On 14 April 2020, SWIFT announced that it had decided to postpone the scheduled Category 7 changes for guarantees and standbys from November 2020 to November 2021.
SWIFT’s advice stated:
“While mixed views came out of that consultation based on different levels of readiness and relating to different messaging categories, we have decided to prioritise for 22 November 2020 only those category 5 messages that are mandatory for regulatory compliance. This decision is a measure to ease pressure in particular among smaller banks that are often located in countries and communities that are hard-hit by Covid-19.”
All other changes that were originally planned for 2020 (excluding category 5), in addition to any new changes agreed in the forthcoming SR 2021 maintenance cycle, will be activated in November 2021.”
In the same letter, SWIFT announced that it had decided to cancel the Sibos 2020 event , scheduled to be held in Boston between 5-8 October 2020, but indicated that it is “exploring options to bring the global Sibos community together virtually on key thought-leadership topics” in a digital capacity that same week and beyond.