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The article focuses on USAspending.gov as a government source for federal awards data, including contracts, grants, loans, and financial assistance, and highlights challenges related to data quality. It discusses tools on USAspending.gov for analyzing federal spending within budget function, agency, and object class categories, and also mentions other federal awards data sources such as the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) and Census Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

Bilateral financial contracts typically require an assessment of counterparty risk. Central clearing of these financial contracts allows market participants to mutualize their counterparty risk, but this insurance may weaken incentives to acquire and to reveal in- formation about such risk. When considering this trade-off, participants would choose central clearing if information acquisition is incentive compatible. If it is not, they may prefer bilateral clearing, when this choice prevents strategic default while economizing on costly collateral. In either case, participants independently choose the efficient clearing arrangement. Consequently, central clearing can be socially inefficient under certain circumstances. These results stand in contrast to those in Acharya and Bisin (2014), who find that central clearing is always the optimal clearing arrangement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bank is a leading custodian offering custody, clearing, and fund accounting services [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on derivatives reforms implemented by the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act that aim to bring the swaps market under a regulatory regime resembling the futures markets. Topics include the five broad requirements for swaps added by Dodd-Frank are outlined including the need for most swaps to be cleared through a clearinghouse, the extent to which over-the-counter derivatives trading platforms and mechanisms could be accommodated, and the public availability of swap transaction data.

In this paper, the author studies the Banco Central System of Mexico. This was a bank note redemption and clearing system for payments that operated in Mexico City from 1899 until 1913. The bank became prone to behavioral problems. Banco Central was less well-positioned to address incentive problems relative to one of its counterparts, the Suffolk Bank of Boston, in the United States. Considerable government intervention weakened the disciplinary role of Banco Central making it prone to collapse. This working paper can be found at the US Federal Reserve Board's International Finance Discussion Papers. You can access this by going to

The article focuses on the launch of ClearBank, a clearing bank engaged in business-to-business service in Great Britain. Topics discussed competitors of ClearBank in the country, the value proposition of ClearBank, the current account services to be provided by ClearBank, and the impact of ClearBank on retail banking.

The article examines the business model issues of free trading on the RobinHood stock trading and investment app in 2021. The financial services company was criticized for its decision to stop customers from buying GameStop shares. It points out that the company's practice of selling the order flow of its users is legal and is also practiced by majority of brokerages and exchanges. It describes the issue arising from the effort of the firm not to use clearing houses.

The article presents the international approaches to the U.S. sanctions against Iran as of 2010. An overview is offered on the adoption of resolutions among the European Union (EU) countries on July 27, Japan and South Korea in September and the decision of the Indian central bank in December not to use the Asian Clearing Union based in Tehran to its transactions with Iran. A chart is presented comparing the sanctions among the U.S., the U.N. and the EU and other allied countries.

Financial derivatives allow users to manage or hedge certain business risks that arise from volatile commodity prices, interest rates, foreign currencies, and a wide range of other variables. Derivatives also permit potentially risky speculation on future trends in those rates and prices. Derivatives markets are very large—measured in the hundreds of trillions of dollars—and they grew rapidly in the years before the recent financial crisis. The events of the crisis have sparked calls for fundamental reform. Derivatives are traded in two kinds of markets: on regulated exchanges and in an unregulated over-the-counter (OTC) market. During the crisis, the web of risk exposures arising from OTC derivatives contracts complicated the potential failures of major market participants like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG. In deciding whether to provide federal support, regulators had to consider not only the direct impact of those firms failing, but also the effect of any failure on their derivatives counterparties. Because OTC derivatives are unregulated, little information was available about the extent and distribution of possible derivatives-related losses. The OTC market is dominated by a few dozen large financial institutions who act as dealers. Before the crisis, the OTC dealer system was viewed as robust, and as a means for dispersing risk throughout the financial system. The idea that OTC derivatives tend to promote financial stability has been challenged by the crisis, as many of the major dealers required infusions of capital from the government. Derivatives reform legislation before Congress would require the OTC market to adopt some of the practices of the regulated exchange markets, which were able to cope with financial volatility in 2008 without government aid. A central theme of derivatives reform is requiring OTC contracts to be cleared by a central counterparty, or derivatives clearing organization. Clearinghouses remove the credit risk inherent in bilateral OTC contracts by guaranteeing payment on both sides of derivatives contracts. They impose initial margin (or collateral) requirements to cover potential losses initially. They further impose variation margin to cover any additional ongoing potential losses. The purpose of posting margin is to prevent a build-up of uncovered risk exposures like AIG’s. Proponents of clearing argue that if AIG had had to post initial margin and variation margin on its trades in credit default swaps, it would likely have run out of money before its position became a systemic threat that resulted in costly government intervention. Benefits of mandatory clearing include greater market transparency, as the clearinghouse monitors, records and usually confirms trades. Clearing may reduce systemic risk, by mitigating the possibility of nonpayment by counterparties. There are also costs to clearing. Margin requirements impose cash demands on “end users” of derivatives, such as nonfinancial firms who used OTC contracts to hedge risk. H.R. 3795, different versions of which were ordered to be reported by the House Committees on Financial Services and on Agriculture, and Title VII of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs’ comprehensive financial reform proposal provide exemptions from mandatory clearing for certain categories of market participants. If exemptions are too broad, then systemic risks, as well as default risks to dealers and counterparties, may remain. The bills seek to balance the competing goals of reducing systemic risk and preserving end users’ ability to hedge risks through derivatives, without causing those derivatives trades to become too costly. This report analyzes the issues of derivatives clearing and margin and end users, and it discusses the various legislative approaches to the end-user issue. This report will be updated as events warrant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) seeks to cut off the flow of revenue to unlawful Internet gambling businesses. It outlaws receipt of checks, credit card charges, electronic funds transfers, and the like by such businesses. It also enlists the assistance of banks, credit card issuers and other payment system participants to help stem the flow. To that end, it authorizes the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve System (the Agencies), in consultation with the Justice Department, to promulgate implementing regulations. Proposed regulations have been announced with a comment period that ends on December 12, 2007, 72 Fed. Reg. 56680 (October 4, 2007). The proposal addresses the feasibility of identifying and interdicting the flow of illicit Internet gambling proceeds in five pay systems: cards systems, money transmission systems, wire transfer systems, check collection systems, and the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system. It suggests that, except for financial institutions that deal directly with illegal Internet gambling operators, tracking the flow of revenue within the wire transfer, check collection, and ACH systems is not feasible at this point. It proposes exempting them from the regulations' requirements, but invites comments that offer alternative approaches. It charges those with whom illegal Internet gambling operators may deal directly within those three systems, and participants in the card and money transmission systems, to adopt policies and procedures to enable them to identify the nature of their customers' business, to employ customer agreements barring tainted transactions, and to establish and maintain remedial steps to deal with tainted transactions when they are identified. Introductory remarks explain why the Agencies rejected a check-list-of-unlawful-Internet-gambling-operators approach. Several bills have been introduced to augment these efforts, including H.R. 2046 (Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act), H.R. 2607 (Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act) and H.R. 2610 (Skill Game Protection Act). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NeML is the leading Indian electronic web based, online, commodities spot market and Services Company [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section offers world news briefs on the alternative lending industry as of May 21, 2021. It includes the closure of nearly 500 branches by clearing banks in the United Kingdom during the Covid-19 pandemic, the increase in concern of investors on inflation than the growth in interest in Bitcoin, and claims by former British Prime Minister David Cameron regarding the credit processes or structure of the business operations of banking firm Greensill.

RBI has instructed all the member banks to maintain sufficient balance in their clearing settlement account [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the business model issues of free trading on RobinHood, an online discount brokerage that offers a commission-free investing and trading platform. Topics discussed include explanation on front running as in the case of Robinhood blocking customers from buying GameStop shares, and reason that clearing houses attempt 'netting'.

The article reports that the U.S Federal Reserve supervises bank holding companies (BHCs) and thrift holding companies (THCs), which include all large and thousands of small depositories, for safety and soundness. It notes that Federal Reserve regulates the retail and wholesale payment system for safety and soundness. It also operates parts of the payment system, such as interbank settlements and check clearing.

The intelligent check deposit system scans the check, validates check fields and gives acknowledgment to the depositors for their respective action [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clearing corporation has to submit a certificate signed by its managing director within 15 days from the end of every quarter [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tenure of PIDs can be a maximum of three terms of three years each, subject to 75 years of age [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the significance of the European-based clearing facility to the credit default swap (CDS) market in the U.S. It notes that the failure of industry players to agree on a centralized European platform has left regulators without any option but to intervene. It points out that the market data solution providers should follow developments closely since there will be a great need for development and testing while ensuring that there are no adverse latency impacts.

The article focuses on the guilty plea of Samuel Brevdeh, president of Cashpoint Network Services Inc., on charges he masterminded a check-kitting scheme using automated clearinghouse (ACH) debits as its instrument. He used ACH debits in his holding accounts at banks such as JP Morgan Chase & Co. His case can be compared with the kitting scam at E.F. Hutton & Co. Brevdeh faces 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.

The article reports on a Suspicious Activities Report Review issued by the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in November 2005. Check fraud wire transfer abuse, identity theft, automated clearing house and credit/debit card fraud are some of the ways money launderers hide their activities in the payments. There are 3,726 computer intrusions between June 2003 and June 2005 according to the review.

The article focuses on several risks that have emerged following the inception of the Continuous-Linked Settlements Bank (CLS) in the U.S. in 1997. The prime objective of the CLS is to abolish the Herstatt default risk from the global foreign exchange market. David Madieros, director of research for global payment unit at TowerGroup, commented on the risk. The threat posed by liquidity risk have impacted the operation of the CLS. INSET: Why CLS Was Created.

The article reports on the decision of the National Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) Association to adopt the universal payment identification code (UPIC) being promoted by the Clearing House Payment Co.'s Electronic Payment Association unit. 24 businesses had already adopted the UPIC since 2005. The system acts like standard bank account numbers and travel through the ACH network with the Universal Routing and Transit numbers. UPIC can only be used for ACH credit payments.

This article focuses on recent developments the bank card, or so-called plastic card, market of Great Britain. Plastic cards have steadily grown in importance as both payment and borrowing tools, and this has been a hugely important driver of growth in the card market. Despite a testing 12 months, the British card market has once again set a new record for the level of spending made by plastic cards. Indeed, cards are swiftly becoming the dominant payment method for a growing number of consumers in Great Britain, continuing to replace both cash and checks. According to figures from the Association for Payment Clearing Services and the Finance and Leasing Association, Datamonitor research has found the combined value of transactions made on charge, credit and debit and private label cards was up over 11% on 2003 levels.

The article reports that audits are posted on the Census Bureau's Federal Audit Clearinghouse with the spending in states, local governments, and nonprofits with submit an audit detailing expenditures and searches may be conducted by organization or institution.

The article discusses economic outlook for emerging European economies for 2012. Outperforming short- to mid-maturity bonds are expected during the forecast period due to predicted volatility. Lithuanian sovereign bonds are expected to perform better than Turkish counterparts. The possibility that the introduction of Russian government OFZ bonds to international clearing houses could bring economic opportunities that would lead to increased capital flows is explored.

The article reports on the investigation of check-clearing system by the Payment Systems Task Force of the British Office of Fair Trading. The local financial industry fears an increased regulation of the sector with the investigation. Automated teller machines and credit card networks are included in the aspects to be investigated by the task force.

The article reports on the proposed automated clearing house (ACH) rules for international transactions in the U.S. made by the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) in 2005. NACHA claims that the proposal will impact their international deal practices. The proposed rules will be responsible for the expansion of cross-border payment system. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control has ordered that all international ACH payments should follow its travel rules.

The article focuses on the Federal Audit Clearinghouse of the U.S. Census Bureau, accessed at https://harvester.census.gov/facweb/Default.aspx, which offers audit data from states, local governments and nonprofit organizations.