Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 129 / Thursday, July 5, 2018 / Notices 31391 

1 In 2017, the Fedwire Funds Service processed 

152,649,633 payments with a total value of 

approximately $740 trillion and CHIPS processed 

112,597,088 payments with a total value of 

approximately $393 trillion. 

2 Value messages can be used for multiple types 

of funds transfers, e.g., ‘‘bank transfers’’ in which 

the originator and beneficiary are both banks and 

‘‘customer transfers’’ in which the originator and/ 

or beneficiary is not a bank. Nonvalue messages 

include, e.g., ‘‘requests for reversal’’ in which a 

Fedwire participant requests that another Fedwire 

participant send a funds transfer that would return 

the amount of a previously accepted payment order. 

3SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative 

headquartered in Belgium that provides its users 

(including banking and securities organizations, 

market infrastructures, and corporate customers) a 

global service for financial messages, such as 

payments and securities transactions. 

4See https://www.iso.org/about-us.html. 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, June 29, 2018. 

Yao-Chin Chao, 

Assistant Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14431 Filed 7–3–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

[Docket Number OP–1613] 

New Message Format for the Fedwire®

Funds Service 

AGENCY: Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed service 

enhancement; request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System (Board) is 

requesting comment on a proposal to 

adopt the ISO® 20022 message format 

for the Fedwire® Funds Service. ISO 

20022 is an international standard that 

would replace the Fedwire Funds 

Service’s current, proprietary message 

format. The migration to ISO 20022 

would take place in three phases 

beginning in 2020 and ending in 2023. 

DATES: Comment due date: September 4, 

2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. OP–1613, by 

any of the following methods: 

• Agency Website: http://

www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments at 

http://www.federalreserve.gov/ 

generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm. 

• Email: regs.comments@

federalreserve.gov. Include the docket 

number in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Fax: (202) 452–3819 or (202) 452– 

3102. 

• Mail: Address to Ann E. Misback, 

Secretary, Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and 

Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20551. 

All public comments will be made 

available on the Board’s website at 

http://www.federalreserve.gov/ 

generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm as 

submitted, unless modified for technical 

reasons or to remove personal 

information at the commenter’s request. 

Accordingly, comments will not be 

edited to remove any identifying or 

contact information. Public comments 

may also be viewed electronically or in 

paper in Room 3515, 1801 K Street NW 

(between 18th and 19th Streets NW), 

between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on 

weekdays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Evan Winerman, Counsel (202–872– 

7578), Legal Division; or Melissa Leistra, 

Manager (202–530–6285), Renuka 

Lakshmanan, Senior Financial Services 

Analyst (202–475–6633), Division of 

Reserve Bank Operations and Payment 

Systems. For users of 

Telecommunications Device for the Deaf 

(TDD) only, contact (202–263–4869). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Fedwire Funds Service is a realtime gross settlement system owned and 

operated by the Federal Reserve Banks 

(Reserve Banks) that enables 

participants to make final payments 

using their balances held at Reserve 

Banks or intraday credit provided by the 

Reserve Banks. The Fedwire Funds 

Service and the CHIPS® funds-transfer 

system, which is owned and operated 

by The Clearing House Payments 

Company, L.L.C. (TCH), are the main 

large-value payment systems in the 

United States.1

A. Current Fedwire Funds Service 

Message Format 

The Fedwire Funds Service uses a 

proprietary message format that 

supports multiple types of 

communications. Specifically, Fedwire 

Funds Service participants can send 

‘‘value’’ messages that order the 

movement of funds and ‘‘nonvalue’’ 

messages that do not result in the 

movement of funds but rather 

communicate information or requests to 

other participants.2 The Fedwire Funds 

Service also includes messages that 

enable Fedwire participants to request 

account balance information and the 

processing status of payment orders. 

Although the Fedwire Funds Service 

message format is proprietary, it can be 

mapped to—and is interoperable with— 

the CHIPS message format and the 

message type (MT) format of the 

SWIFT® messaging network.3 As a 

result, multi-step domestic and 

international funds transfers can involve 

payment orders sent over the Fedwire 

Funds Service, CHIPS, and the SWIFT 

Financial Message Service network. 

B. ISO 20022 

The International Organization for 

Standardization (ISO) is an 

independent, non-governmental 

organization comprised of 161 national 

standards bodies. ISO ‘‘brings together 

experts to share knowledge and develop 

voluntary, consensus-based, market 

relevant International Standards that 

support innovation and provide 

solutions to global challenges.’’ 4 ISO 

publishes standards for a broad range of 

industries. 

The ISO 20022 standard includes a 

suite of messages for the financial 

industry, including messages for 

payments, securities, trade services, 

cards, and foreign exchange. ISO 20022 

messages use extensible markup 

language (XML) syntax and have a 

common data dictionary that can 

support end-to-end payment message 

flow, including payment initiation (i.e., 

customer to bank messages), interbank 

settlement (i.e., bank to bank messages), 

and cash management (i.e., bank to 

customer messages). 

ISO 20022 messages include 

structured data elements that provide 

for potentially richer payment message 

data than the current Fedwire Funds 

Service message format. For example, 

ISO 20022 messages contain fields for 

three intermediary financial institutions 

while the current Fedwire Funds 

message format contains a field for only 

one intermediary financial institution. 

Similarly, ISO 20022 messages can 

include more structured and detailed 

information than the current Fedwire 

Funds message format (see example in 

Table 1). 

TABLE 1 

Current Fedwire Funds Service format ISO 20022 format 

Free-text lines for address information: Discrete fields for specific address information: 


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5See https://www.iso20022.org/full_

catalogue.page. 

TABLE 1—Continued 

Current Fedwire Funds Service format ISO 20022 format 

Address Line 1 (up to 35 characters) 

Address Line 2 (up to 35 characters) 

Address Line 3 (up to 35 characters) 

Postal Address <PstlAdr>. 

<AdrTp> (4 characters). 

<Dept> (up to 70 characters). 

<SubDept> (up to 70 characters). 

<StrtNm> (up to 70 characters). 

<BldgNb> (up to 16 characters). 

<PstCd> (up to 16 characters). 

<TwnNm> (up to 35 characters). 

<CtrySubDvsn> (up to 35 characters). 

<Ctry> (2 characters). 

Table 2 shows how ISO 20022 

messages correspond to messages in the 

current Fedwire Funds Service message 

format. The full catalogue of ISO 20022 

messages is available on the ISO 200022 

website.5

TABLE 2 

Category Description ISO 20022 Message Comparable message in current 

fedwire funds service format 

Business application header .......... Processing information placed at 

the beginning of each message 

(e.g., sender, receiver, input 

message accountability data or 

output message accountability 

data).

BusinessApplicationHeaderV01_

head.001.001.01.

This information is contained in 

various data elements of the 

current format. 

Value messages ............................ Used by Fedwire Funds Service 

participants to order the movement of funds.

Financial Institution To Financial 

Institution Customer Credit 

Transfer (pacs.008.001.0x).

Customer transfers. 

Financial Institution Credit Transfer (pacs.009.001.0x).Bank transfers. 

Payment Return 

(pacs.004.001.0x).

Returns. 

Nonvalue messages ...................... Used by Fedwire Funds Service 

participants to request that a 

funds transfer be made, to 

refuse to honor those requests, 

or to share free- format information.

Customer Credit Transfer Initiation (pain.001.001.09).

FIToFI Payment Cancellation Request (camt.056.001.07).

FIToFI Payment Status Report 

(pacs.002.001.09).

Drawdown request. 

Return request. 

Drawdown refusal. 

Note: This message will also be 

used for a Return Refusal, but 

there is currently no comparable message.

Proprietary Format Investigation 

(camt.035.001.04).

Service message. 

System messages .......................... Used to communicate about the 

processing status of messages 

submitted to the Fedwire Funds 

Service, to report about Fedwire 

Funds Service operations, or to 

request copies of current or 

prior-day messages.

FIToFI Payment Status Report 

(pacs.002.001.09).

Message Reject 

(admi.002.001.01).

System Event Notification 

(admi.004.001.02).

Resend Request 

(admi.006.001.01).

Acknowledgment and reject notification. 

Error response to an account report request or retrieval request. 

Broadcast messages (i.e., open, 

close, extensions). 

Retrievals (current day or prior 

two business days). 

Reporting messages ...................... Used to request or report on 

transaction activity or account 

balance information.

Account Reporting Request 

(camt.060.001.03).

The following requests: 

D Account balance. 

D Endpoint totals. 

D Detailed summary. 

Bank To Customer Account Report (camt.052.001.07).The following reports: 

D Account balance. 

D Endpoint totals. 

D Detailed summary. 

D Reconciliation gap report. 

D Funds subsidiary statement. 


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6The other members of the Stakeholder Group are 

the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; TCH; 

NACHA—The Electronic Payments Association, 

which develops the rules that govern the 

Automated Clearing House network; and 

Accredited Standards Committee X9–Financial 

Industry Standards, Inc., which has been accredited 

by the U.S. national standards body (the American 

National Standards Institute) to develop financial 

standards. 

7See Appendix 7 of the Federal Reserve’s 

Strategies for Improving the Payment System (Jan. 

26, 2015), https://fedpaymentsimprovement.org/wpcontent/uploads/strategies-improving-us-paymentsystem.pdf, for a fuller discussion of the 

consultant’s findings. 

8 Id. at 19–20. Strategies for Improving the 

Payment System made a number of other 

recommendations intended to improve, inter alia, 

the speed, efficiency, and security of payments. 

9See ‘‘Deep Dive into the ISO 20022 

Implementation Strategy for U.S. High-Value 

Payment Systems’’, Sibos Community Session (Oct. 

18, 2017), slide 7 https://

fedpaymentsimprovement.org/wp-content/uploads/ 

101817-iso20022-deep-dive.pdf. 

10 Id. 

11See https://fedpaymentsimprovement.org/wpcontent/uploads/iso20022_adoption_

considerations_survey.pdf. 

12See ‘‘Fedwire Funds Service ISO 20022 

Implementation Center,’’ https://

www.frbservices.org/resources/financial-services/ 

wires/iso-20022-implementation-center.html, which 

includes information on the Reserve Banks’ 

proposal to implement ISO 20022 for the Fedwire 

Funds Service. See also ‘‘The Fed’s Resource Center 

for Adoption of ISO 20022 Payment Messages,’’ 

https://fedpaymentsimprovement.org/paymentsefficiency/iso-20022/, which includes links to 

presentations and webinars concerning plans to 

adopt ISO 20022 for wire transfers and ACH 

payments. The Reserve Banks will host additional 

webinars and in-person workshops throughout the 

first half of 2018. The Reserve Banks will also 

continue to work with NACHA to educate ACH 

participants about ISO 20022. 

13See https://www.swift.com/news-events/news/ 

iso-20022-migration_the-time-is-now. 

14 Id. 

15 Id. 

16For further discussion of payment systems that 

have adopted ISO 20022 or have announced plans 

to adopt ISO 20022, see section 7.3 of SWIFT’s ISO 

20022 consultation paper, https://www.swift.com/ 

resource/iso-20022-migration-study. 

17Extended remittance information generally 

refers to details in the payment message regarding 

the purpose of a business-to-business payment. For 

example, a business that sends a payment to a 

vendor could include details regarding the invoices 

against which the vendor should apply the 

payment. 

II. Payments Industry Efforts Related to 

ISO 20022 

In late 2012, the Federal Reserve Bank 

of New York and other key entities 

involved in the U.S. payments industry 

formed a ‘‘Stakeholder Group’’ to assess 

the merits of adopting the ISO 20022 

standard in the U.S.6 The Stakeholder 

Group engaged an independent external 

consultant to evaluate the business case 

for adopting ISO 20022. The consultant 

identified certain strategic reasons to 

consider adopting ISO 20022 in the U.S. 

for cross-border wire and Automated 

Clearing House (ACH) payments and 

then, if appropriate, for domestic wire 

and ACH payments. For example, the 

consultant emphasized that adopting 

ISO 20022 in lieu of proprietary 

standards would improve 

interoperability between domestic and 

global payment systems.7 In accordance 

with the findings of the Stakeholder 

Group, the Federal Reserve 

recommended in its 2015 Strategies for 

Improving the Payment System paper 

that the U.S. payments industry 

‘‘[d]evelop an implementation strategy 

for the application of the ISO 20022 

standard to U.S. payment 

transactions.’’ 8

Since 2015, the Reserve Banks have 

worked with TCH on plans to adopt ISO 

20022 for the Fedwire Funds Service 

and CHIPS. While the Reserve Banks 

and TCH decided independently to 

pursue implementation of ISO 20022, 

they intend to align ISO 20022 

implementation for the Fedwire Funds 

Service and CHIPS to the extent 

possible.9 The Reserve Banks and TCH 

have indicated that aligning ISO 20022 

implementation for their respective wire 

transfer systems would create 

efficiencies that would benefit their 

common customers.10 The Reserve 

Banks’ specific proposed timeline for 

adopting ISO 20022 for the Fedwire 

Funds Service is discussed in greater 

detail below. 

The Reserve Banks have also engaged 

in extensive public outreach regarding 

ISO 20022. For example, the Reserve 

Banks and TCH conducted a survey in 

2015 of over 2,300 Fedwire Funds 

Service customers, Fedwire and CHIPS 

advisory group banks, vendors, and 

industry groups on the potential scope, 

approach, and timing of ISO 20022 

implementation.11 The Reserve Banks 

have also presented at industry 

conferences, published webinars, and 

established websites to educate market 

participants about ISO 20022 and to 

solicit direct informal feedback on plans 

to implement ISO 20022.12 Finally, the 

Reserve Banks have established 

advisory groups that include banks, 

software vendors, and other 

stakeholders to provide input on how to 

implement ISO 20022 for the Fedwire 

Funds Service. 

SWIFT has initiated a study to 

consider the migration of cross-border 

traffic in its proprietary MT format to 

ISO 20022.13 The SWIFT study includes 

a community consultation to help 

determine the timing and practicalities 

of migration.14 SWIFT has indicated 

that the ‘‘consultation will run until 

early June, with results analysed over 

the following months and a final report 

produced before the end of 2018. The 

report will draw on the feedback from 

the consultation to propose a detailed 

roadmap for’’ migrating cross-border MT 

traffic to ISO 20022.15

Similarly, many foreign wire transfer 

systems, including those for currencies 

of key U.S. trading partners, have 

adopted ISO 20022 (e.g., China, India, 

Japan, Switzerland) or have announced 

plans to adopt ISO 20022 (e.g., Canada, 

European Union, Hong Kong, United 

Kingdom).16

III. Potential Benefits of Adopting ISO 

20022 for the Fedwire Funds Service 

The Board believes that adopting ISO 

20022 for the Fedwire Funds Service 

could be beneficial for a number of 

reasons. As described above, the ISO 

20022 message format would allow 

Fedwire Funds Service participants to 

include richer and more structured data 

in their messages—for example, 

increased character lengths for name 

data elements and discrete elements for 

address information, including a 

country code. This data could help 

banks and other entities meet evolving 

requirements to screen payments for 

sanctions and anti-money laundering 

purposes. 

Adopting ISO 20022 messages could 

also improve domestic and cross-border 

interoperability between the Fedwire 

Funds Service and other payment or 

messaging systems. As noted above, 

TCH has announced plans to adopt ISO 

20022 messages for the CHIPS system 

and SWIFT has initiated a study to 

consider the migration of cross-border 

MT traffic to ISO 20022. Similarly, as 

noted above, many foreign wire transfer 

systems, including those for currencies 

of key U.S. trading partners, have 

adopted or have announced plans to 

adopt ISO 20022. Adopting ISO 20022 

as a common, global standard could 

reduce operating costs for banks and 

their customers by reducing the need to 

map payment information from one 

message format to another. This could 

improve the efficiency of end-to-end 

processing of multi-leg domestic and 

international funds transfers. 

Relatedly, adopting ISO 20022 as a 

common, global standard could allow 

banks to provide useful services to their 

customers. For example, ISO 20022 

would support a structured format for 

including extended remittance 

information (ERI) in business-tobusiness payment messages.17 While the 

current proprietary message formats for 

the Fedwire Funds Service and CHIPS 

support ERI, usage of ERI by depository 

institutions and their customers has 

been limited. Widespread adoption of 


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18See https://www.swift.com/news-events/news/ 

payments-standards-changes-for-2020-and-whyyou-should-act-now. 

19As noted above, the Reserve Banks would 

require Fedwire Funds Service participants to test 

their ability to receive full ISO 20022 messages 

during phase 2. 20 ISO 20022 employs terminology that differs in 

key respects from that used in U.S. funds-transfer 

law, including subpart B of the Board’s Regulation 

J (12 CFR 210), which governs funds transfers 

through the Fedwire Funds Service. The Board has 

proposed an amendment to subpart B of Regulation 

J that would clarify that terms used in financial 

messaging standards, such as ISO 20022, do not 

confer or connote legal status or responsibilities. 

See 83 FR 11431 (Mar. 15, 2018). 

ISO 20022 would create a common, 

global format for ERI that could 

encourage depository institutions and 

their customers to invest in the changes 

needed to support the end-to-end flow 

of ERI for business-to-business 

payments. 

IV. Proposed Timeline for Adopting 

ISO 20022 for the Fedwire Funds 

Service 

The Reserve Banks would transition 

from the current Fedwire Funds Service 

message format to ISO 20022 in three 

phases. 

Phase 1: ISO 20022 Preparation (Target 

Implementation Date of November 23, 

2020) 

In phase 1, the Reserve Banks would 

make a number of changes to the current 

Fedwire Funds Service message format 

to address existing interoperability gaps 

with SWIFT’s proprietary MT format. 

The Reserve Banks would also eliminate 

the free-text format option for the 

originator and beneficiary fields in 

customer transfer messages and instead 

require Fedwire Funds Service 

participants to use a structured format 

for these fields; SWIFT is making a 

similar change to its MT format in 

November 2020.18

Although the Reserve Banks would 

need to make most of the changes in 

phase 1 even if the Reserve Banks were 

not planning to adopt ISO 20022, all of 

the changes in this phase would 

simplify the Fedwire Funds Service’s 

migration to ISO 20022 messages. 

Phase 2: ISO 20022 ‘‘like-for-like’’ 

Implementation (Target Implementation 

Period From March 2022 to August 

2023) 

In phase 2, the Reserve Banks would 

migrate Fedwire Funds Service 

participants in waves to send and 

receive ISO 20022 messages that have 

elements and character lengths that are 

comparable to the current Fedwire 

Funds Service message format. Table 2, 

supra, shows how ISO 20022 messages 

correspond to messages in the current 

Fedwire Funds Service message format. 

While the syntax for the phase 2 likefor-like ISO 20022 messages would be 

XML, the content of the messages would 

be limited to data elements and 

character lengths comparable to those 

that are supported in the current 

Fedwire Funds Service message format. 

For example, like-for-like ISO 20022 

messages in phase 2 could include only 

one field for an intermediary financial 

institution (similar to the current 

Fedwire Funds Service message format) 

even though ISO 20022 messages can 

generally accommodate up to three such 

fields. Similarly, while ISO 20022 

messages can support structured data 

elements for address information (see 

Table I, supra), like-for-like ISO 20022 

messages in phase 2 would (similar to 

the current Fedwire Funds Service 

message format) be limited to three lines 

of 35 characters each for free-text 

address information. 

Because the Reserve Banks would 

transition Fedwire Funds Service 

participants to ISO 20022 in waves, the 

Fedwire Funds Service would translate 

the current message format to ISO 20022 

and vice versa when necessary to 

accommodate Fedwire senders and 

receivers that are not using the same 

format. At the end of phase 2, the 

Fedwire Funds Service would move 

into a stability period lasting at least 

three months (from August 2023 to 

November 2023) in which all Fedwire 

Funds participants would send and 

receive ISO 20022 like-for-like 

messages. During the stability period, 

the Reserve Banks would retain the 

current, proprietary Fedwire Funds 

Service format as a fallback option in 

case one or more participants encounter 

issues and the Reserve Banks determine 

that such participants need to revert 

back to the proprietary format. 

The Reserve Banks would also use 

phase 2 to prepare for full 

implementation of ISO 20022 in phase 

3. Specifically, the Reserve Banks would 

require Fedwire Funds Service 

participants to test their ability to 

receive full ISO 20022 messages. 

Phase 3: ISO Enhancements (Target 

Implementation Date of November 

2023) 

In phase 3, the Reserve Banks would 

fully implement ISO 20022 by enabling 

Fedwire Funds Service participants to 

send ISO 20022 messages that contain 

enhanced data as noted in Table 3. 

Although it would be optional for 

participants to send the enhanced data, 

all participants would need to be 

capable of receiving enhanced data.19

Participants would also need to 

determine, consistent with any legal 

obligations, how to handle enhanced 

data that they receive—for example, 

whether (and how) to provide enhanced 

data to the next receiving bank in the 

funds transfer or to the beneficiary (if 

the Fedwire Funds Service participant 

is the beneficiary’s bank). 

TABLE 3 

ISO 20022 Enhancements 

1. New data elements for additional persons or entities identified in payment messages: 20

D initiating party 

D two additional previous instructing agents 

D two additional intermediary agents 

D ultimate debtor 

D ultimate creditor 

2. New purpose code data element to help explain the business purpose of the funds transfer. 

3. New data element that participants can use to determine how they handle or process a message (e.g., SWIFT global payments innovation 

service level). 

4. New data element to provide information about a bilateral processing agreement. 

5. Longer character lengths for certain fields (e.g., Name can be up to 140 characters). 

6. Structured postal address data elements, including a country code. 

7. Contact details for certain persons/entities in the funds transfer. 


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21For more information on MyStandards, see 

https://www.swift.com/our-solutions/complianceand-shared-services/mystandards. 

22For more information on the DIT environment, 

see https://www.frbservices.org/financial-services/ 

wires/testing/di-testing.html. 

23Specifically, these Fedwire Funds Service 

participants enter messages individually into 

FedPayments Manager-Funds over the FedLine 

Advantage solution through a graphical user 

interface. 

TABLE 3—Continued 

8. New regulatory reporting data elements to provide regulatory information (e.g., OFAC license) related to customer transfers. 

9. New tax component to provide remittance information related to tax payments. 

The target implementation date for 

phase 3 could be delayed if SWIFT has 

not yet implemented a solution for its 

network to support ISO 20022 messages 

that contain enhanced data. 

V. Fedwire Funds Service Message 

Format Documentation and Testing 

The Reserve Banks are using a 

restricted page on the MyStandards 

web-based application as a tool to store 

and share documentation related to the 

ISO 20022 project with authorized 

Fedwire Funds Service participants and 

software vendors.21 In March 2018, the 

Reserve Banks published the final 

message format documents for phase 1, 

which would provide the industry over 

two years to prepare for the proposed 

phase 1 target implementation date in 

November 2020. The Reserve Banks also 

published draft message format 

documents for phases 2 and 3 in March 

2018 and will publish the final 

documents for these phases by the end 

of June 2018; this would provide the 

industry nearly four years to prepare for 

the proposed phase 2 migration (which 

is targeted to begin in March 2022) and 

over five years to prepare for the 

proposed phase 3 target implementation 

date in November 2023. 

The Reserve Banks plan to provide 

nine months for testing the phase 1 

changes in their Depository Institution 

Testing (DIT) environment prior to the 

proposed implementation date in 

November 2020.22 Similarly, the 

Reserve Banks plan to provide at least 

one year for testing the phase 2 and 

phase 3 changes in their DIT 

environment. The Reserve Banks plan to 

publish a final testing plan by the end 

of 2018. 

VI. Impact on Fedwire Funds Service 

Participants and Service Providers 

The Board believes that the impact of 

ISO 20022 implementation on Fedwire 

Funds Service participants would vary 

depending on how each participant 

accesses the Fedwire Funds Service. 

Certain Fedwire Funds Service 

participants or service providers 

develop their own software (or rely on 

software from vendors) to access the 

Fedwire Funds Service. These 

institutions include (1) Fedwire Funds 

Service participants and service 

providers that access the Fedwire Funds 

Service via the FedLine Direct® solution 

and (2) Fedwire Funds Service 

participants that use the import/export 

feature of FedPayments® ManagerFunds over the FedLine Advantage®

solution. FedLine Direct access to the 

Fedwire Funds Service is an 

unattended, IP-based computer 

interface. It is typically used by 

participants conducting larger volumes 

of funds transfers. FedPayments 

Manager is a web-based application that 

midsize and smaller participants 

typically use to create, send, and receive 

payment orders and nonvalue messages. 

The import functionality built into 

FedPayments Manager enables 

participants to upload payment files 

from separate payment applications 

(e.g., those that interface with customerfacing systems) so the participants do 

not have to enter the messages one by 

one into the application. Similarly, the 

export functionality allows participants 

to download files from FedPayments 

Manager into other applications (e.g., so 

payments can post to customer accounts 

in their deposit systems). The Board 

believes that participants and service 

providers accessing the service through 

FedLine Direct or using the import/ 

export feature of FedPayments Manager 

would need to make significant changes 

to their payment applications or 

processes to be able to send and receive 

messages (or import and export files) in 

the revised proprietary format in phase 

1 and in the new ISO 20022 format in 

phases 2 and phase 3. 

Other Fedwire Funds Service 

participants access the Fedwire Funds 

Service manually through FedPayments 

Manager-Funds.23 These participants 

would need to become familiar with the 

terminology used in, and information 

required by, the ISO 20022 format and 

the updated appearance of the graphical 

user interface in FedPayments Manager. 

The Reserve Banks would make the 

necessary changes to FedPayments 

Manager, however, and would provide 

training regarding the updates. 

Finally, some Fedwire Funds Service 

participants access the Fedwire Funds 

Service through an offline, telephonebased service that requires a Reserve 

Bank employee to enter payment order 

information into a Reserve Bank 

application. The Board does not believe 

that these participants’ current 

processes for submitting payment orders 

would materially change, though the 

participants would need to become 

familiar with the terminology used in, 

and information required by, the ISO 

20022 format so they could provide it to 

the Reserve Bank employees. 

VII. Request for Comment 

The Board requests comment on this 

proposal to replace the current Fedwire 

Funds Service message format with ISO 

20022. 

A. Potential Benefits and Drawbacks of 

Adopting ISO 20022 

1. Would adopting ISO 20022 for the 

Fedwire Funds Service produce the 

benefits discussed above? 

2. Would adopting ISO 20022 for the 

Fedwire Funds Service produce any 

other benefits? 

3. What drawbacks (if any) would 

adopting ISO 20022 for the Fedwire 

Funds Service entail and how might 

they be addressed? 

B. Proposed Timeline for Adopting ISO 

20022 

1. Is the timeline that the Reserve 

Banks have proposed for adopting ISO 

20022 for the Fedwire Funds Service 

(including the proposed timeframes for 

publishing final message format 

documents and testing changes in the 

Reserve Banks’ DIT environment) 

reasonable? If not, how much time 

would Fedwire Funds Service 

participants and service providers 

(including software vendors) need to 

adjust their applications and processes 

for each phase? 

2. Should the Reserve Banks delay the 

implementation date for phase 3 of the 

proposal if SWIFT has not yet 

implemented a solution on its network 

to support ISO 20022 for cross-border 

messages? 

3. Would the proposal to migrate to 

ISO 20022 in phases mitigate any risks 

associated with implementing ISO 

20022? 

C. Impact on Fedwire Funds Service 

Participants and Service Providers 

1. How does your institution access 

the Fedwire Funds Service? If your 

institution accesses the Fedwire Funds 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
31396 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 129 / Thursday, July 5, 2018 / Notices 

24See The Federal Reserve in the Payments 

System (issued 1984; revised 1990), Federal Reserve 

Regulatory Service 9–1558, http://

www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/pfs_

frpaysys.htm. 

Service via the FedLine Direct solution 

or uses the import/export feature of 

FedPayments Manager-Funds over the 

FedLine Advantage solution, do you 

develop your own software or rely on a 

software vendor? 

2. What costs would your institution 

incur if the Reserve Banks adopt ISO 

20022 for the Fedwire Funds Service? If 

possible, please provide dollar estimates 

or ranges. 

3. Would the benefits of adopting ISO 

20022 for the Fedwire Funds Service 

outweigh any associated costs for your 

institution? 

VIII. Competitive Impact Analysis 

The Board conducts a competitive 

impact analysis when it considers a rule 

or policy change that may have a 

substantial effect on payment system 

participants. Specifically, the Board 

determines whether there would be a 

direct or material adverse effect on the 

ability of other service providers to 

compete with the Federal Reserve due 

to differing legal powers or due to the 

Federal Reserve’s dominant market 

position deriving from such legal 

differences.24

The Board does not believe that the 

proposal to adopt ISO 20022 for the 

Fedwire Funds Service would have an 

adverse impact on other service 

providers. As described above, the 

current, proprietary message format for 

the Fedwire Funds Service is 

interoperable with the proprietary 

message format for the CHIPS system. 

As further described above, the Reserve 

Banks have worked with TCH on plans 

to align ISO 20022 implementation for 

the Fedwire Funds Service and CHIPS 

where possible; the Reserve Banks and 

TCH have indicated that such 

coordination will benefit their common 

customers. If the Reserve Banks and 

TCH each adopt ISO 20022 for the 

Fedwire Funds Service and CHIPS, 

respectively, the message formats for the 

two systems will remain interoperable. 

By order of the Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System, June 28, 2018. 

Michele Taylor Fennell, 

Assistant Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14351 Filed 7–3–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

Formations of, Acquisitions by, and 

Mergers of Bank Holding Companies 

The companies listed in this notice 

have applied to the Board for approval, 

pursuant to the Bank Holding Company 

Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.) 

(BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR part 

225), and all other applicable statutes 

and regulations to become a bank 

holding company and/or to acquire the 

assets or the ownership of, control of, or 

the power to vote shares of a bank or 

bank holding company and all of the 

banks and nonbanking companies 

owned by the bank holding company, 

including the companies listed below. 

The applications listed below, as well 

as other related filings required by the 

Board, are available for immediate 

inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank 

indicated. The applications will also be 

available for inspection at the offices of 

the Board of Governors. Interested 

persons may express their views in 

writing on the standards enumerated in 

the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the 

proposal also involves the acquisition of 

a nonbanking company, the review also 

includes whether the acquisition of the 

nonbanking company complies with the 

standards in section 4 of the BHC Act 

(12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise 

noted, nonbanking activities will be 

conducted throughout the United States. 

Unless otherwise noted, comments 

regarding each of these applications 

must be received at the Reserve Bank 

indicated or the offices of the Board of 

Governors not later than July 26, 2018. 

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas 

(Robert L. Triplett III, Senior Vice 

President) 2200 North Pearl Street, 

Dallas, Texas 75201–2272: 

1. Independent Bank Group, Inc., 

McKinney, Texas; to acquire Guaranty 

Bancorp, and thereby indirectly acquire 

Guaranty Bank and Trust Company, 

both of Denver, Colorado. 

2. VBT Financial Corporation, San 

Antonio, Texas; to become a bank 

holding company by acquiring Vantage 

Bank Texas, San Antonio, Texas. 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, June 29, 2018. 

Yao-Chin Chao, 

Assistant Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14432 Filed 7–3–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

[OMB Control No. 9000–0062; Docket No. 

2018–0003; Sequence No. 5] 

Submission for OMB Review; Material 

and Workmanship 

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA). 

ACTION: Notice of request for public 

comments regarding an extension to an 

existing OMB clearance. 

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, the 

Regulatory Secretariat Division will be 

submitting to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) a request to review 

and approve an extension of a 

previously approved information 

collection requirement concerning 

material and workmanship. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

August 6, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments regarding 

this burden estimate or any other aspect 

of this collection of information, 

including suggestions for reducing this 

burden to: Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: 

Desk Officer for GSA, Room 10236, 

NEOB, Washington, DC 20503. 

Additionally submit a copy to GSA by 

any of the following methods: 

• Regulations.gov: http://

www.regulations.gov. Submit comments 

via the Federal eRulemaking portal by 

searching the OMB Control number 

9000–0062. Select the link ‘‘Comment 

Now’’ that corresponds with 

‘‘Information Collection 9000–0062, 

Material and Workmanship’’. Follow the 

instructions provided on the screen. 

Please include your name, company 

name (if any), and ‘‘Information 

Collection 9000–0062, Material and 

Workmanship’’ on your attached 

document. 

• Mail: General Services 

Administration, Regulatory Secretariat 

Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20405. ATTN: Ms. 

Mandell/IC 9000–0062, Material and 

Workmanship. 

Instructions: Please submit comments 

only and cite Information Collection 

9000–0062, Material and Workmanship, 

in all correspondence related to this 

collection. Comments received generally 

will be posted without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1