How do We Oversee
The Central Bank of Armenia’s oversight process includes three stages:
The Central Bank of Armenia periodically monitors payment and settlement systems to fulfill its oversight duties, observe and analyze the current activity of the system, and study incidents and their consequences. This constitutes an overall assessment of the system’s performance.
The information collected is not only statistical data for general analysis, but also other qualitative information (such as concerning results of internal audits of financial market infrastructures and/or assessments by independent audit organizations), which will enable the analysis of the riskiness of the financial market infrastructure, risk management measures, the technical environment, incidents and failures, transparency of activities, and changes in the rules of operation.
The Central Bank of Armenia assesses the Armenian payment and settlement systems included in the oversight framework based on the principles (requirements) defined by the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures publication from the Bank for International Settlements. The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that the system’s operating rules and processes result in the proper management and mitigation of risks in the system and that the risk management mechanisms/measures can sufficiently resolve all types of problems.
- Contribution to the implementation of changes
Assessments of RA payment and settlement systems can yield positive results if the established requirements are fully or mostly satisfied, or partially or fully negative results if the requirements are partially satisfied or not satisfied. The assessment results and the observations made under each principle is presented and discussed with the operator of the assessed payment and settlement system, which can provide its justifications.
The assessment report is submitted to the Central Bank of Armenia's management. If regulatory violations are identified, the Central Bank may take supervisory measures under RA legislation. If legislative gaps are found, the Central Bank may initiate amendments to relevant legal acts. The results of the analysis conducted by the Central Bank of Armenia in the area of payment and settlement system oversight are reflected in the financial stability reports published by the Bank. The Central Bank of Armenia conducted a full assessment of the Central Bank’s Electronic Payment System in 2011-2012 and of the Unified Securities Accounting and Settlement System of the Central Depository of Armenia in 2022-2023. Read more.