Article 5 Material changes to subcontracting arrangements of ICT services that support critical or important functions or material parts thereof

To mitigate risks that are linked to subcontracting, it is necessary to specify the conditions under which ICT third-party service providers can use subcontractors for the provision of ICT services that support critical or important functions. For that purpose, ICT contractual arrangements between financial entities and ICT third-party service providers 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 services supporting critical or important functions or material parts thereof, or material changes to existing ones made by the ICT third-party service provider.

To mitigate any vulnerabilities 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 functions.

To enable financial entities to assess the risks associated with subcontracting arrangements or material changes thereto, ICT third-party service providers should inform the financial entities to which they provide ICT 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 provider 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.