A payment system operator runs a 'single access point' gateway that connects domestic PSPs to foreign payment systems

A payment system operator runs a 'single access point' gateway that connects domestic PSPs to foreign payment systems

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Question (paraphrased): A payment system operator runs a 'single access point' gateway that connects domestic PSPs to foreign payment systems. They have received advice from their fintech team that CPMI's October 2024 report on cross-border FPS interlinking governance and oversight provides the applicable governance framework for their arrangement. The General Counsel has asked you to draft a board-level backgrounder (1–2 pages) explaining what CPMI October 2024 says about governance and oversight for this type of arrangement — its interlinking model, the key governance decisions the CPMI identifies, and the oversight recommendations that apply.

The General Counsel wants specific references to models and framework coverage.

AI response:

"BOARD BACKGROUNDER To: Board of Directors From: Office of the General Counsel Re: CPMI October 2024 final report (d223) and our single access point gateway arrangement Date: For Board meeting

1. Our arrangement

We operate a single access point (SAP) gateway that allows domestic PSPs to send/receive payments into and from foreign payment systems. Under this model, our entity is a direct participant in the foreign system on behalf of upstream domestic PSPs.

2. The applicable CPMI guidance

On 15 October 2024 the BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures published its final report 'Linking fast payment systems across borders: governance and oversight' (d223). The report is the G20 deliverable on FPS interlinking and follows a public consultation on the October 2023 interim report (d219).

3. d223's coverage of interlinking models — including SAP

d223 takes a model-neutral approach. It covers the principal interlinking models, namely: (a) bilateral link; (b) hub-and-spoke (multilateral); and (c) single access point.

The SAP model is therefore within scope. The governance and oversight implications, however, differ in degree: SAP arrangements concentrate operational, credit and liquidity risk at the single gateway entity, and oversight tends to focus on that entity's risk management, its participation in the foreign system, and the back-to-back relationship with domestic PSPs.

4. Key governance decisions d223 identifies for an SAP operator

(i) Legal set-up — enforceability of gateway participation under foreign-system rules; treatment of finality and settlement; client-money / safeguarding rules for domestic PSPs. (ii) Ownership and operational structure — whether the gateway is owned by industry, by a single PSP, by an infrastructure provider or by a public entity. (iii) Governing body composition and decision-making — given the asymmetric risk concentration at the gateway, conflict-of-interest and independence considerations are heightened. (iv) Stakeholder engagement — meaningful upstream PSP voice into pricing, rule changes and operational priorities.

(v) Risk management — credit, liquidity, FX, operational/cyber, settlement, and AML/CFT, plus single-point-of-failure risk inherent in the SAP model.

5. Oversight recommendations applicable to our arrangement

The d223 oversight chapter directs authorities to: R1. Establish a cooperative oversight framework with the authorities of the foreign FPS in which the SAP participates. R2. Identify a lead overseer. R3. Establish information-sharing and incident-notification protocols. R4. Confirm the legal basis of oversight over the SAP gateway entity (which is typically a domestic FMI participant subject to domestic oversight, with extraterritorial visibility from the foreign authority). R5. Assess governance against the operator-level decisions above. R6. Oversee risk management — credit, liquidity, settlement, operational/cyber, FX, AML/CFT. R7. Oversee business continuity and resilience. R8.

Apply relevant international standards proportionately, including PFMI where the gateway becomes systemically important. R9. Engage on material changes (new corridors, new currencies, new participants). R10. Periodically review the oversight approach as the SAP scales.

6. Key takeaways for the Board

• d223 expressly accommodates our SAP model.
• It does not impose binding rules; it sets governance and oversight expectations operators are expected to be able to demonstrate to their overseers.
• The SAP model concentrates risk; our governance and oversight engagement should reflect that.
• Our domestic central bank will be the lead overseer; the foreign FPS authorities will look to the gateway through the lens of foreign-system participant oversight."

Regulator verbatim text:

"Graph 2 includes two additional stylised models that can enable end users to exchange fast payments across borders. While these models could also be referred to as interlinking arrangements, they have more commonalities with correspondent banking (in the case of the single access point) and a single cross-jurisdictional payment system (in the case of the common platform). As such, they are not the focus of this report and will only be discussed to a limited extent."

Failure mode: misstated_rule

Substrate document: Linking Fast Payment Systems Across Borders – Governance and Oversight, Final Report (d223)