History
Prior to the launch of CHATS as a RTGS system, interbank settlements in Hong Kong relied on a multi-tier system which settled in a daily net basis. About 170 banks settled with 10 banks. These 10 banks, in turn, settled with Hongkong Bank, which then settled with the HKMA in a one-to-one basis. Hongkong Bank acted as the clearing house under this system, settling payments across its books in a net basis on the day following the transactions. The HKMA decided that this did not meet international standards as set by G10's Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems; following a six-month feasibility study, in June 1994, it decided to develop CHATS as a RTGS system.
After two years of development, CHATS for Hong Kong dollars was launched on 9 December 1996. CHATS for US dollars and euros were launched on 21 August 2000 and 28 April 2003, respectively. In July 2007, the Regional CHATS Payment Services was also launched to link all participants in the three different CHATS versions for transactions involving currency exchange.
Read more about this topic: Clearing House Automated Transfer System
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