Brussels, 17 October 2013 - Swift, the financial messaging provider for more than 10,000 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in 212 countries and territories, announced today it has achieved a crucial milestone in the delivery of its Value Added Network (VAN) Solution for connectivity to T2S.
Following a public procurement process run by the Banca d'Italia on behalf of the Central Banks of the Eurosystem, Swift was awarded a licence to provide connectivity services to T2S. Now, having passed a series of milestones and met the requirements of the last one, ‘Milestone 6' of the license agreement, Swift has successfully concluded the Eurosystem Network Acceptance Test.
In order to achieve this milestone, Swift completed an extensive series of test cases to prove that its solution meets all the technical and non-technical requirements of T2S. Swift's connectivity services agreement for T2S will be available to the market by the end of October 2013. Swift now moves on to the next phases of the programme, supporting the testing activities of the European Central Bank and direct T2S participants in preparation for the go-live of T2S planned as of June 2015.
Alain Raes, Chief Executive, EMEA & Asia Pacific, Swift, comments: "We are delighted to have reached this important milestone in the delivery of our connectivity solution for T2S, and I would like to thank the Banca d'Italia for its strong co-operation with us during the extensive series of tests. Among the many reasons customers are choosing the Swift VAN is the guaranteed operational excellence of our solution. Successful completion of network acceptance testing is yet another demonstration of this, and positions Swift well to move on to - and complete - the next phases of this crucial programme for our community."
Swift's VAN Solution will enable T2S participants to connect to the T2S platform for the secure exchange of business information, in ISO 20022 format, with the highest resilience, and with minimal risk and cost. A number of customers have already announced they will connect to T2S using the Swift VAN - including Clearstream, Euroclear, Iberclear, Interbolsa, KDD Central Securities Clearing Corporation, SIX Securities Services, BNP Paribas Securities Services, Citi, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale Securities Services.
Swift has also created a full suite of complementary products and services to support its customers - both those connecting directly and those that will be indirect participants - in the transition to T2S, starting from analysis, and progressing through implementation, testing and migration, including translation products and services, all the way to live operations. These services leverage Swift's unparalleled track record of managing technical platform migrations and securities market infrastructure initiatives. They also draw on Swift's unrivalled expertise in the ISO 20022 standards underpinning T2S communications.
About Swift
Swift is a member-owned cooperative that provides the communications platform, products and services to connect more than 10,000 financial institutions and corporations in 212 countries and territories. Swift enables its users to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating operational inefficiencies. Swift also brings the financial community together to work collaboratively to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest.
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