Sharegain played an important role in SWIFT’s pilot programme for public cloud connectivity, helping to craft the product and becoming the first company globally to launch SWIFT public cloud connectivity as part of its securities lending platform to its clients. The pioneering collaboration also improved efficiencies, flexibility, transparency, and lowered barriers to entry for all capital markets participants.

On 28 April 2022, SWIFT launched public cloud connectivity to its network and applications. Partnering with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, SWIFT said the “move will streamline the way financial institutions can connect to the world’s leading financial messaging service. It’s also an opportunity to drive new innovation opportunities while ensuring robust resilience and security.”

Upgrading capital markets infrastructure

Before SWIFT’s public cloud connectivity launch, companies wanting to connect to the SWIFT network had to either maintain, update and service hardware in their data centers or outsource the operation to a ‘service bureau’. Both options incurred considerable set up and running costs, third-party involvement, and technical dependencies. In contrast, cloud-based technology enables every market participant to connect easily to the SWIFT network using the public cloud.

As a leading provider of cloud-based digital services in capital markets, Sharegain was invited to join SWIFT’s pilot programme. Our technology and operations experts collaborated with SWIFT and Microsoft Azure teams to upgrade this foundational capital markets infrastructure from manually maintained hardware and messaging to a fully digitized and cloud-based solution, open for everyone, anywhere, at any time.

Innovative collaboration

Over the course of a year, and complicated by Covid travel and meeting restrictions, the Sharegain team – led by Noam Gazit, Head of Dev Ops; Matthew Barnett, Head of Operations; Dvir Yosef, VP R&D; and Benjamin Smith, Senior Product Manager – was involved in everything from developing the sign-up process to end-to-end testing of the final product.

Sharegain was also the first pilot participant and first company globally to offer clients SWIFT public cloud connectivity – highlighting both Sharegain’s market leading technology and client service.

In addition to further enhancing our clients’ experience, by allowing us to send SWIFT instructions on their behalf, digitized and cloud-based SWIFT communications enable us to streamline and further automate our operations and processes, significantly reduce overheads in terms of resources and costs included in third-party contracts and supporting an on prem solution; and improve our disaster recovery capabilities and cyber- and physical security.

“As one of our first pilot customers on Microsoft Azure, working with Sharegain has been valuable in finalising our Alliance Connect Virtual offer,” says Sophie Racquet, Head of Alliance Connect and Digital Connectivity Product Management at SWIFT.  “The pilot project was conducted in a true collaborative spirit, with teams from SWIFT, Sharegain and Microsoft working together to overcome any painpoints as we prepared the solution for its successful launch,” she adds.

“As an Alliance Lite2 customer, Sharegain has the Lite2 autoclient deployed in Microsoft Azure. This makes for the perfect use-case for public cloud deployment – with no remaining physical SWIFT footprint on Sharegain’s premises. I am confident that many more SWIFT customers will be keen to follow suit,” concludes Racquet.

Democratizing SWIFT connectivity for all capital markets participants

SWIFT’s announcement represents an important milestone in Financial Services, as well as a giant leap in the evolution of Securities Lending 3.0, bringing securities lending – and capital markets in general – closer to the digital age.

Public cloud connectivity to SWIFT improves access to capital markets for every market participant. Businesses, particularly new and innovative participants, are no longer required to invest the time and money into, nor maintain, their own VPN box – dramatically lowering the barriers of entry into international capital markets. This resonated deeply with our mission to democratize securities lending.

At Sharegain, we believe strongly in the importance of collaborating and sharing our resources with the rest of the tech and FS communities – to shape the future of what’s possible – and this project highlights our ability to move the entire industry forward. The project is also a prime example of what can be achieved when top tier global players team up with Fintechs, like Sharegain.

We are proud that our work, resources and expertise contributed, through this collaborative project with SWIFT and Microsoft Azure, to improved efficiencies, greater transparency and a more vibrant, liquid and open market for every capital markets participant.

Read our press release: Sharegain first company globally to offer clients SWIFT cloud connectivity.

Read the SWIFT press release from 28 April.