XAU correspondent banking: who clears the XAU

Tracing a XAU chain

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

Who clears XAU payments?

XAU settles through the local clearing system. Banks without direct access hold a nostro account with a correspondent that has it, so a XAU payment reaches the beneficiary by settling at that correspondent first and moving inwards. In the current dataset 62 distinct institutions act as XAU correspondents.

How concentrated is XAU clearing?

The three largest XAU correspondents between them serve about 52% of the banks that publish a XAU 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 XAU correspondent?

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