1. Version Control

Version	Date	Description of Changes
Bahrain OBF v1.0.0	28th Oct 2020	Initial Release

2. Overview

A checklist in the prescribed template is made available for Open Banking participants (ASPSPs, AISPs and PISPs) to be submitted along with a self-declaration form to the CBB to ensure compliance with Bahrain OBF. The certification will allow Open Banking participants to demonstrate that they have successfully met all required security, operational, customer experience and functional requirements as specified by the standards. Additionally, the CBB may request Open Banking participants to submit evidence, beyond the self-declaration form and completed checklists to show compliance to the latest version of the Bahrain OBF.

The Conformance Checklist covers the following key elements, based on the latest version of Bahrain OBF:

Checklist for conformance to Bahrain OBF Security Guidelines for ASPSPs, AISPs and PISPs
Checklist for conformance to Bahrain OBF Operational Guidelines for ASPSPs, AISPs and PISPs
Checklist for conformance to Bahrain OBF Customer Experience Guidelines and Functional requirements for ASPSPs, AISPs, PISPs

Each participant will need to self-declare their conformance to Bahrain OBF post implementation.

Please refer Conformance Checklist for the template.

3. How to get a Conformance Certificate

The general process for obtaining a Conformance Certificate is as follows:

Participant downloads relevant Conformance Checklist and completes all required tests/checklist
In addition to the completed Conformance Checklist, all participants, must share a signed self-declaration providing the status of their compliance to Bahrain OBF
Further, all participants may also attach any supporting evidence to their self-declaration. The CBB may also request additional evidence as needed
The submitted self-declaration and CX, functional, security and Operational Checklists (and additional evidence if applicable) will be reviewed and assessed by the CBB
Post assessment the CBB will inform participants on the status of their conformance

4. Publication of Conformance Certificate

The CBB will provide status of Conformance in the following two statuses:

Certified: The participant will be marked as ‘Certified’ if the participant conform completely to all required or mandatory elements of the relevant Bahrain OBF Standard. If a participant also conforms to recommendations or optional elements of the relevant Bahrain OBF Standard, then these will also be marked on the related communication, e.g. meeting the Bahrain OBF recommended benchmarks for performance and availability
Partial: The participant will be marked as ‘partial’ if the participant partially conforms to all required or mandatory elements of the relevant Bahrain OBF Standard

The issuance and publication of Conformance Certificates are at the sole discretion of the CBB.

5. Renewal and Recovery

Conformance Certificates published by the CBB will have no fixed expiry date, however, they will be clearly marked as to which version of the relevant Bahrain OBF Standard they apply to. If the participant makes any changes to their API interface which would cause a change in the Conformance Certificate status, for example introducing a new version of the Bahrain OBF Standard which includes a change for AISP/PISP, the participant should re-apply for a new Conformance Certificate.

If any information provided by the participant changes, or is discovered to be inaccurate, the participant must immediately notify the CBB to request that the Conformance Certificate is revoked.

The CBB may also revoke a Conformance Certificate at any time at its absolute discretion.