Article 40Ongoing oversight

1. When conducting oversight activities, in particular general investigations or inspections, the Lead Overseer shall be assisted by a joint examination team established for each critical ICT third-party service provider.

2. The joint examination team referred to in paragraph 1 shall be composed of staff members from:

• (a)
  the ESAs;
• (b)
  the relevant competent authorities supervising the financial entities to which the critical ICT third-party service provider provides ICT services;
• (c)
  the national competent authority referred to in Article 32(4), point (e), on a voluntary basis;
• (d)
  one national competent authority from the Member State where the critical ICT third-party service provider is established, on a voluntary basis.

Members of the joint examination team shall have expertise in ICT matters and in operational risk. The joint examination team shall work under the coordination of a designated Lead Overseer staff member (the ‘Lead Overseer coordinator’).

3. Within 3 months of the completion of an investigation or inspection, the Lead Overseer, after consulting the Oversight Forum, shall adopt recommendations to be addressed to the critical ICT third-party service provider pursuant to the powers referred to in Article 35.

4. The recommendations referred to in paragraph 3 shall be immediately communicated to the critical ICT third-party service provider and to the competent authorities of the financial entities to which it provides ICT services.

For the purposes of fulfilling the oversight activities, the Lead Overseer may take into consideration any relevant third-party certifications and ICT third-party internal or external audit reports made available by the critical ICT third-party service provider.