ILS correspondent banking: who clears the ILS

Tracing a ILS chain

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

Who clears ILS payments?

ILS settles through the local clearing system. Banks without direct access hold a nostro account with a correspondent that has it, so a ILS payment reaches the beneficiary by settling at that correspondent first and moving inwards. In the current dataset 168 distinct institutions act as ILS correspondents.

How concentrated is ILS clearing?

The three largest ILS correspondents between them serve about 32% of the banks that publish a ILS 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 ILS correspondent?

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