SWIFT and NDC Sign Agreement on Alliance Lite to Promote Standards in Russia
The National Depository Centre (NDC), a settlement depository in Russia, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SWIFT that allows NDC’s counterparties to access SWIFT and securities settlement infrastructure through a new channel based on Alliance Lite Internet technologies. Alliance Lite provides easy, secure and low-cost access to SWIFT. Advance technical works will be completed in 1Q10.
Under the terms of the MoU, NDC agreed to co-operate to support the adoption of ISO standards in Russia. An important element of this co-operation is the joint work by SWIFT and NDC to encourage the use of Alliance Lite by NDC customers.
“SWIFT and ISO are the international standards for secure, automated communication between financial market participants globally, reducing operational costs and risks and enabling improved straight-through processing (STP). By allowing all our customers to use ISO standards and SWIFT to conduct their business with NDC, we are supporting them in globalising their capability to conduct business around the world and not just in Russia. The addition of SWIFT Alliance Lite as a channel for communication with NDC is especially significant for our customers who will benefit from the cost efficiencies and the ease of access Alliance Lite provides,” said Nikolay Egorov, senior vice president of MICEX and director general of NDC.
Earlier this month, during his speech at the Russian Settlement Session held at Sibos 2009 on 15 September, Egorov said: “The addition of SWIFT Alliance Lite as one more channel for its customers to access NDC was a major step forward in the alignment of the Russian financial infrastructure to global standards.” By adopting Alliance Lite, NDC customers will be able to not only access NDC but also other financial institutions in Russia and worldwide using internationally recognised standards.