SWIFT Wins T2S Connectivity Licence
SWIFT, the financial messaging provider for more than 10,000 financial institutions and corporations in 209 countries, announced that following a public procurement process run by the Banca d’Italia on behalf of the central banks of the eurosystem, it has been awarded a licence to provide connectivity services to Target 2 Securities (T2S).
The objective of T2S is to facilitate post-trading integration by offering core, neutral, harmonised and commoditised delivery-versus-payment settlement in central bank money in substantially all securities in Europe. This will ensure efficient and sound clearing and payment systems and support the Lisbon agenda in securities markets.
As a future network service provider, SWIFT will design, implement, deliver and operate its own connectivity solution for the secure exchange of business information, in ISO 20022 format, between directly connected T2S participants and the T2S platform.
Following the execution of a licence agreement with the eurosytem, SWIFT will proceed to the implementation of a proof of concept (POC) of its T2S connectivity solution during the first half of 2012.
Alain Raes, chief executive officer (CEO), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), SWIFT, said: “We are delighted to have been selected as a network service provider for T2S. This decision reflects our competitive pricing and our position as the de facto provider for connectivity and interoperability services in the European clearing and settlement market. Our T2S solution will offer the widest geographic coverage and the highest levels of service availability at the best price, in line with our commitment to helping our community transition to a T2S environment with maximum efficiency and at least cost.”