Swift announced strong and growing momentum for its new Swift Securities View service, which launched in January to bring a new level of transparency to post-trade processing and reduce costly settlement fails.
Already 34 of the world’s leading financial institutions – which collectively represent more than 630 million securities transactions each year – have signed up for Swift Securities View, to quickly identify trades at risk of failing so they can take preemptive action. The service leverages an ISO-standard Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI) to link all Swift messages related to the same securities settlement flow in a transaction chain. This means that all participants – from asset managers, to brokers, to global custodians and CSDs – have access to automated tracking on both sides of a transaction.
The result is a more seamless experience and reduced likelihood of settlement fails that add operational costs of some USD 3 billion a year for the industry, a cost compounded by regulatory penalties such as those introduced by Central Securities Depository Regulation (CSDR) in Europe earlier this year.
In the few months since the service was launched, it already counts participants from all stages in the settlement process among its active members – including asset managers, outsourcers, brokers, global and sub-custodians.
Financial institutions that have signed up to the service include: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), BNY Mellon, China Citic Bank, Citco Group of Companies, Credit Suisse, Custody Bank of Japan, Dinosaur Merchant Bank, Euronext Securities, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC Securities Services, Legal & General Investment Management, Nomura Asset Management, Nomura Bank Luxembourg, Northern Trust Investment Operations Outsourcing, The Northern Trust Company and SEB. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) supports the service by generating the UTI for those trades confirmed over their central matching platform, CTM.
Jonathan Ehrenfeld, Head of Securities Strategy at Swift, said: “We’ve collaborated with our community to deliver a service uniquely tailored to meet the specific challenges facing post-trade participants today – from avoiding regulatory penalties for late settlement to preparing for the adoption of T+1. Swift Securities View is part of our strategy to enable instant, frictionless and interoperable transactions globally, and it promises to be a game changer for the industry, helping market participants increase settlement efficiency and set the bar for future innovation.”
Steve Wager, Executive Manager, Global Head of Markets Management, BNY Mellon, said: “Industry-wide UTI adoption combined with the Securities View alert notifications could become key to timely settlement especially with the growing trend to shorten the settlement cycles across the globe.”
Ryan Fitzgerald, Head of Citco Fund Services Middle Office Solutions, Citco Fund Services (USA) Inc. The Citco group of companies, said: “Swift Securities View represents a major step forward for the global securities ecosystem, providing far more transparency around the status of trades throughout their lifecycle. This should assist in the finalizing of trades in a more timely manner, benefiting all parties, and it is an initiative the Citco group of companies is delighted to be a part of.”
Tenette Abanilla, Director and COO, Dinosaur Merchant Bank, said: “Swift Securities View will greatly improve the securities settlement process by immediately identifying issues that can delay settlement. We are delighted to be part of the initial group involved in the development and implementation of this service.”
Matthew Stauffer, Managing Director, Institutional Trade Processing, DTCC, said: “DTCC supports the introduction of standards that streamline processes and reduce risk throughout the trade lifecycle. We are pleased to partner with Swift on their efforts to increase the use of UTIs. Today, clients are able to seamlessly leverage UTIs with DTCC’s CTM solution, enabling users to access standardized data while increasing efficiency, key benefits as the industry works towards achieving T+1 by May 2024 in the U.S. and Canada.”
Koshiro Abe, Head of Middle Office Group (Operation Strategy Department), Nomura Asset Management Co. LTD, said: “Swift Securities View brings much needed transparency to post-trade securities. As an asset manager, we face more pressure than ever to avoid trade fails. This is due to shortening settlement cycles globally and financial penalties for late settlement imposed by CSDR. With the end-to-end visibility provided by Swift Securities View, we’re able to the minimise the risk of fails and improve operational efficiency. We encourage all market participants to join and share in these benefits.”
Russ Stamey, Senior Vice President, Asset Servicing, The Northern Trust Company, said: “We believe the introduction of UTI and Securities View will provide participants with greater transparency into the status of securities settlement transactions. This is of increasing importance to Northern Trust and our clients as we prepare for compressed settlement cycles with less time to identify and resolve trade exceptions. Securities View will also provide greater insight into points of friction across the post-trade lifecycle, resulting in improved operational efficiency and reduction in late settlements.”
Ahmad Naseer, Managing Director Product Development, First Abu Dhabi Bank, said: “Having already implemented SWIFT gpi, we are delighted to participate in the program’s extension to Securities View, and eagerly anticipate broader industry adoption of this service to further enhance settlement efficiency.”
