Authorities
Authorities are responsible for accrediting organisations. They assign domains and roles to organisations within an ecosystem or federation.
An Authority within an ecosystem is a key participant responsible for accrediting organizations and assigning Domains and Roles to them. Authorities may either be the organisation administering the Trust Framework or they may represent the roles and information issued by an external authority within the Connect platform.
Each Authority is typically associated with a single country. However, the same Authority can be represented multiple times across national boundaries as required.
Authorities and Domains
Authorities are linked to one or more Domains. This linkage enables them to assign roles to participants, deriving from the Authority’s power to grant and manage these roles.
It is common for multiple Authorities to be associated with the same Domain. This is necessary when participants require authorization from multiple sources to perform certain functions.
Example Authority Scenario
A Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP) in the UK might be authorized for the Open Banking Domain and PISP Role by the UK FCA (Financial Conduct Authority).
Simultaneously, the same PISP could also be authorized in the same Domain, but for a different role like Confirmation of Payee (COP), by another Authority such as UK Pay.UK.
Ecosystem Administration
Having Authorities enables Trust Framework Adminisitrators to accurately reflect authorization information. Participants within the ecosystem thus have access to details about the authorizing institution for a given Domain and Role.
Authority Examples
| Authority | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|
| FCA | UK | The UK Financial Conduct Authority |
| Royal Bank of Raidiam | UK | The Royal Bank of Raidiam UK |
| PRA | UK | The UK Prudential Regulatory Authority |
| Open Banking Initial Structure | Brasil | The Open Banking Initial Structure in Brazil |
| Central Bank of Brazil | Brasil | The Brazil Central Bank |
