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Insights and Expertise

Project Rialto could therefore be instrumental in advanc-
ing cross-border payments globally. An additional challenge here is that

Preceding Rialto this year was Project Agorá (see www. each jurisdiction and bank interprets
bis.org/about/bisih/topics/fmis/agora.htm); a cross-border pay- ISO20022 slightly differently, making
ment project launched in April by the BIS in collaboration
with the central banks of France, Japan, the UK and pri- the term "standard" a little ironic.
vate sector entities.

This project is investigating how tokenized commercial
bank deposits can be seamlessly integrated with tokenized Whatever the outcomes of these projects, it's worth not-
wholesale central bank money in a public-private pro- ing that compliance will always present cross-border pay-
grammable core financial platform. This could enhance ments challenges due to the diversity of regulations across
how the monetary system functions, while providing new different jurisdictions. As progress towards G20 goals con-
solutions using smart contracts and programmability. tinues, businesses need to consider how they will balance
innovation with adhering to regulatory requirements to
This is an exciting prospect when it comes to the challeng- ensure solutions are effective as well as compliant with
es of cross-border payments. It means significant trans- international standards.
formations with innovative technologies like DLT and to-
kenization addressing the high fees and slow settlement Edvards Margevics is the co-partner at Concryt, a game-changer in
afflicting cross-border payments, as well as instant, pro- finance that brings reliability to every challenge, be it payments, tech-
grammable transactions using smart contracts, so settle-
ment delays can be eliminated. nology or risk management. With a deep understanding of both the
technical and operational aspects needed to unlock new opportunities
Project Agorá is also evidence of a shift in the broader for online businesses, his professional experience extends across disci-
financial and payment spaces. Where traditionally es- plines, including banking and finance for corporate clients, sales, risk
tablished incumbents and challengers have traditionally management and operations. For more info, see https://concryt.io. or
battled it out for market share, we're now seeing more col- contact Edvards at linkedin.com/in/edvards-margevics.
laboration.

Finally, Project Nexus (see www.bis.org/about/bisih/topics/
fmis/nexus.htm) aims to connect several instant payment
systems across Asia with a mission to achieve cross-border
payments at scale. In July of this year, the BIS announced
completion of the blueprint for phase three of Project Nex-
us, which allows "ready participants to work towards the
next stage of seamlessly connecting their instant payment
systems," BIS stated.
Rather than a payment system operator building custom
connections for every new country it connects to the oper-
ator that can make one connection to the Nexus platform.
This single connection allows a fast payments system to
reach all other countries on the network.

In the next phase of Nexus, the BISIH Singapore Centre
will facilitate the central banks and IPS operators of India,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand as they
work towards live implementation of Nexus.
Collaboration is key to cross-border success
These projects could unlock the full potential of cross-bor-
der payments, but stronger global trade flows can only be
achieved through collaboration and coordinated action.
Recognition of this is growing. Project Agora, for exam-
ple, represents a significant step forward in public-private
partnerships and recognizes that working together is the
best way to reshape the monetary system in a way that
works better for everyone.

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