1.1

The Applicant must meet the Acceptance Regulations applicable to the Requested Role. In order to establish whether the Applicant meets the Acceptance Regulations, the Applicant must follow the procedures set out in Articles 3 and 4 of these Acceptance Regulations.

1.2

All costs incurred by the Applicant in connection with the Application shall be borne by the Applicant.

2.1

Any institution that intends to submit an Application to perform a Role in the iDEAL Scheme must submit a request by sending in the Application Form  Licence or Certificate Holder (also applicable voor the Accredited CPSP Role).

2.2

Any Applicant who wishes to perform a Role must submit the relevant Application Form included in the addendum and the this form must be completed, signed and submitted. It must be clear from the Application Form for which Requested Role the Applicant is submitting an Application. 

2.3

The Applicant will receive the documentation set for the Requested Role and then must perform a CSA in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 at its own expense.

2.4

The documents listed in the description of the Requested Role in the iDEAL Rules & Regulations (R&R) must be submitted with the CSA.

3.1

The Applicant gives assurance to Currence that the Controle Self-Assessment (CSA) will be performed in accordance with the Certification Procedure provided by Currence and the requirements stipulated in these Acceptance Regulations.

3.2

After the CSA has been completed the Applicant must inform Currence in writing of the results of the review, and it must record these results in the CSA form, which will be provided by Currence. This report must comply with (i) any general requirements pertaining to form and specific instructions issued by Currence, (ii) the requirements laid down by Currence with regard to the contents, including the Certification and Accreditation Procedure and (iii) the requirement that the report must be sufficiently detailed to allow Currence to gain insight into the extent to which the Applicant complies with the iDEAL R&R with respect to the requested Role.

3.3

At the moment when the Applicant submits the CSA form referred to in clause 3.2 to Currence, no more than 6 months must have elapsed since the date of receipt of the Application by Currence. If a longer period has elapsed, the Applicant must submit a new Application and repeat the procedure set out in these Regulations.

3.4

If (i) Currence finds on the basis of the assessment report that the Applicant meets the iDEAL R&R, (ii) the Applicant has, on request, shown to the satisfaction of Currence that the assessment procedure referred to in this Article has been performed in accordance with these Acceptance Regulations, (iii) the CSA form meets the requirements it is subject to, (iv) Currence is not aware of any facts or circumstances that in the opinion of Currence would prevent the Applicant from performing the Requested Role and (v) the review referred to in clause 6 shows that the Applicant complies with the iDEAL R&R,  Currence will make the Applicant an irrevocable written offer to conclude an Agreement for the Requested Role, in the form enclosed in the offer. In that case, Currence will, after receiving the assessment report referred to in clause 3.2, supply the Applicant with an Agreement for the Requested Role for signing or notify the Applicant in writing that Currence is exercising its rights as set out in clause 3.5 The offer will lapse if the Agreement is not accepted in the form as submitted to the Applicant within 30 days of the date of the offer. The provisions of Section 6:225 (2) and (3) of the Dutch Civil Code are hereby expressly excluded.

3.5

On the basis of the assessment report referred to in clause 3.3, Currence will have the right – without prejudice to any other rights of Currence – to conduct a review of the extent to which the Applicant is complies with the iDEAL R&R. If the review reveals that the Applicant meets the iDEAL R&R, Currence will make the offer in accordance with clause 3.4.

3.6

The Applicant is required to grant Currence and third parties contracted by Currence immediate access to all documents and reports and to the underlying information, systems, areas and individuals and the Applicant shall grant all other assistance reasonably requested which, in the opinion of Currence, is necessary in order to permit Currence to conduct the review referred to in clause 3.5.

3.7

The Applicant will be obliged to provide Currence with information without delay and, upon the first request by Currence, to hand over all documents which are relevant in the view of Currence in relation to the assessment referred to in clauses 3.5 and 3.6.

4.1

If the Applicant applies for the Issuer or Acquirer Role, access to the Technical Specifications is required. This enables the Applicant to investigate the possibilities and consequences of implementing (one of) these products. Interested Institutions can use the Technical Specifications documents only for this purpose, any other usage is strictly forbidden. No rights can be derived from the documents. The Technical Specifications can be adjusted over time, due to development or new insights. If Acquirers, Issuers or Applicants take decisions and/or make investments on the basis of the information that they obtain via the Technical Specifications, Currence bears no liability for this whatsoever.

4.2

Parties with access to the Technical Specifications are invited to comment on the Technical Specifications and propose possible improvements or Value Added Services (VAS) for iDEAL. When Currence makes changes to a Technical Standard, this new version will be available to all subscribers automatically.

4.3

The Technical Specifications are made available via the Currence Confluence environment. Access is obtained with a personal account, you receive from Currence. The Applicant is responsible for ensuring that unauthorised parties do not obtain access to its account. The documents may be downloaded, subject to these conditions.

4.4

The Technical Specifications and/or sections thereof may be distributed only to employees of the legal person that has lawfully signed the application form (hereinafter referred to as ‘the legal person’) on the explicit condition that the Applicant to whom the document and/or documents is/are entrusted does not circulate them further in any way. The legal person shall maintain a circulation list of the employees to whom the documents have been made available. The legal person shall provide the circulation list at the earliest request of Currence. An exception could be made to third parties if necessary for, and solely for the purpose of providing Acquirers and Issuers with an idea of the application of the Technical Specifications, as described in Article 1. In that case, the legal person must arrange for the third party/parties to sign a confidentiality statement.

4.5

Currence is entitled to cancel access to the Technical Specifications without announcement in case the Applicant does not act according to these terms and conditions, or in situations of bankruptcy. The usage of any documents, obtained through this subscription, is restricted to the terms of subscription.

5.1

Currence can grant full or partial dispensation from the provisions of these Regulations. Terms and conditions may be attached to such dispensation.

6.1

All liability on the part of Currence vis-à-vis the Applicant for losses arising from or associated with the Application, including the acceptance procedure described in these Acceptance Regulations, is expressly excluded.

7.1

Parties will observe strict secrecy with regard to confidential information, both during the Application and thereafter. Among other things, confidential information must be understood to include the following:

• commercial, financial and technical information, regardless of the form which it takes, concerning the other party, that party’s subcontractors, customers and suppliers obtained in connection with the Application where such information (i) has been classified as confidential by the party making it available, (ii) is information derived from confidential information or (iii) is information, of which the confidential nature is known or ought to be known to the various parties;

• all third-party information made available to the Institution by Currence in connection with the Licence or Certificate Agreement;

• the contents of the Acceptance Regulations including all documents of Currence referred to in the Acceptance Regulations.

7.2

The confidentiality obligation does not apply to information which (i) was already known to the other party before that party received the information and with regard to which the said party had previously already enjoyed unrestricted use, (ii) is in the public domain without the previous provision having been breached or (iii) has been created by the receiving party itself independently and without knowledge of the information supplied.

7.3

One party will have the right to disclose confidential information relating to the other party to third parties where necessary for the performance of its obligations under these Acceptance Regulations and provided said third parties have in turn given a commitment to treat this information confidentially.

7.4

The Institution and Currence hereby undertake to make staff involved in processing the Application aware of the extent of the confidentiality obligation laid down in this article and give an undertaking to each other regarding compliance with the obligation on the part of their staff.

7.5

Without prejudice to the obligations of Currence and the Institution to observe secrecy pursuant to this article, no provision in the Licence or Certificate Agreement will prevent the disclosure of information (i) to a judicial authority in connection with a dispute between Currence and the Institution, (ii) at the request of a regulator responsible by law for overseeing the activities of Currence or the Institution or (iii) if there is a statutory duty to do so.

8.1

Without prejudice to the agreed obligation to observe confidentiality, the Licencee or Certificate Holder will not make any announcements or statements to third parties concerning the Scheme(s) or Currence in connection with press releases or other forms of external communication involving the media without the prior approval of Currence.

9.1

These Regulations are governed by Dutch law.

9.2

Any disputes arising out of the application of these Acceptance Regulations and the acceptance procedure defined herein shall be decided exclusively by arbitration according to the Arbitration Rules of the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (‘NAI Arbitration Rules’). In the event that a party seeks immediate action, that party shall resort exclusively to summary arbitration proceedings in accordance with the NAI Arbitration Rules, unless summary arbitration proceedings cannot provide a satisfactory remedy.

9.3

Proceedings will be conducted in the Dutch language. The arbitration tribunal will sit in Amsterdam. Sessions will be held in the Currence headquarters. The tribunal will decide according to the rule of law.

9.4

The tribunal will be made up of three arbitrators. The appointment of arbitrators will take place in the manner described in the following clauses.

9.4.1

As soon as possible after receipt of the summary statement of defence referred to in Article 7 of the NAI Arbitration Rules or, in the absence thereof, upon expiry of the period for submission of the summary statement of defence, the clerk to the NAI will send each of the parties a list of nine names.

9.4.2

The list referred to in clause 8.4.1 will be compiled by the clerk to the NAI. This list will contain names of persons satisfying the appointment criteria set by the NAI and will comprise (i) three experts in the field of funds transfer, (ii) three experts in the field of audits, including IT audits, and (iii) three lawyers who have a degree in Dutch law and demonstrable experience of legal proceedings. In drawing up the list, the clerk will make use of sublists of persons satisfying the above criteria compiled by De Nederlandsche Bank NV and the NAI.

9.4.3

Each party will have the right to strike through not more than one of the three names in each field of expertise referred to in Article 4.2 on the list referred to in said article if the party concerned has overriding objections against those persons and also to number the remaining names in order of preference.

9.4.4

If the clerk has not had a list returned from one of the parties within 14 days of dispatch, it will be assumed that all the persons on that list are equally acceptable as arbitrators to the party concerned.

9.4.5

As soon as possible after the lists have been returned or, failing their return, after expiry of the period referred to in the preceding clause, the clerk, having due regard to the preferences and/or objections expressed by the parties, will invite three persons on the list, selected by the clerk, to act as arbitrators.

9.5

The clerk will have the right to directly invite one or more other persons besides those who can be invited pursuant to Article 7.4.5 if one of the following situations applies:

1. a person is unwilling or unable to accept the invitation from the clerk to act as arbitrator;

2. it is found to be impossible for a person to act as arbitrator for reasons other than those referred to under a.; or

3. an arbitrator who has already been appointed has to be replaced through the appointment of a new arbitrator;

4. there are not enough remaining names on the lists which have been returned that are acceptable to each of the parties.

In that case, the clerk will, if possible, invite persons on the aforementioned sublist.

The tribunal will always be made up of persons representing the three fields of expertise referred to in Article 7.4.2. The person representing the field of expertise referred to in Article 7.4.2(iii) will in any case preside over the tribunal.

The appointment of the arbitrators in accordance with the provisions of this article will take place within one month of a dispute having been taken to arbitration. This period can only be extended by the NAI

9.6

The statement of claim and the statement of defence referred to in Article 24 of the NAI Arbitration Rules must each be submitted within a period of no longer than six weeks. The same applies to statements of reply and rejoinder, if made.