Source: OJ L, 2025/532, 2.7.2025

RTS on subcontracting ICT services

COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2025/532

of 24 March 2025

supplementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards specifying the elements that a financial entity has to determine and assess when subcontracting ICT services supporting critical or important functions

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 on digital operational resiliencemeans the ability of a financial entity to build, assure and review its operational integrity and reliability by ensuring, either directly or indirectly through the use of services provided by ICT third-party service providers, the full range of ICT-related capabilities needed to address the security of the network and information systems which a financial entity uses, and which support the continued provision of financial services and their quality, including throughout disruptions; for the financial sector and amending Regulations (EC) No 1060/2009, (EU) No 648/2012, (EU) No 600/2014, (EU) No 909/2014 and (EU) 2016/1011(¹)OJ L 333, 27.12.2022, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2554/oj., and in particular Article 30(5), fourth subparagraph, thereof,

Whereas:

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Recital 1 Importance of indentifying the overall chain of subcontractors

The provision of ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; to financial entities often depends on a complex chain of ICT subcontractors, whereby ICT third-party service providersmeans an undertaking providing ICT services; may enter into one or more subcontracting arrangements with other ICT third-party service providersmeans an undertaking providing ICT services;. Indirect reliance on ICT subcontractors may have an impact on a financial entity’ ability to identify, assess, and manage its risks, including risks that are related to gaps in the information provided by ICT third-party service providersmeans an undertaking providing ICT services;, and to the limited ability of a financial entity to obtain information from those ICT subcontractors that provide ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; that support critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law; or material parts thereof. In that regard, where the provision of ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; to financial entities depends on a potentially long or complex chain of ICT subcontractors, it is essential that financial entities identify the overall chain of subcontractors providing ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; supporting critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law;.

Recital 2 Focus on subcontractors that effectively underpin ICT services

Among those subcontractors that provide ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; that support critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law;, financial entities should focus in particular and continuously on those subcontractors that effectively underpin the ICT service that supports critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law;, including all the subcontractors that provide ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; the disruption of which would impair the security or continuity of the service as laid down in the register of information referred to in Article 28(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2554.

Recital 3 Principle of proportionality

Financial entities vary widely in size, structure, internal organisation, and in the nature and complexity of their activities. To ensure proportionality, that diversity should be taken into account when specifying which elements a financial entity should determine and assess when subcontracting ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; that support critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law;.

Recital 4 Clear and holistic view of risks associated with subcontracting

When permitted by the financial entities in accordance with Article 30(2) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, the use of subcontracted ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; supporting critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law; by ICT third-party services providersmeans an undertaking providing ICT services; cannot reduce the ultimate responsibility for the management bodiesmeans a management body as defined in Article 4(1), point (36), of Directive 2014/65/EU, Article 3(1), point (7), of Directive 2013/36/EU, Article 2(1), point (s), of Directive 2009/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(^31^), Article 2(1), point (45), of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014, Article 3(1), point (20), of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011, and in the relevant provision of the Regulation on markets in crypto-assets, or the equivalent persons who effectively run the entity or have key functions in accordance with relevant Union or national law;Directive 2009/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) (OJ L 302, 17.11.2009, p. 32). of the financial entities to manage their risks and to comply with their legislative and regulatory obligations. Where subcontracting ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; supporting critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law; is permitted, it is important that financial entities have a clear and holistic view of the risks associated with subcontracting services that support critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law; so that they are able to monitor, manage and mitigate those risks. They should therefore assess those risks before subcontracting those services.

Recital 5 ICT intra-group subcontractors

ICT intra-group subcontractors that provide ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; that support critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law; or material parts thereof, including ICT intra-group subcontractors that are fully or collectively owned by financial entities within the same institutional protection scheme, should be considered as ICT subcontractors.

Recital 6 Application of policy within a group

Where applicable, in a groupmeans a group as defined in Article 2, point (11), of Directive 2013/34/EU; context, the parent undertakingmeans a parent undertaking within the meaning of Article 2, point (9), and Article 22 of Directive 2013/34/EU; of financial entities should ensure that the policy on the use of ICT subcontractors providing ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; that support critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law; or a material part thereof is applied in a consistent and coherent way within the groupmeans a group as defined in Article 2, point (11), of Directive 2013/34/EU;.

Recital 7 Life cycle and contractual provisions

It is important to ensure a comprehensive management of the risks that can arise when ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; that support critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law; are subcontracted. For that reason, financial entities should follow the steps of the life cycle of a contractual arrangement for the use of ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; that support those functions and that are provided by ICT third-party service providersmeans an undertaking providing ICT services;, including for subcontracting arrangements. It is therefore necessary to lay down requirements for financial entities that should be reflected in their contractual arrangements with ICT third-party service providersmeans an undertaking providing ICT services; where the use of subcontracted ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; supporting critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law; is permitted.

Recital 8 Conditions throughout the life cycle

To mitigate risks that are linked to subcontracting, it is necessary to specify the conditions under which ICT third-party service providersmeans an undertaking providing ICT services; can use subcontractors for the provision of ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; that support critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law;. For that purpose, ICT contractual arrangements between financial entities and ICT third-party service providersmeans an undertaking providing ICT services; should set out such conditions, including the planning of subcontracting arrangements, the risk assessments, the due diligence, and the approval process for new ICT subcontracting arrangements on ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; supporting critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law; or material parts thereof, or material changes to existing ones made by the ICT third-party service providermeans an undertaking providing ICT services;.

Recital 9 Due diligence of subcontractors

To identify risks that could arise before a financial entity enters into an arrangement with an ICT subcontractor, ICT third-party service providersmeans an undertaking providing ICT services; should assess, in appropriate and proportional way, the suitability of potential subcontractors on the basis of the ICT contractual arrangements that the ICT third-party service providermeans an undertaking providing ICT services; concluded with the financial entity. Those ICT contractual arrangements should therefore require the ICT third-party service providermeans an undertaking providing ICT services;, or the financial entity directly, as appropriate, assesses the resources of the potential subcontractor, including its expertise and whether it has the proper financial, human and technical resources, its information security, and its organisational structure, including the risk management and internal controls that the subcontractor should have in place.

Recital 10 Monitoring of subcontractors and notifications of changes

To mitigate any vulnerabilitiesmeans a weakness, susceptibility or flaw of an asset, system, process or control that can be exploited; and threats that may pose risks to their ICT systems and operations, financial entities should be able to monitor the performance of the ICT service and to be informed of any relevant changes within their ICT subcontracting chain where such changes concern critical or important functionsmeans a function, the disruption of which would materially impair the financial performance of a financial entity, or the soundness or continuity of its services and activities, or the discontinued, defective or failed performance of that function would materially impair the continuing compliance of a financial entity with the conditions and obligations of its authorisation, or with its other obligations under applicable financial services law;.

Recital 11 Notification of changes and right to terminate

To enable financial entities to assess the risks associated with subcontracting arrangements or material changes thereto, ICT third-party service providersmeans an undertaking providing ICT services; should inform the financial entities to which they provide ICT servicesmeans digital and data services provided through ICT systems to one or more internal or external users on an ongoing basis, including hardware as a service and hardware services which includes the provision of technical support via software or firmware updates by the hardware provider, excluding traditional analogue telephone services; of all such new arrangements or changes well before such arrangements or changes start to apply. For the same reason, financial entities should have the right to terminate the contract with the ICT third-party service providermeans an undertaking providing ICT services; where the outcome of their risk assessment shows that the new arrangements or material changes carry a level of risk that exceed their risk tolerance.

Recital 12 Open public consultations

The European Supervisory Authorities have conducted an open public consultation on the draft regulatory technical standards on which this Regulation is based, analysed the potential related costs and benefits and requested the advice of the ESA’s Stakeholder Groupsmeans a group as defined in Article 2, point (11), of Directive 2013/34/EU; established in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council(²)Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 establishing a European Supervisory Authority (European Banking Authority), amending Decision No 716/2009/EC and repealing Commission Decision 2009/78/EC (OJ L 331, 15.12.2010, p. 12, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2010/1093/oj)., Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No 1094/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council(³)Regulation (EU) No 1094/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 establishing a European Supervisory Authority (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority), amending Decision No 716/2009/EC and repealing Commission Decision 2009/79/EC (OJ L 331, 15.12.2010, p. 48, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2010/1094/oj)., and Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council(⁴)Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 establishing a European Supervisory Authority (European Securities and Markets Authority), amending Decision No 716/2009/EC and repealing Commission Decision 2009/77/EC (OJ L 331, 15.12.2010, p. 84, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2010/1095/oj)..

Recital 13 Opinion from the European Data Protection Supervisor

The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance with Article 42(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council(⁵)Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1725/oj). and delivered an opinion on 20 August 2024,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 24 March 2025.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN