BIS is SWIFT, are YOU?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

The bank of international settlements released the following in it's recent Y2K update press release:

....Further, the recent increase in the level of overall customer testing with the S.W.I.F.T. system was encouraging. However, participation in S.W.I.F.T.'s mandatory test programme, while increasing, remains relatively low. Given the criticality of uninterrupted transmission of S.W.I.F.T. messages, the Council urges national supervisors to consider incorporating reviews of whether market participants have successfully tested with S.W.I.F.T. into their supervisory programme. http://www.bis.org/press/p990701.htm -------------------------------------------------------------

Why should I care about SWIFT Gordon? Ah...classic Swiss understatement belies the importance of this system in the chain.

This is why you should care: In 1998, S.W.I.F.T.'s global network carried over 900 million messages.

The average daily value of payments messages on the S.W.I.F.T. network is estimated to be above USD 2 trillion.

S.W.I.F.T. helps its customers reduce costs, improve automation and manage risk.

Today, in addition to its 2,932 member banks live on the network, S.W.I.F.T. users include sub-members and participants such as brokers, investment managers, securities deposit and clearing organisations, and stock exchanges.

6,500 financial institutions in 178 countries connect to the S.W.I.F.T. network.

Smart-card technology guarantees authentication of every network user.

Every message is encrypted during transmission and storage, making the content illegible.

Every message is authenticated using secret keys.

More than 240 message standards support your business in payments, securities, treasury and trade services.

S.W.I.F.T. assumes financial liability for losses due to defined incidents within its area of control.

Our Accord bilateral netting service generates statements of net position to further reduce risk and increase efficiency.

Connection to S.W.I.F.T. provides access from a single point to a critical mass of financial institutions and other networks.

Our risk-averse security culture blends high technology, advanced risk management and comprehensive security awareness practices for employees.

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Let's all pause a moment and pray that SWIFT works well in 2000. If it does not, the unimanginable will become reality. Global Financial Collapse.

-- Endicott Steele (g_gecko@bluestar.com), July 03, 1999

Answers

end,

regarding SWIFT. don't worry too much. U.N.C.L.E. has been reliably on the job for quite some time, thank-you-very-much.

.

-- corrine l (corrine@iwaynet.net), July 03, 1999.


The S.W.I.F.T web address is http://www.bis.org/press/p990701.htm. That says it all. (For you corrine 1, it has a two-digit year.)

-- Mr. Adequate(ly prepared) (mr@adequate.com), July 03, 1999.

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