Belgium hosts a number of significant financial market infrastructures (FMIs), custodians and payment service providers, as well as critical service providers, some of which also have international systemic relevance. This Financial Market Infrastructures and Payment Services Report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the National Bank of Belgium’s oversight and supervision of these systems and institutions headquartered in, or relevant for, Belgium.
Four experts of the National Bank of Belgium explain the main conclusions of the report.
Nikolaï Boeckx, responsible for the oversight on Swift, will introduce the seminar.
Swift is a critical service provider to financial market infrastructures, providing them secure financial messaging services. Given its importance, Swift is subject to oversight by central banks. In the seminar, we will explain how Swift activities have been evolving in the reporting year and what were the focus areas of the central bank oversight of Swift. The framework for conducting Swift oversight is also evolving, and actions undertaken to update the framework will be discussed.
Dorien De Beuckeleer: Climate-related risks within the FMI and payment landscape: challenges and integration within the firms’ organisational framework
The NBB is implementing a structural follow-up of climate-related risks for financial market infrastructures, payment transactions processors and critical service providers (like Swift). Which risks and challenges do they face? How do they deal with these risks? Are these risks embedded in the organisational and risk management framework? As a first stage in this structural follow-up, the NBB has sent a questionnaire to a sample of institutions active in these fields. This webinar presents the highlights of this review.
Janis Rosewick will discuss the impact of the sanctions against Russia and Russian countermeasures.
Belgian institutions like Euroclear Bank played and continue to play an important role in the implementation of international sanctions against Russia. A large share of the assets affected by these sanctions were safeguarded and, following the imposition of the sanctions, effectively frozen or immobilised in the accounts of Euroclear Bank. The presentation will focus on the impact of the international sanctions against Russia and Russian countermeasures on Euroclear Bank and include an outlook on recent regulatory developments.
Geoffrey Verhauwen: DORA: the Digital Operational Resilience Act.
The National Bank of Belgium (NBB) is committed to promoting data, service, and IT system protection in the financial sector. In this endeavour the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) will play a central role. DORA is a comprehensive framework aimed at ensuring that all participants in the financial system have the necessary safeguards to mitigate cyber threats and IT disruptions. By establishing new standards for digital risk management, DORA enhances the overall stability and integrity of the financial sector. It mandates financial entities to implement robust digital resilience strategies, thus protecting consumers and preserving the trust in digital financial services. This presentation will provide insight in some of the key aspects of DORA.
Language: The conference will be held in English. There will be no simultaneous translation. Questions can be asked via the Q&A chatbox.