Arcontech enhances central banks’ market‑sensitive data publishing with end-to-end encryption

Monetary policy decisions and auction results are safeguarded against cyber security threats.

As cyber security threats increase and regulatory focus on operational resilience intensifies, central banks face growing pressure to ensure highly market-sensitive information remains protected until the precise moment of authorised release and that every published message, rate or price can be verified as originating from an authorised source. At the same time, the continued evolution of market data infrastructure towards managed hosting and cloud services has heightened the need for stronger governance, tighter operational controls and secure publishing workflows.

Following a year-long collaborative development project with a central bank client, Arcontech has enhanced its CityVision Multi-Vendor Contribution System (MVCS) with new capabilities that strengthen authentication, governance, operational controls and cyber security for the publication of market-sensitive information.

During the project, Arcontech carefully analysed the central bank’s complex operational workflows to build a platform that supports established and desired central bank processes while remaining intuitive to use.

“Central banks operate some of the world’s most demanding publishing environments, where trust, governance, timing and security are all critical,” says Matthew Jeffs, chief executive officer of Arcontech. “Working closely with our client has enabled us to further strengthen CityVision, delivering what we believe is the only vendor-agnostic central bank publishing platform that is FIPS [Federal Information Processing Standards]-compliant across the entire workflow.”

Unlike conventional market data publishing architectures, CityVision combines cryptographic authentication with end-to-end encryption across the entire publishing workflow with a FIPS 140-2-validated module. FIPS are the computer security and interoperability guidelines developed by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology for use in federal government agencies and contractors.

Every message is authenticated and remains encrypted from creation through approval to authorised release and distribution, ensuring the integrity of published information while protecting it from unauthorised access throughout the process. By eliminating the points at which information is typically decrypted or exposed within intermediary systems, CityVision significantly reduces the risk of data compromise before publication.

“The result is a platform that gives central banks complete confidence that market-moving information remains protected, authentic and under their control until the precise moment of authorised release,” adds Jeffs.

Designed around established central bank operational practices, CityVision MVCS supports ‘four eyes’ approval before the publication of embargoed information, including monetary policy decisions, auction results, reference rate fixings and other market-sensitive announcements. Authentication, role-based access controls, 30-day certificate renewals and comprehensive audit trails ensure that only authorised personnel can access, approve and publish information, providing complete governance throughout the approval process.

Once approved, information can be published simultaneously to Bloomberg, LSEG, central bank websites and other authorised dissemination channels, ensuring trusted, transparent and timely distribution to all market participants.

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