Migration and connection

General information

The Graphic shows the T2S migration waves

TARGET2-Securities (T2S) is pursuing a gradual migration in waves. This means that the markets (CSDs and their customers) migrate at different times. The German CSD – Clearstream Banking Frankfurt (CBF) – migrated as part of the fourth wave on 6 February 2017. The regular migration phase was completed by the final wave’s migration on 18 September 2017.

Cash settlement in T2S occurs via dedicated cash accounts (DCAs), which the national central banks open and maintain for their customers (the payment banks). The Bundesbank has been offering its customers this service since T2S went live in June 2015, thereby enabling its payment banks to settle cash transactions of CSDs that have already migrated.

Overview of the necessary activities to be performed by Payment Banks

Before you (as a newly participating payment bank) begin with the tests, you have to decide whether you wish to participate directly or indirectly in T2S for the cash leg.

Please note that in TARGET2, it is imperative to have SWIFT access if you wish to link a DCA in T2S with your PM account in TARGET2-Bundesbank. If you connected to TARGET2-Bundesbank as an internet-based participant, it is not possible to open a DCA.

Connecting as a Directly Connected Party (DCP)

Should you decide to link up via a direct connection, you must carry out the following steps.

Task	Description	Time period
Initiating contact with a network provider of your choice.	You need to select a network provider to be able to access the T2S platform directly. You can choose between the two providers SWIFT or SIA/Colt.	You should contact your chosen network provider as soon as possible as you will be required to conclude a contract and your hardware and software will need to be adapted. You will also need to order tokens.
Determining the future account setup and registering.	How many DCAs do you wish to use in future? How should your account number be rendered? Do you wish to use the auto-collateralisation function?	Static data has to be set up in T2S and the link to the security account has to be created. Therefore you should start the registration process at an early stage. We generally recommend that you carry out your tests using an account setup that is as close to the production environment as possible.
Carrying out the mandatory test cases.	You must participate in various test phases prior to migration.	Only after the successful processing of all mandatory test cases, we can establish a new participant on the production environment. Therefore you should allow for enough time for the testing phase.

Connecting as an Indirectly Connected Party (ICP) via TARGET2 (with use of the value added services)

Should you decide to link up via an indirect connection, you must carry out the following steps.

Task	Description	Time period
Determining the future account setup and registering.	How many DCAs do you wish to use in future? How should your account number be rendered? Do you wish to use the auto-collateralisation function?	Static data has to be set up in T2S and the link to the security account has to be created. Therefore you should start the registration process at an early stage. We generally recommend that you carry out your tests using an account setup that is as close to the live environment as possible.
Carrying out the mandatory test cases.	You must participate in various test phases prior to migration.	Only after the successful processing of all mandatory test cases, we can establish a new participant on the production environment. Therefore you should allow for enough time for the testing phase.

Registration process

Please start the registration process at an early stage. Static data has to be set up in T2S and the link to the security account has to be created by your CSD. Therefore we kindly ask you to send in the registration forms early enough.

The registration forms that you are required to complete vary depending on the type of connection you chose. You should use TARGET2 form 1000 (main form for direct PM participants), which you should already be familiar with, to apply to use the value added services.

The registration forms, together with help on how to complete them, can be found by clicking on the internal link "Forms for the electronic payments of the Deutsche Bundesbank" at the end of this page.

Test phases

There are three different kinds of testing in T2S:

Certification test cases
Authorisation test cases
Interoperability testing (T2 User Testing Guide)

Each test case is described in detail in the test documents to be found under “external links”. There are mandatory and optional test cases. In general all functionalities that will be used in production environment should be tested

Certification tests (DCPs only)
By completing the certification tests, the direct participants connecting via U2A and, where applicable, A2A must show that they are able to communicate with the platform. An overview and a description of the test cases can be found under "external links".

These certification tests consist of a limited number of test cases, the successful completion of which must be reported to us. We, in turn, forward the test results to the ECB’s T2S Programme Office, where they are then validated. Direct participants receive a certificate once they have successfully completed the tests.

Interoperability tests (to be carried by ICPs and DCPs that also wish to use the value added services)
Both indirect and direct participants who additionally wish to use the value added services have to test these new functions in TARGET2. An overview and a description of the test cases can be found under "external links".

The following three test cases are mandatory.
IOP-T2SI-010: Sending of a liquidity transfer via ICM from RTGS to DCA
IOP-T2SI-050: Pull liquidity transfer via ICM from DCA to RTGS account
IOP-T2SI-130: Define a standing order liquidity transfer to DCA via U2A for opening of Night Time Settlement

Should you wish to use additional functions (such as initiating a liquidity transfer by means of an MT202), then you should also test these functions.
Authorisation tests (DCPs only)
These are technical tests that direct participants have to carry out in T2S. The test cases are divided into mandatory tests, which have to be carried out by all participants, and conditional test cases, which only have to be carried out if the participant wishes to use these T2S functions. An overview and a description of the test cases can be found under "external links".

Testing of software modifications made at the request of customers

Please note that software modifications that were initiated by and implemented at the request of customers are to be tested by the customer before they are implemented in the T2S production environment.