Wondering if you still have time? You do: Eighteen days (after today) remain of the public comment period for the Federal Reserve’s proposal to expand the Fedwire Funds Service and the National Settlement Service (NSS) operating hours.
The Fed on May 3 issued a request for comments on the proposal, which would expand the operating hours for both services from five days a week to seven days a week, regardless of holidays. The proposal and request for comments, which shows a comment deadline of July 8, appeared in the May 9 Federal Register.
The Fedwire Funds Service and the NSS currently operate Monday through Friday only and are closed on holidays. The Fed proposal would add Saturday and Sunday to the two services’ operating schedules but would leave daily operating hours unchanged: 22 hours a day, or 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Eastern, for Fedwire Funds and 21.5 hours, or 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Eastern, for the NSS (closing one half-hour ahead of Fedwire).
The Fed said that given the potential burden of these changes when the industry is also adjusting to the new ISO 20022 message format for large value payments and instant payment services, the proposed, expanded operating hours for the Fedwire Funds Service and NSS would be implemented no sooner than two years after the migration of the Fedwire Funds Service to the ISO 20022 standard, scheduled for March 2025.
The Fed said it would be up to banks and credit unions whether to utilize the expanded operating days. It also said the changes would not affect the Fedwire Securities Service or the Fed’s retail service for instant payments, FedNow.