Euro Banking Association

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Not to be confused with European Banking Authority.

The Euro Banking Association (EBA), also referred to adding its French acronym ABE-EBA (French: Association bancaire pour l'euro), is a trade association for the European payments industry with close to 200 member banks and organisations from the European Union and around the world aimed at fostering and driving pan-European payment initiatives. The ABE-EBA has strived to contribute to the creation of a standardised Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).[1] It is established at 40, rue de Courcelles in Paris.[2]

History and structure[edit]

The ABE-EBA was founded in Paris in 1985 by 18 commercial banks and the European Investment Bank. The European Commission as well as the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) supported the founding of the ABE-EBA. Since then, the number of members has risen to almost 200. The institutions come from all member states of the European Union as well as from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, China, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

In its early years, the agenda of the ABE-EBA included the promotion of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the development and management of a private industry ECU clearing system stretching across Europe. In more recent times it has contributed to policy debates about financial market infrastructures, e.g. a report on 2018 about the prospects for usage of distributed ledger technology.[3]

Through its affiliate EBA Clearing, the ABE-EBA has developed significant market infrastructures of its own. These include EURO1, a real-time gross settlement-equivalent large-value payment system for single euro transactions; STEP1, a payment service for single euro payments of high priority and urgency for small and medium-sized banks; and STEP2, a Pan-European Automated Clearing House which processes euro retail payments. EURO1 and STEP2 are designated as Systemically Important Payment Systems.[citation needed]

Leadership[edit]

In 1986, the ABE-EBA appointed Gilbert Lichter as its secretary-general,[4] a position he held until 1989 and again from 1992 to 2016.[5] Since 2016, the secretary-general of the ABE-EBA has been Mr Thomas Egner.[6]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "ACI and the Euro Banking Association". ACI Worldwide.
  2. ^ "Association bancaire pour l'euro ABE EUR (ABE EBA)". L'Annuaire des Entreprises.
  3. ^ "Euro Banking Association explores blockchain for RegTech". Ledger Insights. 24 October 2018.
  4. ^ Thomas Klein (3 January 2024). "Der Luxemburger Pionier des europäischen Geldverkehrs". wort.lu.
  5. ^ ABE-EBA. "We are saddened to share that our former and longstanding Secretary General and CEO Gilbert Lichter passed away on 20 November 2023". LinkedIn.
  6. ^ "Thomas Egner to take office as new Secretary General of the Euro Banking Association". Fintech Finance News. 18 November 2015.

External links[edit]

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