Italian register of central contact points, payment services agents and e-money distributors

On 6 September 2022, the decree of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance containing rules for the establishment of the Italian register of central contact points (“CCPs”), payment service agents and e-money distributors was published in the Official Gazette (“Decree”).

The purpose of the register - to be kept by Organismo per la gestione degli Elenchi degli Agenti in attività finanziaria e dei Mediatori creditizi (“OAM”) - is to ensure a more efficient AML supervision of the activities carried out by payment services agents and e-money distributors operating in Italy on behalf of payment service providers and e-money institutions (“PSPs”).

Pursuant to the Decree, both Italian and EU PSPs operating in Italy through payment services agents and/or e-money distributors are subject to the following reporting obligations toward OAM:

• CCP: EU PSPs must report to OAM data of the CCP established in Italy. The CCP must then notify OAM of the commencement of activities in Italy;

• Payment services agents/e-money distributors: PSPs – through the CCP if established – must report to OAM data of the agents/distributors (including, among other things, the address of the point of sales where the activity is actually carried out and the data of the responsible person as well as the express indication of the provision of money remittance services). The reporting is due on a half-yearly basis within 1^st and 15^th January and 1^st and 15^th July of each year;

• Reporting on the termination of agreements: PSPs – through the CCP if established – must notify OAM of the termination of the relationship with payment services agents and/or e-money distributors for non-commercial reasons (e.g. in case of serious breach of applicable rules) within 30 days.

Next steps

OAM is to adopt relevant secondary implementing measures and is required to establish the register within the next 3 months.  The Decree is available here (in Italian only).

Authored by Jeffrey Greenbaum and Elisabetta Zeppieri.