The Federal Reserve is giving the public an additional two months to weigh in on its proposal to
Early last month,
Originally, the comment window on the proposal was set to close on July 8. The public now has until September 6 to submit feedback and respond to questions posed by the Fed.
Under the proposal, the NSS — which handles multilateral private-sector clearing arrangements involving checks, securities and other private sector payments — would continue to operate 21.5 hours per day, while Fedwire Funds, which offers settlement of individual electronic funds transfers for transactions up to just under $10 billion, would still be open for 22 hours per day.
As part of its proposal, the Fed has asked commenters for their thoughts on keeping the two systems running 24/7/365.
The potential shift comes amid a period of increased demand for all-hours settlements. The Fed itself is contributing to this trend through its
The Fed is also facing pressure to expand its operating hours in response to last year's large bank failures. Two of the institutions that failed, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, both
Multiple government reports have noted that greater access to the discount window — which is separate from the two services under consideration for greater service — would not have prevented the banks from failing. But the episode has demonstrated that the Fed is overdue for
The Fed has been weighing changes to its payments systems
The standard goes into effect next year, but the proposed changes would not have to be implemented no sooner than 2027, the Fed noted, giving banks time to adjust to the new requirements.
The proposed changes would not apply to the Fedwire Securities Service, which settles transactions involving U.S. Treasury securities and securities issued by other agencies as well as government-sponsored entities.
