06 November 2012

EPC: New Rulebook versions and associated Implementation Guidelines take effect on 17 November, 2012

To ensure planning security for all market participants, publication of updated versions of the SCT and SDD Rulebooks, together with the associated implementation guidelines (IGs), follows an established change and release management cycle. The EPC publishes updated versions of the rulebooks once annually, in November of each year. In November 2011, the EPC published:

• the SCT Rulebook version 6.0;
• the SDD Core Rulebook version 6.0;
• the SDD Business to Business (B2B) Rulebook version 4.0.

These rulebook versions have been updated to include version 4.0 of the SEPA Scheme Management Internal Rules (the Internal Rules), which were approved by the EPC Plenary in September 2012. The Internal Rules contain descriptions of the internal organisation, structure, rules and processes that make up the scheme management of the SCT and SDD Schemes. Such processes cover administration and compliance, and change management, including structured dialogue with stakeholders. Amendments to the Internal Rules are of a purely administrative nature and have no operational impact whatsoever.

The EPC is under legal obligation to ensure compliance of the SCT and SDD Schemes with the ‘Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009' (the SEPA Regulation). The SEPA Regulation came into force on 31 March 2012. The SDD Core Rulebook and SDD B2B Rulebook to take effect on 17 November 2012 have been further updated to reflect the requirements of Articles 6(3) and 8 of the SEPA Regulation, which stipulate that as of 1 November 2012, cross-border multilateral interchange fees for direct debits per transaction are no longer allowed, and that R-transaction interchange fees can be applied under certain conditions.

The rulebook versions take effect on 17 November, 2012. The IGs, which were published in November 2011, also take effect on 17 November 2012.

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