1. Member States shall require undertakings other
than those referred to in points (a), (b), (c), (e) and (f) of Article
1(1) and other than natural or legal persons benefiting from an
exemption pursuant to Article 32 or 33, who intend to provide payment
services, to obtain authorisation as a payment institution before
commencing the provision of payment services. An authorisation shall
only be granted to a legal person established in a Member State.
2. Competent authorities shall grant an
authorisation if the information and evidence accompanying the
application complies with all of the requirements laid down in Article 5
and if the competent authorities’ overall assessment, having
scrutinised the application, is favourable. Before granting an
authorisation, the competent authorities may, where relevant, consult
the national central bank or other relevant public authorities.
3. A payment institution which, under the
national law of its home Member State is required to have a registered
office, shall have its head office in the same Member State as its
registered office and shall carry out at least part of its payment
service business there.
4. The competent authorities shall grant an
authorisation only if, taking into account the need to ensure the sound
and prudent management of a payment institution, the payment institution
has robust governance arrangements for its payment services business,
which include a clear organisational structure with well-defined,
transparent and consistent lines of responsibility, effective procedures
to identify, manage, monitor and report the risks to which it is or
might be exposed, and adequate internal control mechanisms, including
sound administrative and accounting procedures; those arrangements,
procedures and mechanisms shall be comprehensive and proportionate to
the nature, scale and complexity of the payment services provided by the
payment institution.
5. Where a payment institution provides any of
the payment services as referred to in points (1) to (7) of Annex I and,
at the same time, is engaged in other business activities, the
competent authorities may require the establishment of a separate entity
for the payment services business, where the non-payment services
activities of the payment institution impair or are likely to impair
either the financial soundness of the payment institution or the ability
of the competent authorities to monitor the payment institution’s
compliance with all obligations laid down by this Directive.
6. The competent authorities shall refuse to
grant an authorisation if, taking into account the need to ensure the
sound and prudent management of a payment institution, they are not
satisfied as to the suitability of the shareholders or members that have
qualifying holdings.
7. Where close links as defined in point (38) of
Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 exist between the payment
institution and other natural or legal persons, the competent
authorities shall grant an authorisation only if those links do not
prevent the effective exercise of their supervisory functions.
8. The competent authorities shall grant an
authorisation only if the laws, regulations or administrative provisions
of a third country governing one or more natural or legal persons with
which the payment institution has close links, or difficulties involved
in the enforcement of those laws, regulations or administrative
provisions, do not prevent the effective exercise of their supervisory
functions.
9. An authorisation shall be valid in all Member
States and shall allow the payment institution concerned to provide the
payment services that are covered by the authorisation throughout the
Union, pursuant to the freedom to provide services or the freedom of
establishment.