Continuity planning and the payment system
Sweden’s payment system provides payment services for cash, card and interbank payments as well as for securities transactions and much more. A total of SEK 1,300 billion flows through the system every day. In order for these services to work, a number of IT systems, computer programmes, communication links, regulatory frameworks and routines are required. The work carried out to ensure that these features together form a strong and durable payment system is called continuity planning. This term includes measures to avoid disruptions and to minimise the effects of any disruptions that nevertheless do occur.
The core of the payment system is RIX, which is a system for large payments between banks and other payment systems. RIX is provided by the Riksbank. The other important payment systems are dependent on RIX for the settlement of their payments. These are VPC which handles securities transactions, BGC which handles retail payments such as card payments and Internet payments, and OMX Derivatives Markets which handles business relating to financial derivatives such as options, forwards and futures.
What does the Riksbank do?
The Riksbank provides the RIX payment system and works to ensure that the system is resilient. The Riksbank also makes sure that there are plans, routines and systems that minimise the effects of any disruptions.
The Riksbank also has the statutory task of promoting a safe and efficient payment system. An important element of this work is to review continuity preparations and continuity planning in the systems that make up the financial infrastructure in Sweden. In practice this is done by annually evaluating the systems in terms of international standards. These standards contain a number of principles and recommendations that relate directly to continuity. In the menu on the left you can find links to the latest evaluations of the systems.
The Riksbank also meets representatives of the systems that make up the financial infrastructure in Sweden (BGC, VPC, CLS etc.) for regular reviews of the availability and development of the systems.
Internationally, the Riksbank participates in working groups at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the European Central Bank (ECB) to develop the requirements included in the evaluation principles.
The Riksbank also participates in FSPOS, a group for private-public co-operation in the financial sector, in its role as operator of the RIX system and as a supervisory body. FSPOS is a voluntary forum for co-operation that aims to strengthen the robustness of the financial sector in Sweden locally, regionally and nationally. The objective is that the sector as a whole should increase its ability to resist or quickly recover from crises. Apart from the Riksbank, FSPOS consists of members from both the public and private spheres of the financial sector in Sweden such as banks, insurance companies, securities brokers, financial infrastructure companies, the Swedish National Debt Office, the Social Insurance Office and the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority has a co-ordinating function as the authority with overall responsibility for Sweden’s financial sector.
Read more about the importance of continuity planning in the speech on the vulnerability of the payment system via the internal link below.
Read more about FSPOS and continuity planning in other countries via the external links below.