Transitional provisions
Article 18
1. Member States shall allow electronic money institutions that have taken up, before 30 April 2011, activities in accordance with national law transposing Directive 2000/46/EC in the Member State in which their head office is located, to continue those activities in that Member State or in another Member State in accordance with the mutual recognition arrangements provided for in Directive 2000/46/EC without being required to seek authorisation in accordance with Article 3 of this Directive or to comply with the other provisions laid down or referred to in Title II of this Directive. Member States shall require such electronic money institutions to submit all relevant information to the competent authorities in order to allow the latter to assess, by 30 October 2011, whether the electronic money institutions comply with the requirements laid down in this Directive and, if not, which measures need to be taken in order to ensure compliance or whether a withdrawal of authorisation is appropriate. Compliant electronic money institutions shall be granted authorisation, shall be entered in the register, and shall be required to comply with the requirements in Title II. Where electronic money institutions do not comply with the requirements laid down in this Directive by 30 October 2011, they shall be prohibited from issuing electronic money. 2. Member States may provide for an electronic money institution to be automatically granted authorisation and entered in the register provided for in Article 3 if the competent authorities already have evidence that the electronic money institution concerned complies with the requirements laid down in Articles 3, 4 and 5. The competent authorities shall inform the electronic money institutions concerned before the authorisation is granted. 3. Member States shall allow electronic money institutions that have taken up, before 30 April 2011, activities in accordance with national law transposing Article 8 of Directive 2000/46/EC, to continue those activities within the Member State concerned in accordance with Directive 2000/46/EC until 30 April 2012, without being required to seek authorisation under Article 3 of this Directive or to comply with the other provisions laid down or referred to in Title II of this Directive. Electronic money institutions which, during that period, have been neither authorised nor waived within the meaning of Article 9 of this Directive, shall be prohibited from issuing electronic money.