The Collateral Transfer Agreement
There are many bank to bank platforms, but the one most closely associated to Bank Guarantees, and Collateral Transfer Agreements, is the SWIFT system, (“Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications”). The SWIFT system is a bank to bank platform, enabling one bank to transmit a Bank Guarantee to another bank, as explained below.
A Collateral Transfer Agreement is where one company, known as the Provider will transfer a Bank Guarantee to another company, known as the Beneficiary. The Provider’s bank, alluded to as the Issuing Bank and the Beneficiary’s bank, alluded to as the Receiving Bank, will both be responsible for the due diligence process ensuring the Collateral Transfer Agreement is compliant with international and local financial regulations. It is also incumbent on both banks to execute the instructions contained within the Collateral Transfer Agreement, and this is where the SWIFT system is utilised.
Once due diligence has been approved by both banks, the Provider will instruct the Issuing Bank to transfer a Bank Guarantee, via the SWIFT system, to the Receiving Bank for credit to the Beneficiary’s account. The SWIFT system, is utilised by banks and finance institutions across the globe, and is a secure international financial message system, which authenticates every message sent to and received from all membership banks. Both the Provider and the Beneficiary must ensure that their banks are members of the “Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, if they wish to enter into a Collateral Transfer Agreement.
The SWIFT system has dedicated messages allowing banks to exchange financial data, make payments and transfer Bank Guarantees, and in the case of Bank Guarantees, the Issuing Bank will pre advise the arrival of a Bank Guarantee to the Receiving Bank utilising a SWIFT message. Upon receipt of the pre advise, the Receiving Bank will advise the Issuing Bank via SWIFT message that they will receive the Bank Guarantee, at which stage the Issuing Bank using a dedicated SWIFT message will transmit the Bank Guarantee to the Receiving Bank.