ICC Initiates Proposal on API Industry Standards for Guarantees & Standbys

On 5 June 2023, the ICC Banking Commission released the findings and proposals of its working group concerning API Industry Standards for Corporate-to-Bank Guarantees and Standbys. Documents made available for review included the Excel Guarantees payload model, YAML file version of the model, ICC Trade API Security Standard Proposal, and a preamble explanatory statement on the purpose and aim of the working group and creation of the model API

Through consultation with banks, corporates, service providers, and strong collaboration with SWIFT, the working group is striving to establish consensus-driven industry standards. As explained by ICC, the focus of its discussions has been “to streamline the entire life cycle of these financial instruments, including issuance requests, advising, amendments, cancellations, and claims processes.”

From its continued collaboration with SWIFT, ICC aims to ensure compatibility with ISO 20022 API Standards and minimized disruptions to existing trade systems. Following its review of feedback received from ICC Banking Commission members in June 2023, ICC intends to put forth a more advanced version of the API model and initiate a phase of testing.