European Central Bank (ECB) supports global strategy to improve security in wholesale payments

The European Central Bank endorses the common strategy on reducing the risk of wholesale payments fraud, as published last 8 May by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), the globalstandard-setter for payment, clearing, settlement and related arrangements.

The strategy aims to improve the security of wholesale payments that involve messaging networks, banks, financial market infrastructures and other financial institutions and covers all areas related to preventing, detecting, responding to and communicating about fraud. It is designed to support operators and participants of wholesale payment systems and messaging networks as well as their respective supervisors, regulators and overseers.

“Sophisticated fraud incidents in recent years have highlighted the importance of strengthening the security of wholesale payments to ensure lasting trust in the global financial system”, said Benoît Cœuré, member of the ECB’s Executive Board and CPMI Chair. “The success of this plan depends on clear ownership and active engagement by all stakeholders, public and private sector alike.”

The ECB reaffirms its own commitment to act as a catalyst for the effective and coherent implementation of the strategy within the euro area. The common strategy further complements the work of the ECB, which recently published the cyber resilience oversight expectations and TIBER-EU framework, to enhance the cyber resilience of the European financial ecosystem.

The ECB promotes the safety and efficiency of payment, clearing and settlement systems in the euro area under its operator and oversight mandate. At Eurosystem level, the ECB is the competent authority for the two wholesale payment systems in the euro area: TARGET2 and EURO1.