1.Member States shall require undertakings other than those referred to in Article 1(1)(a) to (c), (e) and (f) and other than legal or natural persons benefiting from a waiver under Article 26, who intend to provide payment services, to obtain authorisation as a payment institution before commencing the provision of payment services. An authorisation shall only be granted to a legal person established in a Member State.
2.An authorisation shall be granted if the information and evidence accompanying the application complies with all the requirements under Article 5 and if the competent authorities' overall assessment, having scrutinised the application, is favourable. Before an authorisation is granted, the competent authorities may, where relevant, consult the national central bank or other relevant public authorities.
3.A payment institution which under the national law of its home Member State is required to have a registered office, shall have its head office in the same Member State as its registered office.
4.The competent authorities shall grant an authorisation only if, taking into account the need to ensure the sound and prudent management of a payment institution, the payment institution has robust governance arrangements for its payment services business, which include a clear organisational structure with well-defined, transparent and consistent lines of responsibility, effective procedures to identify, manage, monitor and report the risks to which it is or might be exposed, and adequate internal control mechanisms, including sound administrative and accounting procedures; those arrangements, procedures and mechanisms shall be comprehensive and proportionate to the nature, scale and complexity of the payment services provided by the payment institution.
5.Where a payment institution provides any of the payment services listed in the Annex and, at the same time, is engaged in other business activities, the competent authorities may require the establishment of a separate entity for the payment services business, where the non-payment services activities of the payment institution impair or are likely to impair either the financial soundness of the payment institution or the ability of the competent authorities to monitor the payment institution's compliance with all obligations laid down by this Directive.
6.The competent authorities shall refuse to grant an authorisation if, taking into account the need to ensure the sound and prudent management of a payment institution, they are not satisfied as to the suitability of the shareholders or members that have qualifying holdings.
7.Where close links as defined in Article 4(46) of Directive 2006/48/EC exist between the payment institution and other natural or legal persons, the competent authorities shall grant an authorisation only if those links do not prevent the effective exercise of their supervisory functions.
8.The competent authorities shall grant an authorisation only if the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of a third country governing one or more natural or legal persons with which the payment institution has close links, or difficulties involved in the enforcement of those laws, regulations or administrative provisions, do not prevent the effective exercise of their supervisory functions.
9.An authorisation shall be valid in all Member States and shall allow the payment institution concerned to provide payment services throughout the Community, either under the freedom to provide services or the freedom of establishment, provided that such services are covered by the authorisation.