International Cooperation

Close cooperation is carried out with international organizations that conduct studies on areas directly or indirectly related to Financial Market Infrastructures, such as the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), theWorld Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Society for the Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) Oversight Forum. 

Furthermore, the Bank carries out various training and technical cooperation activities regarding payment systems with other countries’ central banks.

 

Cooperation with the CPMI 

The CPMI is one of the committees within the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and serves as a forum for central banks to follow the developments in both domestic and cross-border payment and settlement systems. The CPMI cooperates with countries to prepare Redbook, which includes statistical data and assessments of the countries’ payment system infrastructures, in order to strengthen the payment systems infrastructure globally. 

The CBRT became a member of the Committee on November 13, 2009. Three descriptive Redbooks, two of which were before the membership, has been prepared in cooperation with CPMI regarding the payment and securities settlement systems in Türkiye in 2000, 2007 and 2012. 

Since the initiation of the CPMI membership, Redbook are prepared in cooperation with all the payment and securities settlement systems in Türkiye every year including the last five years.

Moreover, the CBRT is actively involved in several working groups of the CPMI and contributes to the preparation of reports in various subjects related to payment systems published by the CPMI.

 

Payment Systems Workshop

Further to these works, the CBRT and the CPMI jointly hold Regional Payment Systems Workshops.  

The workshop aims to provide a platform for the central banks to exchange views on the payment system reform process in their individual countries, on the role of the respective central banks in managing changes in payment systems and on how developments in the region link with broader global trends.

The workshop has been organized annually since 2001 and delegates from about 20 central banks attend the workshop every year. The region of participating countries covers the Balkans, East Europe, North Africa, Middle East, and Central Asia.

 

Training and Technical Cooperation Activities

The CBRT offers various training programs and carries out technical cooperation activities in the field of payment systems through both the Istanbul School of Central Banking and bilateral links with other countries’ central banks.

 

Cross-Border Payments

Cross-border payments are mainly executed through correspondent banks via the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). SWIFT members have correspondent accounts for the currencies other than domestic currencies at other financial institutions. All requests for funds or payments in the form of standard financial messages sent to correspondent banks via SWIFT are ultimately settled through the correspondent services of the related country’s domestic clearing and settlement systems depending on the nature of the transactions.

The CBRT, which is not representative or operator but a partipant of this system, has been a SWIFT member since 1989. Since the CBRT does not involved in the transactions of the other banks, those who used this system for their transactions may contact with their own banks in any case. The CBRT frequently updates the methods and arrangements related to the efficient operation of SWIFT transactions, and the emergency tests are ran by IT and operational departments.