Journal Article

Settlement risk in large-value payments systems

Abstract: The phenomenal growth of financial market and trading activities worldwide has led to tremendous growth in large-value payments systems. Large-value payments systems are the electronic banks used to transfer large payments among themselves. Payment orders processed in such systems in the United States, for example, are typically well above $1 million. ; The tremendous growth of payments system use throughout the world has increased both the possibility of settlement failures and the potential impact of such failures. In 1996, the average turnover in a single day exceeded the combined capital of the top 100 U.S. banks. Regulators are especially concerned that payments systems might turn a local financial crisis into a global systemic crisis. Shen examines settlement risk in large-value payments systems and discusses some of the measures available to manage such risk.

Keywords: Payment systems; Electronic funds transfers; Risk;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Part of Series: Economic Review

Publication Date: 1997

Volume: 82

Issue: Q II

Pages: 45-62