Swift
Iran and Russia to link banking systems to bypass sanctions
Move follows Iran’s signing of free trade “memorandum” with Russia-led EAEU

The always imminent demise of the global dollar
Creating effective alternatives will remain long and arduous despite China’s development of Cips, the mCBDC bridge and any oil-price redenomination, writes Barry Eichengreen

The race to adopt ISO 20022 payments messaging
Some do not plan to adopt the protocol, while others are preparing for a disjointed implementation

Will the dollar remain the world’s reserve currency?
Bank of Russia sanctions raise questions about the US dollar’s central role
Swift aims to cut cross-border frictions with predictive tool
Use of anonymised data can help spot errors in cross-border payments, Swift says
Gontareva on Ukraine’s funding, NBU policy and reconstruction
Ex-NBU governor talks about fund shortfalls, finstab challenges, the CBR and post-conflict rebuilding
Book notes: Can’t we just print more money?, by Rupal Patel and Jack Meaning
A genuinely readable but non-neutral introduction to economics
Russian banks set to use digital ruble in 2024
Cross-border integration with “friendly countries” planned to bypass Swift
Swift gears up for innovation around digital currencies
Head of innovation at global payments messaging provider speaks CBDC, tokenised assets and AI
Banknotes: April to June 2022
A round-up of news and salient issues that have affected central bankers in the past three months
Less than 10% of RTGS systems meet ISO 20022
Most non-compliant central banks plan to implement messaging protocol by 2025
Central banks use many third parties for payments projects
Respondents mention various providers, with Montran the most frequently cited
Fractures in the monetary system
Seizure of Bank of Russia assets likely to have long-term implications for international system
Outsider arts: how Russia might adapt to sanctions
The history of the USSR and actions by other sanctioned countries may give clues to Russia’s next moves
Russian central bank announces string of emergency measures
Bank of Russia announces liquidity support, FX interventions and changes to capital ratings
A future-proof RTGS blueprint
Operating hours, access and data standards should all be considered by central banks contemplating an RTGS overhaul
Book notes: The pay off, by Gottfried Leibbrandt and Natasha de Terán
A timely introduction to and accessible survey of payment system developments
Criteria for systemically important payment infrastructure differs
Thirty-one out of 37 central banks said they designate systemically important payment infrastructure
The IMF’s $650bn SDR allocation and a future ‘digital SDR’
Focus is needed on widening SDR use in payments, to support a large allocation of ‘official’ IMF SDRs
Large global banks sign up to new Swift platform
Payments consortium says new system will facilitate seamless transactions
Central Banking FinTech & RegTech Global Awards 2021
In March 2021, Central Banking launched its fourth annual FinTech & RegTech Global Awards to showcase some of the groundbreaking projects undertaken in the community. The results are revealed in the awards articles published in this special winners’…
The winners of the 2021 FinTech RegTech Global Awards
Fourth annual tech awards recognise excellence among central banks and the firms they work with
CBDCs must be interoperable – Swift and Accenture paper
Swift plans new CBDC trials for members across traditional payment rails
UAE’s central bank connects RTGS system to Swift tool
New initiative allows participants to monitor progress of transactions in real time