SWIFT has assigned the Premier certification status to the Service Bureau of National Settlement Depository (NSD), Russia’s central securities depository. NSD’s Service Bureau has become the first bureau to receive this status in Eastern Europe. Compliance with Premier status requirements lets NSD guarantee its clients the maximum level of safety and reliability when using NSD for SWIFT system work.
To meet SWIFT requirements for ensuring the reliability and safety of Service Bureauх functioning (Shared Infrastructure Programme), two levels of certification have been implemented: Standard and Premier levels. The Premier level differs from the Standard one in that a Service Bureau backs up SWIFT's technical infrastructure and uses control procedures equivalent to the SWIFT level, offering clients a safe working environment. Thus the service bureau can secure a level of protection and reliability that is identical to direct connection to the system.
14 service bureauх in the world have the Premier status: 7 of them are located in Europe (including the Russian one), and the other 7 bureauх are located in North and South America.
NSD Service Bureau
NSD is a certified Service Bureau of SWIFT operating in the Russian market. It provides clients with full access to most of SWIFT services and is responsible for organizing interactions with the global network. Connection through the NSD Service Bureau allows clients to reduce costs related to the access to SWIFT services.
The connection to SWIFT via NSD’s Service Bureau is beneficial mainly for the companies with the low traffic of messages. The Service Bureau helps clients avoid incurring costs for direct connection to the system, including the purchase of the special SWIFT equipment, reorganization of their own infrastructures and personnel, regular upgrade of SWIFT software, and compliance with the safety and business continuity requirements. The NSD Service Bureau covers most part of costs of meeting these requirements. An organization connected to SWIFT via the NSD terminal becomes a full member of the SWIFT community and gets 24/7 access to the system.
NSD as Russia’s central securities depository and the largest settlement infrastructure organization works closely with SWIFT and generates a substantial amount of traffic of messages in the system. The depository maintains the high level of cyber security protecting clients from external threats. Thus, the NSD Service Bureau clients use the advantages of the CSD’s cyber security technologies. The depository improves software and technologies of the SWIFT terminal complex allowing to increase the system’s reliability and operational speed in response to the steady growth of the client message traffic.
The detailed description of the SWIFT connectivity service provided by NSD is available in the special section of NSD’s website.