The Bank of Canada (BoC), Bank of England (BoE) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have jointly published a report assessing alternative models that could enhance cross-border payments and settlements.
Published on 15 November 2018
The report examines existing challenges and proposes alternative models that could result in improvements in speed, cost and transparency for users.
“Cross-border interbank payments and settlements: Emerging opportunities for digital transformation”, provides an initial framework for assessing cross-border payments and settlements in greater depth, for the global financial community. The report looks at the potential for wholesale change to the infrastructure unpinning international payments, and explores the potential to deliver benefits through the removal of barriers from both a technical and non-technical perspective. It identifies future areas for focus in areas such as implementation and policy for both industry and regulators.
The report examines three models of cross-border payments. The first two are built on existing domestic interbank payment systems using traditional technology. And, the third model focuses on the use of Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency and its various applications through Distributed Ledger Technology.
The project involved collaboration among the three central banks, who were supported by a group of financial institutions led by HSBC. Contributors included Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), United Overseas Bank (UOB) and Payments Canada. It builds on previous research projects such as Project Jasper by Bank of Canada and Project Ubin by MAS, which explored tokenised forms of central bank liabilities for domestic transactions.
