SWIFT partners with Symbiont to pilot a blockchain project

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has partnered with US fintech Symbiont to pilot a blockchain project.

The project aims to automate the workflow of corporate actions using Symbiont’s Assembly technology platform. By leveraging the platform’s smart contracts and blockchain functions, SWIFT will be able to improve the networking of the over 11,000 institutions connected to SWIFT on a global level.

Essentially, business transaction data from SWIFT messages will be translated by SWIFT’s translator tool and uploaded to Symbiont’s blockchain. According to SWIFT representatives cited by bloomberg.com, Symbiont’s smart contract technology can compare information shared between participants and flag any inconsistencies, contradictions or discrepancies.

The same source highlighted that bringing together Symbiont’s smart contracts with SWIFT’s extensive network could enable both entities to automatically harmonize data from multiple sources into a corporate action event, thereby improving efficiency.

The collaborative effort also includes companies such as Citigroup Inc., Vanguard and Northern Trust. For now, the pilot will be tested by a select group of participants and their feedback will allow SWIFT to consider whether to expand it to the wider community.

SWIFT cut ties with Russia

SWIFT gained attention in February 2022 when it decided to disable its network for several Russian banks. This has prompted Russia’s Rostec Group, a state-owned organization, to develop a blockchain platform for a digital system for international payments capable of replacing the global SWIFT system.

This new digital system for international payments will allow Russia to pay for its imports in its national currency, the ruble, instead of USD. The new system will also allow foreign countries to pay for imports from Russia in their national currencies. The blockchain platform on which the international payment system was developed, called CELLS, was assembled by the Novosibirsk Institute of Software Systems (NIPS).

SWIFT worked with Capgemini for CBDC interoperability trials

In May 2022, SWIFT has started a new set of CBDC interoperability experiments in partnership with Capgemini. The partnership addressed concerns that individual central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could create new domestic silos, fragmenting the global payments landscape. SWIFT also conducted tokenized digital asset experiments with Clearstream, Northern Trust and SETL.

The Capgemini partnership aimed to enable interoperability between different types of CBDCs, some of which may be centralized, and others that use blockchain. The tests explored the interconnection of different systems via the SWIFT platform. In this way, a cross-border payment will link the CBDC system to the origin of SWIFT and from there on to the destination CBDC system.