SWIFTRef 

The industry-wide utility for sourcing, maintaining and delivering high-quality payments reference data

Improve straight-through processing of payments, reduce costs and control operational risk

 

SWIFT directories web pages are moving to the new SWIFTRef web site at http://www.swiftrefdata.com/.

SWIFTRef is the new industry-wide utility for global payments reference data utility, delivered by SWIFT – the payments messaging experts.
It’s a secure platform where data owners, including banks, central banks and code issuers, can manage and publish their reference data so users can find all the data sets they need in one place.

SWIFTRef offers you a new approach to managing and using payments reference data, with new services, a choice of delivery channels and formats, and exceptional research and service.

Please join us at http://www.swiftrefdata.com/ to learn more.

 

BIC Registration Authority

Business Identifier Code (BIC)

The BIC is the mostly used international identifier of financial institutions. Up to now SWIFT has issued up to 90.000 BICs world-wide. SWIFT in its role of ISO registration authority issues BICs to financial and non-financial institutions connected to the SWIFT network as well as to non-connected institutions. The BIC is used in financial transactions, client and counterparty data bases, compliance documents and many others. The ISO 9362 standard defines the BIC structure.  

BIC Policy

This document provides a general description of the rules related to the registration and the publication of BICs. It also provides guidelines for the use of BIC as identifiers and addresses within the SWIFT messaging services.

Learn more about the BIC Registration Authority on http://www.swift.com/products/bic_registration.

 

Legal Entity Identifier

Background

There is an increasing need for accurate and unambiguous identification of legal entities engaged in financial transactions in order to measure and monitor systematic risk. This need is recognized by international bodies such as the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the G20. Regulators strive to adopt through rulemaking a universal standard for identifying parties to financial contracts that is established by private industry and other relevant stakeholders through a consensus process.

The Financial Industry Trade Associations have recommended the solution put forward by DTCC, SWIFT and ISO, in close collaboration with ANNA. This solution includes the definition via a consensus process of an ISO standard for Legal Entity Identifiers (ISO 17442).

Regulation and next steps

At the end of 2011, the Commodities Future Trade Commission (CFTC) published its final rule on OTC derivatives reporting requirements and unique counterparties identification with LEI.  The CFTC endorses the new ISO 17442 LEI standard on which the SWIFT/DTCC solution proposal is based.

The timeline set forward by the CFTC for starting regulatory reporting is 16 July 2012.

To help financial institutions with reporting duties prepare for this, SWIFT and DTCC have delivered a TEST file of provisional legal entity identifiers.  The file is made available through the trade associations websites in Europe, Asia and America.

The new ISO standard will not be final before end of April. Coordination efforts between the global regulatory community and the industry are underway under the auspices of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and will also make their final recommendations by the end of April timeframe.

The TEST file is intended to provide financial institutions with an illustration of what a downloaded LEI file is expected to look like in the future.