SWIFT The global provider of secure financial
messaging services

 

SWIFT General Terms and Conditions (1 January 2010 - FAQ)

Question 1: Can SWIFT update its General Terms and Conditions?

Yes. Every now and then, SWIFT updates its contractual documentation, including the General Terms and Conditions.

The principle is inherent to SWIFT’s co-operative nature, and is confirmed in the SWIFT General Terms and Conditions directly. For example, see clause 4.5.1 of the SWIFT General Terms and Conditions (24 October 2008) or clause 2.2 of the SWIFT General Terms and Conditions (1 January 2010)

By updating its General Terms and Conditions, SWIFT can address comments received from customers and keep up with changes to SWIFT’s offering.

Question 2: Why this new version?

This new version of the General Terms and Conditions has been completely re-written and re-structured. The objective is two-fold:

  1. to make the General Terms and Conditions more readable
  2. to make the General Terms and Conditions more balanced

Question 3: What's new?

Beyond an extensive editorial review to make the SWIFT General Terms and Conditions (1 January 2010) more readable, changes fall into two categories:

  1. A new introduction on SWIFT governance

    The new introduction simply and clearly explains SWIFT’s specific cooperative nature and the governance model within which SWIFT operates.
    The intention is to provide sufficient background information to understand the General Terms and Conditions and why SWIFT manages requests for changes in a cooperative manner as part of the regular review of SWIFT standard terms and conditions rather than executing ad hoc amendments with individual customers.

  2. More balanced terms and conditions

    The new General terms and Conditions also reflect SWIFT continued effort to have reasonable terms and conditions, in line with industry standards. For example:  

    • Certain provisions that used to be for the sole benefit of SWIFT are now reciprocal, including the right for customers to share confidential information with affiliated entities
    • New rights for the customer are introduced, such as the right to outsource operations to third parties without SWIFT’s prior consent
    • Some customer obligations have been re-worded to limit any unnecessary burden (for example, customer audit obligations)
    • The scope of the customer indemnity has now been reduced to protect SWIFT against third-party claims instead of a blanket approach covering all possible SWIFT losses.

 For more information about changes made in the SWIFT General Terms and Conditions (1 January 2010) , see the Changes Table

Q4 - When effective? Any retrospective effect?

The new SWIFT General Terms and Conditions (1 January 2010) have been published ahead of their effective date on 20 November 2009, and are effective since 1 January 2010.
There is no retrospective effect.
Until 1 January 2010, the SWIFT General Terms and Conditions (24 October 2008) continued to apply.

Q5 – Anything to do?

SWIFT has published the new SWIFT General Terms and Conditions (1 January 2010) in advance to permit customers to read them before the effective date.
This new version automatically applies since 1 January 2010. Like for previous updates, no specific action was required from customers to that effect.

Q6 - How to always access the latest version?

The latest version of the SWIFT General Terms and Conditions is always available on www.swift.com  (About SWIFT > Legal > SWIFT contracts) and in the UHB online
Changes to SWIFT General Terms and Conditions are advertised through the UHB newsletter. SWIFT recommends that all customers subscribe to the UHB newsletter so that they can keep up with future changes.

Q7 - When is the next version scheduled?

No specific date has been scheduled yet for the next version of the SWIFT General Terms and Conditions.
SWIFT recommends that customers subscribe to the UHB newsletter so that they can keep up with any future changes.

Q8 - Any other questions?

If customers have questions about the new SWIFT General Terms and Conditions (1 January 2010) , they can check this FAQ and the Changes Table, or contact their account manager.