Wholesale Services Extension Guidelines
As stated in the Federal Reserve Banks’ Operating Circular 6, Operating Circular 7, and Operating Circular 12, the Federal Reserve Banks may consider requests to extend the operating hours of the wholesale services (the Fedwire® Funds Service, Fedwire Securities Service and National Settlement Service). Your institution should be prepared to use alternative arrangements to avoid the need for an extension; please visit the business continuity guides for the Fedwire Funds Service, Fedwire Securities Service and National Settlement Service for descriptions of recommended actions to take in the event that your institution has difficulty accessing or using the wholesale services. The Federal Reserve Banks’ guidelines for considering extension requests for the wholesale services are below.
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Fedwire Funds Service Extension Guidelines
The Federal Reserve Banks may extend a cutoff time or funds-transfer business day due to operational issues or market conditions. The Federal Reserve Banks may automatically extend a cutoff time or funds-transfer business day if there is an issue with the availability of the Fedwire Funds Service or FedLine® access channels.
An institution (i.e., a Fedwire Funds Service participant or a participant’s service provider) may also request an extension of a cutoff time or funds-transfer business day if there is an operating problem. If your institution is experiencing an operating problem that may result in or is likely to result in the need to send payment orders beyond the cutoff time for the current funds-transfer business day, you should contact the Federal Reserve Financial Services (FRFS) extension request line at P: (866) 895-5985 as soon as possible.
How do I request an extension?
- An institution that still needs to send payment orders on the current funds-transfer business day may request an extension of a cutoff time or funds-transfer business day by contacting the FRFS extension request line.
- When requesting an extension, the requestor must state the reason for the request, the total dollar amount and number of payment orders that the institution still intends to send on the current funds-transfer business day, and any other information relevant to the request.
- Any requests for an extension received less than 15 minutes before the scheduled cutoff time or the close of the funds-transfer business day may not be granted.
How do the Federal Reserve Banks decide whether to grant an extension request?
- A request by an institution for an extension of a cutoff time or funds-transfer business day may be granted only if there is an operating problem at the institution or dealer that, in the view of the Federal Reserve Banks, could create a significant market disruption. The Federal Reserve Banks determine an operating problem is a significant market disruption if the aggregate dollar amount of funds transfers that would not be processed on the current funds-transfer business day without an extension would exceed $3 billion.
- For an extension request that is not covered by the above guidelines, the Federal Reserve Banks will evaluate such requests on a case-by-case basis.
How do we know if an extension has been issued?
The Federal Reserve Banks will give notice of each extension of a cutoff time or funds-transfer business day, and of the eventual close of the funds-transfer business day, by one or more of the following methods:
- Posting a notice of the extension and final close of the service to the Service Status page on the FRBservices.org® website
- Electronically broadcasting a notice of the extension and final close of the service to all participants who access the service via the FedLine Direct® Solution
- Posting a notice of the extension on FedLine Home
The Federal Reserve Banks strive to maintain 90 minutes between the closing of the Fedwire Funds Service and the opening of the Fedwire Funds Service for the next funds-transfer business day. As permitted under Operating Circular 6, the Federal Reserve Banks may open or close the Fedwire Funds Service at an earlier or later time to facilitate special market needs.
Fedwire Securities Service Extension Guidelines
The Federal Reserve Banks may extend a cutoff time or securities business day due to operational issues or market conditions. The Federal Reserve Banks may automatically extend a cutoff time or securities business day if there is an issue with the availability of the Fedwire Securities Service or FedLine access channels.
An institution (i.e., a Fedwire Securities participant or a participant’s service provider) may also request an extension of a cutoff time or securities business day if there is an operating problem. If your institution is experiencing an operating problem that may result in or is likely to result in the need to send securities messages beyond the cutoff time for the current securities business day, you should contact the FRFS extension request line at P: (866) 895-5985 as soon as possible.
How do I request an extension?
- An institution that still needs to send securities messages on the current securities business day may request an extension of a cutoff time or securities business day by contacting the FRFS extension request line.
- When requesting an extension, the requestor must state the reason for the request, the total dollar amount and number of securities messages that the institution still intends to send on the current securities business day, and any other information relevant to the request.
- Any requests for an extension received less than 20 minutes before the scheduled cutoff time or the close of the securities business day may not be granted.
How do the Federal Reserve Banks decide whether to grant an extension request?
The Federal Reserve Banks may grant an extension request in connection with the processing windows listed below, provided that the request meets the given condition(s).
Secondary market transfers: A request by an institution for an extension of the secondary market transfer cutoff time may be granted only if there is an operating problem at the institution or dealer that, in the view of the Federal Reserve Banks, could create a significant market disruption. The Federal Reserve Banks determine an operating problem is a significant market disruption if the aggregate dollar amount of securities transfers that would not be processed on the current securities business day without an extension would exceed $1 billion. If the secondary market transfer cutoff time is extended, the corresponding reversal cutoff time will also be extended concurrently with an equal amount of time.
Original issuance: An institution that issues securities over the Fedwire Securities Service (i.e., issuer) may request an extension of the original issuance (OI) cutoff time to resolve reversal messages with incorrect delivery instructions or other issues. In general, the Federal Reserve Banks may grant an OI extension if the aggregate dollar amount of original issue messages that would not be processed on the current securities business day without an extension would be excessive.
Principal and interest (P&I) payment and securities redemption/maturity: An issuer may request an extension of the cutoff time for P&I payment and securities redemption/maturity messages due to funding issues.
Reposition free of payment: An institution’s local Federal Reserve Bank Credit Risk Management contacts may request an extension of the securities business day on behalf of the institution in order to alleviate the institution’s liquidity strain by facilitating Discount Window borrowing.
For an extension request that is not covered by the above guidelines (e.g., an extension request for other processing windows), the Federal Reserve Banks will evaluate such requests on a case-by-case basis.
How do we know if an extension has been issued?
The Federal Reserve Banks will give notice of each extension of a cutoff time or securities business day, and of the eventual close of the securities business day, by one or more of the following methods:
- Posting a notice of the extension on FedLine Home
- Posting a notice of the extension and the final close of the service to the Service Status page on the FRBservices.org website
- Electronically broadcasting a notice of the extension to all service participants who access the Fedwire Securities Service via the FedLine Direct Solution
National Settlement Service Extension Guidelines
The Federal Reserve Banks may extend the hours of the settlement window due to operational issues or market conditions. The Federal Reserve Banks may automatically extend the settlement window if there is an issue with the availability of the National Settlement Service or FedLine access channels.
An institution may also request an extension of the settlement window if there is an operating problem. If your institution is experiencing an operating problem that may result in or is likely to result in the need to send settlement files beyond the cutoff time for the current settlement window, you should contact the FRFS extension request line at P: (866) 895-5985 as soon as possible.
How do I request an extension?
- A settlement agent that still needs to send settlement files during the current settlement window may request an extension of the settlement window by contacting the FRFS extension request line.
- When requesting an extension, the requestor must state the reason for the request, the total dollar amount as measured by the total debits or total credits, and the number of settlement files that it still intends to submit to the National Settlement Service during the current settlement window, as well as any other information relevant to the request.
- Any requests for an extension received less than 15 minutes before the close of the settlement window may not be granted.
How do the Federal Reserve Banks decide whether to grant an extension request?
- A request by a settlement agent for an extension of the hours of the settlement window may be granted only if there is an operating problem at the institution or dealer that, in the view of the Federal Reserve Banks, could create a significant market disruption. The Federal Reserve Banks determine an operating problem is a significant market disruption if the aggregate dollar amount of settlement files, as measured by total debits or total credits, that would not be processed during the current settlement window without an extension would exceed $3 billion.
- For an extension request that is not covered by the above guidelines, the Federal Reserve Banks will evaluate such requests on a case-by-case basis.
How do we know if an extension has been issued?
The Federal Reserve Banks will give notice of each extension of the hours of the settlement window and the eventual close of the settlement window by one or more of the following methods:
- Posting a notice of the extension and the final close of the service to the Service Status page on the FRBservices.org website
- Electronically broadcasting a notice of the extension to all settlement agents who access the National Settlement Service via the FedLine Direct Solution
- Posting a notice of the extension on FedLine Home