C. Measures to Improve the Safety of Payment and Settlement Systems Payment and settlement systems have not necessarily been an issue of public interest reflecting the general perception that these systems are mechanical processing units for discharging obligations by inputting transaction data.
The fact that there had been no financial institution failures until recently and that payments have been settled safely may have supported this perception. However, financial institutions have actually failed and the speed at which systemic risk is transmitted within and beyond international borders has increased significantly owing to technological innovations in finance and telecommunications, and financial globalization.