I bring good news from the Bank of England. Whether you have been up all night trying to close a £1 billion securities transaction for your client, or you are buying a house and there's a last minute snag, the deadline for settling securities transactions and making high-value cash transfers is due to be extended next year.
On 23 July the Bank of England announced that the settlement day for CHAPS and CREST will be extended by one hour and forty minutes to 18:00 from summer 2016.
The CREST Delivery-versus-Payment settlement deadline will move from 16:10 to 17:30 with the free of payment settlement deadline extending from 16:40 to 18:00.
For CHAPS, the both customer and interbank transfer deadlines will shift 100 minutes, meaning that customer payments close will be at 17:40 and the interbank deadline will be at 18:00.
There is a neat visual representation of the current and proposed CHAPS and CREST settlement timings here.
The exact timing for implementation is due to be announced at the end of this month.
The last word goes to Minouche Shafik, Deputy Governor, Markets and Banking:
"This is a welcome step forward for the CHAPS and CREST payment and settlement systems. Extending the settlement day will provide greater flexibility to businesses and financial institutions when making decisions on funding, investment and risk management, and a longer window during which housing transactions can complete. We expect all participants to implement the change and pass on the benefit to customers."
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.