Latest news with #PakistanReal-TimeInterbankSettlementMechanismPlus
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Securities' auction procedures: SBP unveils changes
KARACHI: Changes in Procedures of government securities auctions and monetary policy liquidity operations in respect of Pakistan Real-Time Interbank Settlement Mechanism Plus (PRISM+). The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), under its Vision 2028, has decided to launch the PRISM+ with effect from June 16 to upgrade the National Digital Payments Infrastructure. PRISM+ is built on the ISO 20022 financial messaging standard which supports structured and data-rich financial communication, enabling enhanced transparency, interoperability, and automation across the payment and settlement ecosystem. Govt securities: SBP streamlines buyback process With the launch of PRISM+ System, a new interface has been developed for efficient conduct of auctions and market operations. Accordingly, some changes are being made in procedures. Now auctions of government securities including Market Treasury Bills (MTBs) and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) and their buyback auctions, will be conducted through the PRISM+. Conventional Open Market Operations (Injections, and Mop-up) will be conducted through PRISM+. However, Shairah Compliant OMOs as well as Bai Muajjal will continue to be conducted through the existing mechanism. In respect of Conventional OMOs conducted through PRISM+, all eligible institutions will submit bids at PRISM+. They will tag one or more than one government securities with each bid. The face value of the bid will be considered equal to the face value of tagged/offered government securities. In addition, the realized value of the government securities will be calculated by PRISM+ based on applicable revaluation rates, prices, and haircuts. In case of multiple securities tagged with the bid subject to pro-rata, the government securities having the shortest remaining life/maturity will be allocated first toward pro-rata. Conventional Reverse Repo (Ceiling) and Repo (Floor) facilities will be offered through the new TMON/X platform. Shariah Compliant Corridor facilities will, however, continue to be conducted as per existing procedure. The PRISM+ also offers a platform for secondary market outright and repo-based trading of government securities. All government securities held in custody of SBP will be available for trading. The PRISM+ also provides mechanism for when-issued trading of PIB-Fixed coupon bonds before auctions. According to the SBP, auction/OMO announcements and results will be visible on Bloomberg/Refinitiv in addition to PRISM+ and all participants will continue to send Auction, OMO and Corridor deal confirmation letters to SBP BSC-Karachi Office through the existing DAP mechanism. These changes will come into effect from June 16, 2025. All other instructions shall remain unchanged, SBP concluded. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Digital payments upgradation: SBP to launch ‘PRISM+'
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), under its Vision 2028, has announced the launch of the Pakistan Real-Time Interbank Settlement Mechanism Plus (PRISM+) with effect from June 16, 2025 to upgrades the National Digital Payments Infrastructure. According to the SBP, PRISM+ is built on the ISO 20022 financial messaging standard which supports structured and data-rich financial communication, enabling enhanced transparency, interoperability, and automation across the payment and settlement ecosystem. It includes new features for liquidity management, transaction queuing and prioritization, and scheduling of future dated payments. The system offers customizable dashboards, alerts, query tools, and downloadable settlement position statements using a web-based module for real time initiation, monitoring, and approval of transactions. Digital payments experience a remarkable growth: SBP report The new system also provides a Central Securities Depository (CSD) platform for money market operations such as auction of government securities, sale and purchase of securities in the secondary market, collateral management and open market operations. Detailed features of PRISM+ are given in Annexure. For settlement purposes, Transitory Accounts have been opened in the new system. At the start of each business day, the system will transfer 80 percent of balances from the Participants' Current Account held with SBP BSC (Karachi) to their respective Transitory Accounts. To facilitate participants in managing their day-to-day liquidity, they will be able to transfer funds between their Current and Transitory Accounts at any time during business hours. Participants can also allocate funds for ancillary clearings needs (eg, Raast, NIFT, and 1Link). Accordingly, to mitigate systemic risks, participants are advised to maintain sufficient funds for their settlement needs on proactive basis. The SBP has also advised the participants to ensure operational readiness for performing their Straight-Through Processing (STP) via PRISM+ through either the APIs or file adapters facility offered by the system. In order to facilitate the smooth transition of STP systems to the new MX format, PRISM+ will support both MT and the new MX (ISO 20022 XML) message formats up to September 30, 2025. Accordingly, the use of native MT/MX converter facility will be discontinued, wef, October 1, 2025. All participants are also advised to use Raast Over-the-Counter (OTC) facility for branch-initiated customer transactions that are presently being transferred using RTGS. Accordingly, all participants shall replace the RTGS OTC facility with Raast OTC in all their branches by September 30, 2025. The SBP has asked the financial institution to review and align their operational processes and frameworks to ensure seamless and efficient integration and adoption of the new system and also retain historical data of all transactions processed through PRISM+ and ensure its availability as and when required. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
