CheckFree Corporation says it has successfully completed the SWIFTNet Testing and Certification Service Proof of Concept (POC) project for ISO 15022 corporate actions messages.
The project tested the validity of ISO 15022 corporate actions notification messages, submitted by CheckFree eVent against the recently published guidelines by the Securities Market Practice Group (SMPG).
SMPG is an industry group focused on defining and documenting securities industry communications practices using ISO 15022 principles.
This POC is the first step in a SWIFT initiative to test automated corporate actions notification messages for compliance with SMPG’s guidelines, and also gauge support for future testing and certification.
An additional goal of this initiative is to look at ways to improve the overall quality and adoption of ISO 15022 corporate actions messages, leading to improved straight-through processing (STP) and reduced risk in corporate actions processing.
CheckFree’s eVent application successfully submitted more than 55 different event types and their respective corporate actions notification messages. These messages all conformed to the correct mandatory and voluntary indicators, as well as any use of option codes specified for the event in the SMPG guidelines. In all cases, CheckFree eVent also achieved an extremely high level of STP.
“The recurring message within the corporate actions community is that high data quality coupled with consistent market practice adoption reduces risk and processing costs,” says Max L. Mansur, Product Manager for Custodian Services at SWIFT. “We are happy that CheckFree chose to participate in this Proof of Concept and to help us confirm the potential value of a testing service for our mutual clients.”
Preston Hoffman, senior vice president and general manager of the securities practice within CheckFree Software, says the company is committed to the process. “As a long-term SWIFTReady Gold EAI accredited partner and a SWIFTReady application in the corporate actions space, CheckFree continues to maintain active involvement in industry initiatives that promote the benefits of STP,” he says.
CheckFree reckons that, by participating in the Proof of Concept Project, it is encouraged to invest in its eVent corporate actions solution, allowing it to meet the ever changing requirements of clients and the global financial services industry.