Implied contract arising from acting on SWIFT message

31 May 2019

In the recent case of Malayan Banking Berhad v Barclays Bank PLC [2019] SGHC(I) 04, the Singapore International Commercial Court found that where a bank sent a Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication MT 103 STP Single Customer Credit Transfer message (“MT 103 STP”) to another bank to initiate a transfer of funds, and the latter bank acted upon the MT 103 STP, an implied contract arose between the two banks unconditionally obliging the sending bank to reimburse the receiving bank for the transfer.
 
This decision raises questions of practical interest to banks.
 
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