The EACT has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TWIST, to provide a framework for co-operation between them. The MoU will focus on the EACT’s market initiative, CAST (Corporate Action on Standards), cooperation for the implementation of the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) and the development of other international payment standards.
The EACT will not develop new standards, rather, as a result of CAST projects, will deliver recommendations on existing standards and requirements for new ones in areas such as the Supply Chain and Trade Financing. TWIST will be able to use these requirements in designing new standards in a flexible and non-proprietary way.
The advice of both organisations is regularly sought by the EU Commission and the European Central Bank. The agreement acknowledges the complementary nature of each organisation’s role and both organisations agree to consult and challenge their respective points of view and coordinate positions, whenever possible.
CAST includes projects to encourage greater standardisation and process automation in bank-to-corporate and corporate-to-corporate communications across the whole financial supply chain. CAST is looking specifically at business models, best practices and standardisation in the area of remittance information (and e-reconciliation), digital identity and e-invoicing. The objective is to define end-user requirements in these areas, compare them with any existing standards to detect shortcomings and identify ‘best of breed’ solutions whenever a single solution is not practical or feasible. In addition, CAST addresses the specific issue of interoperability between EBPP operators and Certification Authorities in Europe
“Individual members of the EACT and the national treasury associations have provided a significant contribution to the development of TWIST standards for supply chain and treasury automation,” says Tom Buschman, the Chairman of TWIST. “We are very pleased with formalising the relationship with the EACT, acknowledging the importance of the EACT in representing the view of corporate treasurers in Europe. Within the context of SEPA, this collaboration allows the two organisations to accelerate their aligned efforts in supporting a corporate-driven implementation of SEPA in the coming years.”
“The EACT is happy to sign this MoU with TWIST to establish increased cooperation for CAST and SEPA. We believe the agreements will give the market a strong message of unity and reinforce the EACT approach,” adds Pierre Poncet, the Chairman of EACT. “The EACT is keen to ensure that, through this MoU, activities in areas to be standardised will be increasingly driven by the requirements of corporates. The CAST projects, which will provide strong support for SEPA implementation in European corporates, will offer the opportunity to compare business models, user requirements, data and message formats of existing standards, share information and exchange points of views on all major issues.”