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Thursday 22nd February 2007

SJ Berwin LLP and Eversheds have been advising on the new faster payments system that is designed, by the end of 2007, to allow UK customers to make online or phone payments that will reach the recipient's bank account within a few hours. Negotiations on the main managed IT services contract started in July 2006.  The main contract was signed on 15 December 2006.

SJ Berwin LLP, led by James Gill (Senior Associate) and Andrew Shindler (Partner), with assistance from Laura Hillier (Associate), advised APACS, the UK payments association who are managing the project on behalf of its 13 founder members. 

Paula Barrett (Partner, Eversheds), assisted by Sam Jardine (Associate), advised the suppliers, LINK and Voca, who have formed a joint venture company called Immediate Payments Limited (IPL) to provide the payment service.  IPL will develop and provide the new payment infrastructure so that banks can offer this new service.  LINK is the UK's cash machine network provider and Voca currently provides the infrastructure for the 5 billion automated debits and credits that we make every year in the UK."

Background

In May 2005, UK banks announced plans to develop a new infrastructure to speed up internet, phone and standing order payments by the end of 2007. This massive project will revolutionise the UK's automated payments infrastructure.  The new system will enable customers to use the internet or phone to make a payment that will reach the recipient's bank account within a few hours. The service will also be available all day, every day and means that customers will have the flexibility and convenience of moving money between accounts or paying bills on the same day within a few hours and on any day of the week.   At this stage of the project, 13 institutions, accounting for over 95% of all payments made in the UK, are committed to the new service.  Other institutions will be able to join or to access the system through agency arrangements with a founding member - just as they do with other payment systems.  The new system will also speed up the processing of standing orders from 3 days to same day payments (but these will still only be made on and within banking business days).

Currently Internet, phone and standing order payments account for just 7% of automated payment volumes, but the former two are growing rapidly as customers increasingly turn to them instead of more traditional payment methods such as cheques.  The new system is being constructed to cater for the large volume increases projected for the future.

The 13 founder members comprise, Abbey, Alliance & Leicester, Barclays, Citibank, Co­operative bank, Danske Bank, HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, National Australia Group, Nationwide Building Society, Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

For further information, please contact:

James Gill, Senior Associate, Commerce & Technology Group on +44 (0)20 7111 2864 or by emailing james.gill@sjberwin.com
Andrew Shindler, Partner, Commerce & Technology Group on +44 (0)20 7111 2638 or by emailing andrew.shindler@sjberwin.com
Dawn Haynes, Business Development Manager, Commercial Department on +44 (0)20 7111 5340 or by emailing dawn.haynes@sjberwin.com

About SJ Berwin LLP

• Founded in 1982, SJ Berwin is a leading City corporate and commercial law firm with more than 550 lawyers working across its offices in London, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Turin.
  
  
• SJ Berwin's Commercial Group is consistently rated as one of the top legal teams in its sector and recognised by Chambers and Partners UK directory as a "high quality practice" and points to the team's approach as "responsive and organised".
  
  
• SJ Berwin was created and thrives as a leading-edge legal services business, focusing on the European and international market place. Our clients are sophisticated buyers of legal services, principally entrepreneurial companies and financial institutions, whom we advise on a comprehensive range of services including Corporate Finance, Commercial, Real Estate, Banking, Reconstruction & Insolvency, Financial Services, Litigation, Employment & Pensions, EU & Competition and Tax.
  
  
• Our approach has resulted in the firm winning a number of recent awards including "UK Firm of the Year" at the 2005 Legal Week Awards, "Law Firm of the Year" 2005 at the EVCA/Real Deals European Private Equity Awards for the second successive year, "European Law Firm of the Year" (fund formation) by subscribers to PrivateEquityOnline and Private Equity International, "Private Equity Law Firm of the Year 2004" at the European Venture Capital journal awards 2004 and 2005, "LBO Firm of the Year" 2004 at the Finance and Law Awards in Paris, "Real Estate Team of the Year" at The Lawyer Awards 2004, and "World's Leading Firm for Private Funds Expertise" in The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2003/4.
  
  
• On 1 June 2005, SJ Berwin became SJ Berwin LLP, a limited liability partnership. SJ Berwin LLP or an affiliated undertaking has an office in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan Munich, Paris and Turin.
  
  
• More information on SJ Berwin's services can be found at www.sjberwin.com