District Circular Letters
April 28, 1998
FEDWIRE SECURITIES TRANSFER SERVICE:
OPENING TIME TO REMAIN UNCHANGED;
NEW AUTOMATIC REVERSAL FEATURE
To All Fedwire Securities Transfer Customers
in the Twelfth Federal Reserve District
Operating Hours for Fedwire Securities Transfer Service to Remain
Unchanged (Docket R-0866) (PDF)
The Federal Reserve Board has decided not to introduce an earlier opening
time for the Fedwire securities transfer service at this time, due to
the anticipated cost and technical hurdles identified by various industry
participants and concerns expressed by the Treasury. These problems may
decline in the future as participants improve their internal operating
environments (e.g., by implementing real-time and straight- through processing
and better contingency availability) and gain experience with expanded
Fedwire funds transfer operating hours. The Board had requested comment
on the possibility of an earlier opening time in January 1995 (see our
letter of January 18, 1995).
The Board will monitor developments associated with expanded Fedwire
funds transfer hours as well as developments in U.S. government securities
settlement practices and, if market demand for transferring government
securities earlier in the day increases or the related cost or operational
burden declines materially, the Board, in consultation with the Treasury,
will reconsider the desirability of opening the Fedwire securities transfer
service earlier in the day.
Introduction of Optional Automatic Reversal Feature (Docket R-0866)
(PDF)
The Board has approved the introduction of an optional automatic reversal
feature for institutions that access the National Book-Entry System via
a Fedline® connection.1
The Board believes that the availability of automated receiver control
features in the National Book-Entry System would provide these participants
with additional flexibility to manage the receipt of misdirected or incorrect
securities transfers and any associated debits to their account holding
reserve or clearing balances.
The Board considers it likely that this feature will be made available
to Fedline participants during 2000. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
will notify Twelfth District Fedwire customers when the implementation
schedule is finalized.
Copies
Copies of the Board's notice (Docket R-0866)
(PDF) are available from our Corporate Services Department. To request
copies to be sent via mail, please call (415) 974-2748.
To request copies to be sent via fax, please call (415) 974-3333,
and specify document numbers 4129.
Additional Information For additional information regarding these matters,
please contact Mr. David Rodriguez, Assistant Manager, Wholesale Payments,
at (415) 974-2593.
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO
1 Fedline is a registered trademark of the
Federal Reserve Banks.
|
