Fast track maintenance process for ISO 20022 message definitions

What is the fast track maintenance process?

The fast track maintenance process can only be initiated by an organization that has the capability to develop new versions of ISO 20022 message definitions. It can be either the submitting organization that owns the message definitions (original submitting organization) or another submitting organization that has been authorized to maintain the message definitions on behalf of the original submitting organization.

The RA provides the submitting organization with a ready for use EMF-based modeling tool - the Editor - which helps creating the required deliverables and validating their ISO 20022 compliance. It also provides an electronic version of the ISO 20022 Repository, including the current version of the ISO 20022 message models and the Data Dictionary.

The fast track maintenance process step-by-step

1. The submitting organization prepares a 'Maintenance Change Request'

The submitting organization that is ready to undertake the maintenance prepares a Fast Track Maintenance Change Request (MCR), which includes each of the proposed changes. The MCR must describe very precisely how the message definitions are proposed to be amended. When possible, it is recommended to append a draft schema of the proposed new version. Draft XML schemas can be generated by the submitting organisation using the Editor tool provided by the RA.

The MCR is submitted to the RA through this eForm. The RA verifies the compliance of the MCR and, if valid, posts it in the Status of submissions and forwards it to the SEG in charge of the related message definitions.

2. The SEG reviews the Maintenance Change Request

As soon as possible, the SEG - or its Evaluation Team in charge of the related messages - reviews the MCR and approves or rejects:

each of the changes proposed in the MCR.
the urgency of the maintenance. The SEG may decide to wait until the next yearly maintenance cycle of the message definitions or until other changes are requested.

If a meeting is organised to discuss the MCR, the SEG invites the submitting organization to participate to give any further clarification regarding the proposed updates. The submitting organisations responsible for any variants of the current versions of impacted message definitions are also invited to participate.

The result of the review is an agreement regarding which changes will be implemented, how and when. The SEG updates the Maintenance Change Request with its decision for each of the proposed changes and forwards the updated document to the RA.

Upon receipt, the RA transmits the completed Maintenance Change Request to the submitting organizations and posts it in the Status of submissions.

3. The submitting organization develops the new candidate ISO 20022 message definitions

The submitting organization develops the model of the candidate new message versions and submits it to the RA for quality review. When the model is qualified, the RA prepares the SEG evaluation documentation.

4. The SEG verifies the documentation of the new candidate ISO 20022 messages

The SEG evaluation documentation consists of the draft MDR Part1 updated by the submitting organisation, the draft MDR Part2 and schemas generated by the RA from the model and the draft MDR Part3 prepared by the RA.

To speed up the process, the updated MDR Part1 and MDR Part3 may be provided to the SEG for evaluation in a second stage. The RA publishes the evaluation documentation as advance information in the related business domain message catalogue (Payments, Securities, Trade Services, Cards, FX).

5. The RA publishes the new version of the ISO 20022 message definitions

As soon as the SEG approves the documentation of the new versions (at least the MDR Part2 and the schemas), the new message definitions are registered and published in the Catalogue of messages and the previous versions are transferred in the Message Archive. The approval and publication of the updated MDR Part1 and MDR Part3 may take place in a second stage.

Where to find the status of a project ?

You can consult the progress of the maintenance process in the Status of submissions.

Check status here

IPR

According to the ISO 20022 Intellectual Property Rights policy, the submitting organization keeps the IPR on the updated message definitions although it grants third parties a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use the published information. When there are several submitting organizations, for example when the submitting organization of a new version is not the same as the submitting organization(s) of the previous version(s) of the message definitions, all submitting organizations will share the IPR.

Appeals and complaints

Submitting organizations may appeal to the RMG against a decision of the RA or a SEG using the Appeal/Issue template. A subsequent appeal may be made through the secretariat of ISO TC68/SC9, the ISO committee in charge of the ISO 20022 standard.

Complaints regarding the service provided by the RA or the SEGs may also be sent to the RMG using the Appeal/Issue template. Complaints must be service orientated and are not considered part of the appeal process.