17. International Payment Systems and Trade Finance

Author(s):  
Ross Cranston ◽  
Emilios Avgouleas ◽  
Kristin van Zweiten ◽  
Theodor van Sante ◽  
Christoper Hare

This chapter discusses two distinct but inter-related issues. The first part considers the general ways in which payment may be effected internationally or across borders in respect of any type of consumer or commercial contract. In many ways, the analysis builds upon the discussion in the earlier chapter dealing with domestic payment systems and limits itself to highlighting the additional issues or concerns that arise when such systems are used to effect an international or cross-border payment. The second part analyses the specialist mechanisms designed to facilitate payment in the trade finance context in particular. Some of the issues surrounding international messaging and transfer systems, such as SWIFT and TARGET, have already been considered.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-37
Author(s):  
Alexey V. Maslov ◽  

This paper examines the need to create new infrastructural payment and financial institutions in Russia to ensure greater independence of the Russian financial market from any external factors as well as the efficiency of the market for ruble conversion transactions and cross-border payments. The issue of creating an analogue of Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS) in Moscow on the basis of the Interstate Bank, or establishing a new payment system, is highly relevant. Almost seven years ago, on September 22, 2014, the CLS international payment system postponed the inclusion of the Russian ruble in its list of currencies, scheduled for November of that year. The prospect of such inclusion in the coming years remains very weak. In March 2014, VISA and MasterCard payment systems stopped servicing cards of several Russian Banks in retail outlets and ATMs. Amendments to the Federal Law “On the National Payment System” were prepared and promptly adopted in order to provide infrastructure and information support for the processes of making money transfers within Russia. On July 23, 2014, the National Payment Cards System was launched, which was tasked with creating an operational and clearing center for processing domestic transactions with cards of the international payment systems and promoting the national payment card. This experience should be used to create new payment systems in order to secure the efficiency of cross-border payments and currency conversion operations. This step will extend the sphere of ruble convertibility, ensure an increase in the status of the ruble and its importance in international trade, and bring Russia closer to practical steps to create a regional international financial center. To expand settlements in rubles on the part of non-residents, it is necessary to strive to perform trade and financial transactions in rubles and keep ruble savings, which is impossible without a market for ruble conversion transactions. The author examines the prospects for creating a new payment system, in particular with participation of the CIS and BRICS countries.


Author(s):  
Paterson Ian

This chapter discusses the law of set-off and netting in Australia as well as the key restrictions on the availability of set-off under Australian law. In Australia, set-off and netting arrangements are often used as a means of reducing operational and credit risk. In the context of reducing credit risk involving financial rights and obligations (for example, deposits and loans), set-off and netting arrangements depend on one or more of: contract, section 553C of the Corporations Act 2001, and the Payment Systems and Netting Act 1998 (Netting Act). The chapter first considers set-off between solvent parties and set-off against insolvent parties before explaining set-off under section 553C of the Corporations Act. It also examines issues that may arise in cross-border transactions under Australian law with respect to the availability of set-off in section D of the Corporations Act, with emphasis on the choice of law and set-off in insolvency.


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-7

Purpose – This paper aims to observe that strong policies on employee engagement helped the UK and international payment-systems provider VocaLink to introduce organizational change smoothly and win Investors in People (IiP) gold for its human resource (HR) practices. Design/methodology/approach – This paper describes the company’s HR policies and the advantages they bring. Findings – The authors explain that to achieve Investors in People gold, the company should exceed the benchmark for a number of assessment categories including: business and people strategies, leadership and management strategies and effectiveness, involvement and empowerment, reward strategies, performance measurement and continuous improvement. Practical implications – It is revealed that the company has strong induction programs, listens to feedback and puts a lot of energy into ensuring that leadership across the business is organized in a way that both deliver the corporate message and develop teams. Social implications – This paper contends that by offering a great place to work where people can grow and develop, VocaLink can recruit and retain great staff. Originality/value – This paper describes an organization where people are enthusiastic about the potential of the business and the opportunity it offers to further improve processes and relationships.


2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-240
Author(s):  
Dmitry Kochergin ◽  

The article examines modern models of digital currency systems of central banks (CBDC) for retail payments and wholesale settlements. The study gives economic interpretation and defines the key characteristics of central bank digital currencies, identifies the features of the main models of digital currencies systems and analyzes the most advanced national implementation projects of CBDC. The study concludes that the digital currencies of central banks are a new (digital) form of fiat money. The implementation of digital currencies of central banks is due to the need to improve the efficiency of the monetary and payment systems and is aimed at preserving of the central banks as a monetary issuer. The main advantages of digital currencies for retail payments are the offer of a highly liquid, low-risk and universally accessible means of payment. The key benefits of wholesale digital currencies are to provide faster, safer, and cheaper cross-border payments. Among the models of digital currencies systems for retail payments (R-CBDC) the model of hybrid system is characterized by the best reliability and speed when processing a large number of payment transactions. Therefore, these systems are the most promising for implementation. Between the models of systems for wholesale payments (W-CBDC) systems with a universal digital currency are the most suitable for eliminating the main problems of cross-border payments. However, the implementation of such systems may require a large number of technological, managerial and financial changes in the payment systems of central banks. Currently, the most advanced project for issuing R-CBDC is the DCEP system of the People’s Bank of China, which is implemented on the basis of a hybrid model. W-CBDC projects are implemented jointly by the central banks of the leading countries, as they require financial and technological unification of settlements. Most projects of W-CBDC involve the use of systems with a convertible or universal digital currency.


2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 68-77
Author(s):  
D. Kochergin

Received 28.07.2020. The article examines issues related to the introduction of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) for retail payments and wholesale settlements. The study defines and classifies central bank digital currencies, researches the main models of CBDC systems. The article also analyzes the features of various national projects for issuing Central bank digital currencies. The paper uses methods of economic-statistical and functional-structural analysis. The study concludes that CBDC are a new form of central bank money. Digital currencies can be issued in various issuing systems for the purpose of retail payments or wholesale settlements. Among the models of CBDC systems for retail payments (R-CBDC) the direct system model is the most attractive for its simplicity. This model eliminates the dependence of the Central bank on any financial and payment intermediaries. Models of synthetic and hybrid R-CBDC systems are characterized by reliability and speed in processing multiple transactions which makes them the most promising for implementation. Among the models of CBDC systems for wholesale payments (W-CBDC) the model of the system with a universal digital currency (U-W-CBDC) may be the most suitable for eliminating the main disadvantages of modern cross-border payment systems. However, a large number of technological and financial changes as well as the high operating costs of the U-W-CBDC can make such systems difficult to implement for non-developed financial market infrastructure countries. National financial regulators have different motivations for issuing digital currencies. The main advantages of digital currencies for retail payments may consist in providing users with highly liquid, low-risk, universally available means of payment. The main advantages of wholesale digital currencies are that they offer faster, safer, cheaper cross-border payments. The most advanced projects for issuing R-CBDC can be considered DCEP (People’s Bank of China) E-krona (Central Bank of Sweden). The most successful pilot projects for issuing W-CBDC are the projects Jasper (Central Bank of Canada) and Ubin (Monetary Authority of Singapore), which were able to achieve interoperability in conducting cross-border payments. Currently most CBDC are retail based on the use of distributed ledger technology and implemented in the form of DLT-tokens. Countries that develop digital currency systems can be divided into three groups. The first group is countries where the introduction of CBDC can be designed to support the national demand for central bank money (Sweden, Norway, Singapore, etc.). The second group – countries for which the adoption of digital currencies can afford to keep the place of national currencies in international settlements (USA and EU) or expanding the use of national currencies at the international level (China). The third group represents countries for which the introduction of digital currencies may be associated with the control of national monetary circulation and de-dollarization of the financial system (Uruguay, South Africa, Cambodia, etc.).


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