Financial Infrastructure Report 2023
Authors:   Departamento de Seguimiento a la Infraestructura Financiera Subgerencia Monetaria y de Inversiones Internacionales
Published: December 2023

Introduction The Financial Infrastructure Report is a product of Banco de la República’s (Banrep) continuous efforts to scrutinize financial market infrastructures (FMIs) in Colombia, besides being a contribution to analyzing and monitoring the country’s financial stability. If FMIs are not managed properly, they can pose significant risks to the financial system and be a possible source of contagion, especially in periods of market stress. The domestic financial infrastructure during 2022 was safe and efficient, allowing the payment system and financial markets to operate normally, which lent stability and confidence to its participants. This 2023 edition of the Report includes analysis on the mitigation of intraday liquidity risk in the large-value payment system (CUD), as well as credit and liquidity risk based on countercyclical practices for the management of initial and variation margins in the Cámara de Riesgo Central de Contraparte S.A. (CRCC). In addition, the Report addresses two topics that are at the center of international debate. The first deals with cyber risk, an issue that cuts across the entire domestic financial infrastructure. It is considered one of the most relevant risks; therefore, its effective management has been the focus of recommendations by multilateral organizations. On this occasion, a section is included that outlines these recommendations and focuses on highlights in local progress towards achieving substantial levels of cyber resilience in the Colombian payment system. It is worth noting that Banco de la República is moving forward with a research agenda to quantify the impact instances of cyber risk could have on the payment system and on financial stability. The second topic addresses the need to analyze the adoption of special frameworks for orderly settlement on the part of central counterparties (CCPs), so as to mitigate systemic risk, recognizing the role these types of entities play in the development of markets and financial stability, as well as their essential contribution to mitigating counterparty and liquidity risks. As for retail payments, the use of electronic payment instruments rose significantly in value during 2022 compared to 2021. Transactional data shows the increase in the use of electronic transfers, both intra- and interbank, was particularly important, having become an object of greater innovation, as evidenced, for example, by the use of mobile wallets. Although the adoption for electronic transfers and debit and credit cards has increased in Colombia over the last ten years, compared to other economies, the country still has low levels in this respect. According to the most recent survey on perception of the use of payment instruments conducted by Banrep (2022), cash continues to be the instrument most used by Colombians for regular payments involving small amounts. This points to an important area for increasing the adoption of digital payments, which would materialize with implementation of the different initiatives the industry and the financial authorities (Ministry of Finance-URF, the Office of the Financial Superintendent of Colombia and Banco de la República) are carrying out to develop the instant payments ecosystem. On the other hand, analyses of the risks associated with crypto assets, which are understood as alternatives to the regulated assets in the traditional financial system, but traded in an unregulated digital environment, are also relevant. In this respect, the Report looks at the potential risks that could arise from the added adoption of stablecoins in economies, specifically in a global context where authorities are studying possibilities for using different mechanisms to contain the risks inherent in crypto assets. The third section of the Report deals with aspects such as smart contracts and programmable money, which are innovations that could be considered in an eventual issue of digital currencies by central banks. In keeping with the previous editions of this Report on matters related to central bank digital currencies (CBDC), this edition explains how these two technological functionalities could accompany the design of a retail CBDC, as well as some of the risks that should be considered. Also addressed in this section is the topic of standardized messaging, which is a trend in the field of payments. Reference is made to the United Kingdom’s experience with the adoption of standardized messaging, and its contributions to interoperability.