Artikel 4 Kritikalität oder Bedeutung der Funktionen

Summary What does Article 4 of the Criteria for designating critical service providers say?

This brief article addresses one specific criterion from the broader two-step designation framework established across this regulation.

Notably, as explained in Article 1, criterion (c) of Article 31(2) of DORA has no standalone "step 1" assessment — instead, it relies on the step 1 findings from the other criteria.

Article 4 therefore deals exclusively with the "step 2" assessment for that criterion, focusing on whether the ICT services provided by the third-party provider are of a critical nature to the activities of the financial entities they serve.

Important points:

The ESAs are required to assess whether the ICT services supporting critical or important functions of financial entities are themselves of a critical nature to those financial entities' activities.
This article applies only at step 2, with no independent step 1 threshold to meet — making it unique within this regulation's assessment framework.
The ESAs carry the obligation here, not the financial entities themselves.

Springlex's summary of the article, a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.

Bei der Prüfung des in Artikel 31 Absatz 2 Buchstabe c der Verordnung (EU) 2022/2554 festgelegten Kriteriums führen die Europäischen Aufsichtsbehörden ihre Bewertung anhand des folgenden Unterkriteriums der „Stufe 2“ durch:

Unterkriterium 3.1: Die letztlich vom selben IKT-Drittdienstleister erbrachten IKT-Dienstleistungen zur Unterstützung kritischer oder wichtiger Funktionen von Finanzunternehmen sind für die Tätigkeiten der Finanzunternehmen von kritischer Bedeutung.

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