Media Release Payments System Board Update: November 2015 Meeting

At its meeting today, the Payments System Board discussed a number of issues including:

• Review of Card Payments Regulation: The Board had further discussions on the matters raised in the Issues Paper released in March. The Board approved a consultation paper seeking stakeholder views on some proposed changes to the Bank's standards applying to designated card systems. The Bank will be releasing this paper within the next two weeks. It will seek to coordinate the timing of the release with the announcement of further details on the Government's proposed legislation to ban excessive surcharging and give the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission enforcement power in this area.
• Assessment of the Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System (RITS): The Board discussed the Bank's annual assessment of Australia's real-time gross settlement system against the relevant international standards. The Bank aims to publish this assessment in the coming week.
• Assessment of LCH.Clearnet Ltd's SwapClear Service: The Bank undertakes formal assessments of clearing and settlement facilities licensed to operate in Australia, including overseas facilities. The Bank's 2014/15 assessment of the SwapClear service will be published once the Bank has fulfilled its obligation to make its findings available to overseas counterparts with a supervisory interest in LCH.Clearnet Ltd, and after the assessment has been provided formally to the Assistant Treasurer and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.