JPY correspondent banking: who clears the Japanese yen

Tracing a JPY chain

Each instruction names the institution holding that bank's JPY account. Following those links repeatedly ends at a bank that publishes no onward JPY instruction — the ultimate clearer, with direct access to BOJ-NET and FXYCS. That is where the money actually settles before moving inwards to the beneficiary.

Who clears JPY payments?

JPY settles through BOJ-NET and FXYCS. Banks without direct access hold a nostro account with a correspondent that has it, so a JPY payment reaches the beneficiary by settling at that correspondent first and moving inwards. In the current dataset 577 distinct institutions act as JPY correspondents.

How concentrated is JPY clearing?

The three largest JPY correspondents between them serve about 35% of the banks that publish a JPY instruction. Concentration matters because the withdrawal of one correspondent can affect a large number of respondent banks at once.

How do I find a bank's JPY correspondent?

Search the bank's BIC, select JPY, and the chain resolves hop by hop to the institution that clears the currency, including the nostro account number on each relationship.