On 23 July 2015, Bank of England ("BoE") published a press release announcing that the settlement day for CREST (the UK's securities settlement system) and CHAPS (the UK's high-value payment system) will be extended until 6.00 pm for direct participants from summer 2016. This announcement follows previous proposals published by BoE and BoE jointly with Chaps Co and Euroclear UK.
This change is particularly beneficial as the settlement dates for CREST and CHAPS will be very similar to the typical business hours of many system users. BoE will also extend the operating hours of its Real-Time Gross Settlement infrastructure to reflect this change.
BoE, Euroclear UK & Ireland and CHAPS Co will work jointly to raise awareness about the upcoming change. In particular, financial institutions must be aware that this change will require modification of their staffing, budgets, IT systems and legal documentation.
BoE's press release is available here:
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/news/2015/059.pdf
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