Market Infrastructures and Payment Systems
Financial market infrastructures are useful to ensure the sound unwinding of banking and financial operations, e.g. payments (credit transfers, card payments, etc.) and securities purchase/sale (shares, bonds, etc.). Given the large volumes and the considerable amounts they handle, payments systems ought to be reliable and efficient so that they neither compromise economic transactions nor the good functioning of our modern market economy. Hence, the Banque centrale du Luxembourg (BCL) collects data on payment instruments and operations. Additionally, the BCL is in charge of overseeing payment instruments and payment and settlement systems (oversight).
The BCL is particularly interested in two broad categories of financial market infrastructures:
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Payment Systems
Payments require the use of a payment instrument, be it fiduciary currency (coins and notes) or other payment instruments like bank transfers, cheques, debit or credit cards, or electronic money. (...)
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Oversight of payment and settlement infrastructures
The BCL is in charge of the oversight of payment and securities settlement systems as well as of payment instruments.(...)
