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Eurosystem Pauses T2 Wholesale Payment System Launching

In order to allow certain member states more time for testing, the European Central Bank has postponed the rollout of a new real-time gross settlement system and central liquidity management model, T2, by four months, until next March.

The go-live was originally scheduled for the next month, but after an evaluation by the ECB’s Market Infrastructure Board, it was determined that users require extra time to finish their testing in a stable environment.

“The decision also took into account the importance and systemic nature of T2, especially in view of the current geopolitical conditions and volatile financial markets,” says a statement.

Years in the works, the big value payments system project unites the RTGS system with the Eurosystem’s securities settlement platform.

Additionally, it brings new, optimised functionality and integrates the technical and functional components of the Target2 and Target2-Securities platforms. Additionally, Target2 will be replaced by RTGS, which will improve liquidity management for all Target Services.

Says the ECB: “While most users would have been ready for the scheduled go-live date, others would not have fully completed their testing. Delays encountered by market participants were also due to the temporary unavailability of the test environment and initial software deficiencies.”

The software and the testing environment were provided by the central banks of Germany, France, Spain, and Italy.

The final choice appears to be having a knock-on effect on Swift, as reported by Payment Infrastructure News Twitter account, which quotes the communication network as informing members: “In light of the ECB’s announcement, we will leverage this planning, validate with our global community, and, within one week, either re-confirm or revise the planned start date of the cross-border ISO 20022 migration.”

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