Tomcat
Professional
- Messages
- 2,695
- Reaction score
- 1,071
- Points
- 113
SIC (Swiss Interbank Clearing System) was commissioned in 1988. It is one of the oldest RTGS in Europe. Its project was developed by the banking firm Telekurs at the request of the Swiss National Bank and a group of commercial banks. It was intended to carry out both large and small transfers in national currency on transactions in the interbank market, client transfers and transactions with securities.
Among the features of the SIC should be attributed the fact that at first it did not provide for overdraft loans to cover daily overdrafts. In other words, every translation had to have sufficient coverage. In addition, the FIFO scheme was used to form the queue of uncovered payment orders.
Subsequently, in the 1990s, these restrictions were relaxed. First, the FIFO system began to apply the terms of priority of urgent payments. Second, the Swiss National Bank began providing overnight overdraft loans in the form of repo transactions. These changes were largely driven by the need to perform urgent cross-border transfers associated with the introduction of CLS.
Only Swiss credit institutions operating on the basis of national banking legislation can participate in the SIC. They can have two types of accounts: master account and SIC account. The master account is the reserve or giro account with the central bank, and the SIC account is the clearing account used to process transactions in the SIC.
At the beginning of the day, a certain amount of funds is transferred from the master account to the SIC account. At the end of the day, the balance of transactions for the day is reflected in the master account and forms the final position of the bank.
Payments in the system are irrevocable and final. In the absence of coverage, the payment order enters the queue, from where it can be withdrawn at any time. This is done in order to prevent early crediting of the beneficiary's account before the actual payment is made.
SIC employs a progressive commission scale with the lowest commission charged on transactions at the start of the day. In addition, different commissions are charged for large and small transfers. For settlements in euros and easier access to TARGET, Swiss banks established the Swiss Europe Clearing Bank in Frankfurt (Germany).
As of the end of 2008, SIC had 350 members. On average, about 1.5 million payments were made during the day, and their amount was 230 billion Swiss francs. During peak days, SIC processed more than 4 million payments, in monetary terms - 343 billion Swiss francs [Swiss National Bank, 2009].
Among the features of the SIC should be attributed the fact that at first it did not provide for overdraft loans to cover daily overdrafts. In other words, every translation had to have sufficient coverage. In addition, the FIFO scheme was used to form the queue of uncovered payment orders.
Subsequently, in the 1990s, these restrictions were relaxed. First, the FIFO system began to apply the terms of priority of urgent payments. Second, the Swiss National Bank began providing overnight overdraft loans in the form of repo transactions. These changes were largely driven by the need to perform urgent cross-border transfers associated with the introduction of CLS.
Only Swiss credit institutions operating on the basis of national banking legislation can participate in the SIC. They can have two types of accounts: master account and SIC account. The master account is the reserve or giro account with the central bank, and the SIC account is the clearing account used to process transactions in the SIC.
At the beginning of the day, a certain amount of funds is transferred from the master account to the SIC account. At the end of the day, the balance of transactions for the day is reflected in the master account and forms the final position of the bank.
Payments in the system are irrevocable and final. In the absence of coverage, the payment order enters the queue, from where it can be withdrawn at any time. This is done in order to prevent early crediting of the beneficiary's account before the actual payment is made.
SIC employs a progressive commission scale with the lowest commission charged on transactions at the start of the day. In addition, different commissions are charged for large and small transfers. For settlements in euros and easier access to TARGET, Swiss banks established the Swiss Europe Clearing Bank in Frankfurt (Germany).
As of the end of 2008, SIC had 350 members. On average, about 1.5 million payments were made during the day, and their amount was 230 billion Swiss francs. During peak days, SIC processed more than 4 million payments, in monetary terms - 343 billion Swiss francs [Swiss National Bank, 2009].
