2016年-SWIFT环球同业银行金融电讯_ISO_20022_Harmonisation_Best_Practice_12页_308kb

ISO 20022 Harmonisation Best Practice Summary

Core Content

This document outlines the ISO 20022 Harmonisation Best Practice initiative, launched by SWIFT in 2015, aimed at ensuring a coordinated and consistent adoption of the ISO 20022 messaging standard across financial market infrastructures (FMIs). The initiative is designed to reduce fragmentation, operational risk, and costs, while promoting interoperability and efficiency in the financial industry.

Main Points

1. ISO 20022 Overview

• ISO 20022 is becoming the default messaging standard for financial market infrastructures, including securities and payments.
• It is used for domestic and cross-border transactions, such as SEPA transactions.
• Unlike the SWIFT MT/FIN standard, which has a rigid annual maintenance process, ISO 20022 currently lacks a centralised cutover mechanism, leading to variability in message versions and market practices.

2. Threat of Fragmentation

• As ISO 20022 implementations grow, inconsistent deployment across FMIs threatens to undermine the standard’s interoperability and cost-saving benefits.
• Fragmentation arises due to independent specification of message usage by FMIs, and lack of shared market practices.
• SWIFT has been called upon to address this fragmentation at an industry level.

Key Best Practices

Best Practice #1: Share Information

• FMIs should publish ISO 20022 implementation details on the central MyStandards platform.
• This includes message versions, release timelines, and market practice compliance.
• The goal is to provide predictable, consistent, and accurate information to reduce the learning curve for implementers.

Best Practice #2: Adhere to Market Practice

• Global market practice defines a common way to use ISO 20022 messages in specific business contexts.
• This reduces implementation complexity and ensures uniformity across FMIs.
• FMIs are encouraged to declare their adherence to global market practices and contribute to their development.
• Example: The seev.031 message for Corporate Action Notifications is used with different versions across markets, leading to fragmentation. A unified global practice would reduce this.

Best Practice #3: Introduce Release Management

• SWIFT’s annual maintenance process for MT/FIN ensures simultaneous upgrades across all users, improving interoperability.
• The harmonisation initiative aims to apply similar release management discipline to ISO 20022, without compromising flexibility.
• This includes synchronising the maintenance timeline with MT/FIN and minimising the number of message versions in use.

Stakeholders and Roles

Industry Benefits

• Cost Savings: A harmonised approach reduces the need for custom implementations and redundant efforts.
• Operational Risk Reduction: Standardised practices and release management reduce errors and inconsistencies.
• Efficiency: A common timetable, platform, and format streamline development and testing processes.
• Interoperability: Ensures that different FMIs and institutions can communicate effectively.

Conclusion

Harmonisation is essential for realising the full potential of ISO 20022 in fostering interoperability and reducing cost and risk for the financial industry. SWIFT plays a coordinating role, bringing together FMIs and their communities to ensure timely, consistent, and cost-effective adoption. The initiative aims to create a common framework that supports global collaboration and industry-wide benefits.

Additional Information

• SWIFT's Commitment: SWIFT is committed to coordinating the harmonisation effort and building a coalition of FMIs and participants.
• Contact: For more information, visit www.swift.com/standards/iso-20022-harmonisation-programme-0 or contact Patrik Neutjens at patrik.neutjens@swift.com.