB in relation to such settlement.

2.   The ECB shall freeze the balance on the sub-account of the participant upon communication by the ancillary system (via a ‘start-of-cycle’ message). Such freezing shall expire upon communication by the ancillary system (via an ‘end-of-cycle’ message).

3.   By confirming the freezing of the balance on the participant's sub-account, the ECB guarantees to the ancillary system payment up to the amount of this particular balance. The guarantee shall be irrevocable, unconditional and payable on first demand. If the ECB is not the ancillary system's CB, the ECB shall be deemed instructed to issue the abovementioned guarantee to the ancillary system's CB.

4.   In the absence of any insolvency proceedings in relation to the participant, the AS-related payment instructions for the squaring of the participant's settlement obligation shall be settled without drawing on the guarantee and without recourse to the security right over the balance on the participant's sub-account.

5.   In the event of the participant's insolvency, the AS-related payment instruction for the squaring of the participant's settlement obligation shall be a first demand for payment under the guarantee; the debiting of the instructed amount from the participant's sub-account (and crediting of the AS's technical account) shall therefore equally involve the discharge of the guarantee obligation by the ECB and a realisation of its collateral right over the balance on the participant's sub-account.

6.   The guarantee shall expire upon communication by the ancillary system that the settlement has been completed (via an ‘end-of-cycle’ message).

7.   The participant shall be obliged to reimburse to the ECB any payment made by the latter under such guarantee.

Article 32

Confidentiality

1.   The ECB shall keep confidential all sensitive or secret information, including when such information relates to payment, technical or organisational information belonging to the participant or the participant's customers, unless the participant or its customer has given its written consent to disclose.

2.   By derogation from paragraph 1, the participant agrees that the ECB may disclose payment, technical or organisational information regarding the participant or the participant's customers obtained in the course of the operation of TARGET2-ECB to other CBs or third parties that are involved in the operation of TARGET2-ECB, to the extent that this is necessary for the efficient functioning of TARGET2, or to supervisory and oversight authorities of Member States and the Community, to the extent that this is necessary for the performance of their public tasks, and provided in all such cases that the disclosure is not in conflict with the applicable law. The ECB shall not be liable for the financial and commercial consequences of such disclosure.

3.   By derogation from paragraph 1 and provided this does not make it possible, whether directly or indirectly, to identify the participant or the participant's customers, the ECB may use, disclose or publish payment information regarding the participant or the participant's customers for statistical, historical, scientific or other purposes in the exercise of its public functions or of functions of other public entities to whom the information is disclosed.

4.   Information relating to the operation of TARGET2-ECB to which participants have had access, may only be used for the purposes laid down in these Conditions. Participants shall keep such information confidential, unless the ECB has explicitly given its written consent to disclose. Participants shall ensure that any third parties to whom they outsource, delegate or subcontract tasks which have or may have an impact on the performance of their obligations under these Conditions are bound by the confidentiality requirements in this Article.

5.   The ECB shall be authorised, in order to settle payment orders, to process and transfer the necessary data to the network service provider.

Article 33

Data protection, prevention of money laundering and related issues

1.   Participants shall be deemed to be aware of, and shall comply with, all obligations on them relating to legislation on data protection, prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, in particular in terms of implementing appropriate measures concerning any payments debited or credited on their PM accounts. Participants shall also acquaint themselves with the network service provider's data retrieval policy prior to entering into the contractual relationship with the network service provider.

2.   Participants shall be deemed to have authorised the ECB to obtain any information relating to them from any financial or supervisory authority or trade body, whether national or foreign, if such information is necessary for the participant's participation in TARGET2-ECB.

Article 34

Notices

1.   Except where otherwise provided for in these Conditions, all notices required or permitted pursuant to these Conditions shall be sent by registered post, facsimile or otherwise in writing or by an authenticated message through the network service provider. Notices to the ECB shall be submitted to Director General of the ECB's Directorate General Payment Systems and Market Infrastructure, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany or to the SWIFT address of the ECB: ECBFDEFF. Notices to the participant shall be sent to it at the address, fax number or its SWIFT address as the participant may from time to time notify to the ECB.

2.   To prove that a notice has been sent, it shall be sufficient to prove that the notice was delivered to the relevant address or that the envelope containing such notice was properly addressed and posted.

3.   All notices shall be given in English.

4.   Participants shall be bound by all forms and documents of the ECB that the participants have filled in and/or signed, including but not limited to static data collection forms, as referred to in Article 6(2)(a), and information provided under Article 9(5), which were submitted in compliance with paragraphs 1 and 2 and which the ECB reasonably believes to have received from the participants, their employees or agents.

Article 35

Contractual relationship with network service provider

1.   For the purposes of these Conditions, the network service provider is SWIFT. Each participant shall enter into a separate agreement with SWIFT regarding the services to be provided by SWIFT in relation to the participant's use of TARGET2-ECB. The legal relationship between a participant and SWIFT shall be exclusively governed by SWIFT's terms and conditions.

2.   Each participant shall also participate in a TARGET2 CUG, as specified by the SSP-providing CBs acting as the SWIFT service administrator for the SSP. Admission and exclusion of a participant to or from a TARGET2 CUG shall take effect once communicated to SWIFT by the SWIFT service administrator.

3.   Participants shall comply with the TARGET2 SWIFT Service Profile, as made available by the ECB.

4.   The services to be provided by SWIFT shall not form part of the services to be performed by the ECB in respect of TARGET2.

5.   The ECB shall not be liable for any acts, errors or omissions of SWIFT (including its directors, staff and subcontractors) as provider of SWIFT services, or for any acts, errors or omissions of network providers selected by participants to gain access to the SWIFT network.

Article 36

Amendment procedure

The ECB may at any time unilaterally amend these Conditions, including its Appendices. Amendments to these Conditions, including its Appendices, shall be announced by means of communication in writing to the participants. Amendments shall be deemed to have been accepted unless the participant expressly objects within 14 days of being informed of such amendments. In the event that a participant objects to the amendment, the ECB is entitled immediately to terminate that participant's participation in TARGET2-ECB and close any of its PM accounts.

Article 37

Third party rights

1.   Any rights, interests, obligations, responsibilities and claims arising from or relating to these Conditions shall not be transferred, pledged or assigned by participants to any third party without the ECB's written consent.

2.   These Conditions do not create any rights in favour of or obligations in relation to any entity other than the ECB and participants in TARGET2-ECB.

Article 38

Governing law, jurisdiction and place of performance

1.   The bilateral relationship between the ECB and participants in TARGET2-ECB shall be governed by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany.

2.   Any dispute arising from a matter relating to the relationship referred to in paragraph 1 falls under the exclusive competence of the courts of Frankfurt am Main, without prejudice to the competence of the Court of Justice of the European Communities.

3.   The place of performance concerning the legal relationship between the ECB and the participants shall be Frankfurt am Main, Federal Republic of Germany.

Article 39

Severability

If any provision in these Conditions is or becomes invalid, this shall not prejudice the applicability of all the other provisions of these Conditions.

Article 40

Entry into force and binding nature

1.   These Conditions become effective from 19 May 2008, unless the ECB communicates another date of entry into force to the participants.

2.   By participating in TARGET2-ECB, participants automatically agree to these Conditions between themselves and in relation to the ECB.

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(1)  OJ L 177, 30.6.2006, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 332, 31.12.1993, p. 1.

(3)  OJ L 166, 11.6.1998, p. 45.