Admission criteria and default rules

In order to be eligible to participate in the EURO1 system, an entity has to fulfil certain legal, financial and operational criteria.

Legal criteria

An entity has to:

  • be authorised to conduct banking business
  • have its registered office in a member state of the EU or in an OECD country
  • participate in the EURO1 System from its registered address or a branch located in the EU
  • provide a capacity opinion
  • not be a member of the same group as an existing EURO1 Participant (for Pre-fund Participants the requirement is to be a member of the same bank group as a EURO1 Participant)

In addition, the laws of all the jurisdictions from where a participating bank accesses the system must recognise the Single Obligation Structure, which forms the legal basis of the system.

Financial criteria (applying upon admission)

A bank has to:

  • have own funds of at least EUR 1.25 billion 
  • have a short-term credit rating of at least P2 (Moody’s) or A2 (S&P), or equivalent

Operational criteria

A bank has to:

  • have direct access to TARGET2 
  • have adequate technical and operational facilities, including back-up facilities, and staffing for the purposes of participation in the system

Change dates

Please note that there will be a freeze period from Saturday, 19 December 2022 until Sunday, 6 January 2023.

 

Monthly change dates are agreed for changes to EURO1 participation. This includes the connection of new participants to the system and the addition of sub-participants as sub-addresses.  

  • 5 December 2022
  • 9 January 2023
  • 6 February 2023
  • 6 March 2023
  • 3 April 2023
  • 8 May 2023
  • 5 June 2023
  • 3 July 2023
  • 7 August 2023
  • 4 September 2023
  • 9 October 2023
  • 6 November 2023
  • 4 December 2023

Default rules

A participant in EURO1 may voluntarily withdraw from the system upon at least 30 days’ notice. 

A participant can be prevented by the System Operator from continuing to participate in the system if certain events occur:

Temporary suspension

Failure to comply with the operational and legal criteria for participation and failure to pay or replenish when due settlement related obligations constitute suspension events. 

Where relevant, an inquiry notice is sent to the participant to confirm the occurrence of a suspension event. 

Participants must remedy the cause of a suspension event. An appeals procedure is in place in case the System Operator denies to terminate a suspension.

Exclusion

Events that may give rise to exclusion comprise in particular 

  1. confirmed insolvency events 
  2. loss or authorisation to conduct banking business 
  3. unremedied suspension 

Payment messages to and from a participant that is suspended or excluded will not be processed for the duration of a suspension, respectively as from the moment of exclusion. 

The occurrence of a suspension or exclusion event and the consequences thereof for the suspended / excluded participant and for the other participants are determined solely in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the rules governing the system.  The system’s rules are proprietary and confidential, and are available to all participants, to prospective participants that have applied to become a participant, and to relevant authorities including in particular the European Central Bank / Eurosystem as overseer of EURO1.

Pricing

For information on the EURO1 pricing, please click here.