A messaging standard is a common set of rules for exchanging relevant payment information in order to enable efficient communication with participants and related infrastructures. Messaging standards cover such things as: •  How senders and receivers identify each other;  •  How key properties of a payment message, such as currency, amount and value date, are represented; and  •  What additional information can be included. The Bank is committed to transitioning to a new standard, specifically ISO 20022, as is the New Payment System Operator (NPSO). This is an open and global standard which can continually evolve to meet the needs of users. It is network agnostic to enhance interoperability with various operating systems and it has substantially increased data carrying capacity. Ultimately, in the very long term, ISO 20022 could also enable us to include a diverse range of characters from existing languages and other communications systems, though we will focus on ensuring we get the basics right first. In any case, this transition from the legacy and 3  Bank of England, RTGS Renewal Programme Proof of Concept: Supporting DLT Settlement Models, https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2018/july/rtgs-renewal-programme-proof-of-concept-supporting-dlt-settlement-models 4 Bank of England, Call for interest: Synchronised settlement in central bank money, https://www.bankofengland.co.uk//media/BoE/Files/payments/rtgs-call-for-interest-synchronised-settlement-in-central-bank-money  5  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  5  restrictive standards currently used will have far-reaching implications and benefits for not only the UK’s payments system, but participants and their customers.
Urban Bäckström: Financial cycles Speech by Mr Urban Bäckström, Governor of Sveriges Riksbank, at the Philadelphia Fed Policy Forum on Crises, Contagion and Coordination: Issues for Policymakers in the Global Economy, Philadelphia, 22 November 2002. *  *  *  First I want to express my thanks to the organizers for inviting me to this very interesting conference. Let me especially thank Tony Santomero for everything he has done in his previous capacity in inspiring and assisting us at the Riksbank over the years as an academic adviser. I wish you, Tony, every success as president for the Philadelphia Fed and as an important policy maker here in the U.S. I think one can say that central bankers around the world have never before had such a central and well respected position as they have had during the past decade. Their task seemed to be well defined and the job to deliver price stability has worked rather well. Much of the mystique that typically surrounded central banks has gradually disappeared. Openness and transparency have become the key words of the day. Moreover, research concerning monetary policy has made good progress during the past decade. The world of central banking has indeed undergone positive changes. However, it would be most dangerous for us, central bankers, to just sit down and relax in the belief that all the important problems in the field of monetary policy have been resolved and need no further consideration.