CHAPS Clearing Company Ltd, the UK’s same-day, high-value payment system, welcomes Northern Trust as a shareholder and Direct Participant of the scheme.
Northern Trust is the second new member to sign up so far in 2016, following Societe Generale’s decision to join in February. The latest addition brings the total number of CHAPS Direct Participants to 24.
Northern Trust is a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals worldwide.
CHAPS settles high-value, time-dependent sterling payments securely in real-time. Most of the daily value processed by CHAPS (around 80%) represents wholesale financial transactions where CHAPS acts as the portal through which international sterling flows take place. It settles an average of £277 billion on behalf of more than 5,000 institutions, and individuals every day.
As a major financial market infrastructure, over the last few years CHAPS has worked closely with the Bank of England, through its Tiering Critieria, to reduce the systemic risk posed by having a large number of Indirect Participants processing high values of payments via a small number of Direct Participants.
David Wicks, Regional Head of Enterprise Operations for Europe, Middle East and Africa, at Northern Trust, said:
“As the industry continues to focus on security, transparency and accessibility for transactions, Northern Trust is pleased to become a Direct Participant in CHAPS. We look forward to engaging with the other participants and working to bring our clients greater efficiencies for their transactions.”
Tim Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive of CHAPS Co, said:
“We are delighted Northern Trust has joined us as a shareholder and full Direct Participant. Northern Trust is a leader in banking and financial services across the globe and we look forward to working closely with them as we continue to enhance the CHAPS service for the benefit of all our users.
“It is a particularly exciting time for CHAPS as our participation base continues to grow and we expect to see a further increase in volumes in the future. Next month, in response to market and user demand, and following a review by the Bank of England, we will be extending our operating hours from 4.20pm to 6pm.”