Abstract
A systematic, operational account of how trades become final, irrevocable transfers of value across financial markets and payment systems. "Settlement plumbing" denotes the layered set of institutions, accounts, contracts, messages, and risk controls — clearing, payment, and securities settlement — through which an agreement to exchange value is transformed into settled obligations. Prepared for institutional readers, regulators, infrastructure providers, banks, market makers, and tokenization researchers, it covers institutions, accounts, messages, money, collateral, netting, finality, and failure.
Executive summary
Settlement Plumbing is a member technical report describing, in operational detail, how settlement actually works across financial markets and payment systems — the layered set of institutions, accounts, contracts, messages, and risk controls through which a trade is transformed into a final, irrevocable transfer of assets and money.
It is written for institutional readers, regulators, infrastructure providers, banks, market makers, and tokenization researchers, and works systematically through institutions, accounts, messages, money, collateral, netting, finality, and failure. Sign in with a member account to read and download the full 60-page document.