The Bank of China and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ signed the world’s first interbank agreement to use SWIFT’s Trade Services Utility (TSU) in Beijing on 16 April 2009.

The TSU provides a collaborative central matching utility for banks to provide innovative services to their corporate customers beyond the settlement end of the transaction, including for financing, risk mitigation and associated value-added services. The two banks are using it to service both Chinese and Japanese customers and signed the agreement with the aim of using the TSU for more customers, based on the benefits they have already seen.

The two banks are both members of the Trade Services Advisory Group, which is responsible for advising SWIFT on trade services and trade settlement issues.