NZX to use Swift messaging system

Following its decision earlier this year to replace HP’s NonStop platform with a Linux-based settlements system, the NZX has announced that it will install a new clearing and settlement messaging system from Swift.

Swift — which stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication — is a member-owned cooperative that provides financial messaging services to financial institutions around the world.

In February, the NZX announced it had selected Tata Consultancy Services to provide a new settlements system.

In a statement announcing the move to Swift, the NZX notes “the decision to adopt international standards for its messaging coincides with the intention of the NZX to replace its legacy equities and debt settlement system with a new central counterparty clearing house and a new central securities depository”.

The exchange’s carbon trading subsidiary, TZ1, partly drove the move to Swift, as it needs to be able to communicate with financial institutions around the world, according to the statement.