What happened
- Specific facts/numbers: The Federal Reserve’s move stems from an April 8, 2026 proposal to amend Regulation J so FedNow participants can use intermediaries other than Reserve Banks, allowing the service to handle the U.S. domestic leg of broader cross-border transactions; the Board had set a 60-day comment window on that proposal.
- Institutions involved: The key institutions are the U.S. Federal Reserve Board and FedNow participants, including U.S. banks and credit unions that could use correspondent banks or other intermediaries for international payment flows.
- Regulatory/technical context: FedNow currently supports transfers only between two U.S. banks; the proposed Regulation J change would permit intermediaries in FedNow transfers, which the Federal Reserve says could support private-sector cross-border payment solutions without changing the service’s core domestic instant-payments role.
- What to watch next: Watch for whether the Federal Reserve finalizes the Regulation J amendments after the consultation; no next milestone was identified in the accessible reporting beyond the proposal stage.
Why it matters
If adopted, the change would let U.S. financial institutions plug FedNow into cross-border payment chains, potentially speeding the domestic settlement leg of international transfers and expanding real-time payment use cases.
HKMA Relevance
Direct: This is a U.S. central-bank payments-policy move on cross-border instant payments, a core area of interest for the HKMA as a peer monetary authority working on similar payments and settlement questions.