European Central Bank payment system crash delayed salaries and welfare funds across Europe

What just happened? A tech glitch in the European Central Bank's payment system caused widespread disruptions that delayed salaries and welfare funds for thousands earlier this month. The crisis, which could have escalated into chaos had it persisted into the next day when millions of public-sector workers, pensioners, and welfare recipients were due to receive their payments, illustrates the pivotal role technology plays in maintaining the stability of financial systems. "If it had lasted until Friday, there would have been big risk-management questions for banks," Alistair Milne, a professor of financial economics at Britain's Loughborough Business School, told Reuters, which provided a timeline of events in an exclusive report. "Bank risk managers would have to decide: Are we willing to credit the customer account on the trust that the money will eventually turn up?" The breakdown occurred when the ECB's system for settling financial trades, Target 2 Securities (T2S), crashed shor ... Read full article.