ISO 20022 study

December 2017

Community consultation - high level overview

ISO 20022 Study 2

ISO 20022 Study, party line

The use of the ISO 20022 standard is growing across the world for many types of business, driven by new and updated

Market Infrastructures (MIs). For high-value payments, the standard is already in use in some markets including Switzerland

and China, and the US, Eurozone and UK expect to migrate to ISO 20022 in a 2021 - 2025 timeframe. The securities

industry also uses ISO 20022 thanks to securities MIs, including TARGET2-Securities, adopting the standard.

SWIFT’s focus has been on supporting MIs and their communities in the adoption of ISO 20022, while maintaining SWIFT

MT as the preferred standard for cross-border business. However, ISO 20022 supports more data and richer data structures

than MT, and the requirement to provide full data end-to-end for cross-border transactions that include MI processes points

to a longer-term need for cross-border ISO 20022. ISO 20022 also helps address evolving industry concerns including the

need for payments data transparency.

To address these needs strategically, SWIFT, with the support of the SWIFT Board, has initiated a study to review the

timing and practicalities of a migration of cross-border MT traffic towards ISO 20022 for both payments and

securities business. The study will consider all aspects of migration, including timing, implementation strategy and

phasing, community readiness, technology, market practice, interoperability with MIs, new messaging capabilities and

value-added features, and tools and support. A consultation with all relevant stakeholders is planned for the first half of 2018.

The study will draw on the results of this consultation to deliver a final report to the SWIFT Board in the second half of 2018.

• Communicated first half of Oct, 2017

• A number of SWIFT and industry groups

3

ISO 20022 migration study: Scope and timeline

Across business areas:

Focus on Payments and Securities, Trade and Treasury will be addressed as well

Covering all aspects of migration:

Timing, implementation strategy and phasing, community readiness, technology, market practice, interoperability with MIs, new

messaging capabilities and value-added features, and tools and support

Timeline and deliverables:

• Consultation phase (consultation paper and community feedback): starting Q2 2018

• Final recommendation and report: second half of 2018

www.swift.com

ISO 20022 Study 4