1.The competent authority may conduct an on-site inspection, or delegate the carrying out of on-site inspections to another authority in accordance with Article 8, if it considers that it is necessary to achieve the objectives set out in Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 (ECB/2014/28).
2.Without prejudice to Article 2(4) of this Decision, when the competent authority exercises the power to conduct on-site inspections, the inspection decision shall at a minimum specify:
the subject matter and the purpose of the on-site inspection;
the fact that any obstruction to the on-site inspection by the legal person subject thereto shall constitute a breach of Regulation (EU) No 795/2014 (ECB/2014/28), without prejudice to national law.
3.The competent authority shall notify the entity subject to an on-site inspection of the decision, and of the identity of the members of the on-site inspection team, at least 10 working days before the start of the on-site inspection.
4.The competent authority shall ensure that the on-site inspection is conducted within a predefined scope and timeframe which it determines in cooperation with the entity subject to an on-site inspection. However, if it deems necessary, the competent authority may extend the scope and timeframe of the on-site inspection during the inspection by a revised decision, which shall be notified to the entity subject to an on-site inspection.
5.The SIPS operator shall include clauses in its contractual arrangements with critical service providers, which allow for the on-site inspection to also take place at the location of the critical service provider. Such clauses shall allow the competent authority to involve the central bank overseeing or supervising the critical service provider in the on-site inspection process, including for the exchange of relevant information. The SIPS operator shall ensure that those contractual arrangements also allow for the competent authority to have access to written or oral explanations of representatives or members of staff of the critical service providers in relation to the service these provide to the SIPS. The SIPS operator shall also include clauses in the contractual arrangements with its critical service providers which give the competent authority access to information and findings from previous on-site inspections of the critical service provider of the same scope and nature which have already been performed by the central bank overseeing or supervising the critical service provider.