UYU correspondent banking: who clears the UYU

Tracing a UYU chain

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

Who clears UYU payments?

UYU settles through the local clearing system. Banks without direct access hold a nostro account with a correspondent that has it, so a UYU payment reaches the beneficiary by settling at that correspondent first and moving inwards. In the current dataset 12 distinct institutions act as UYU correspondents.

How concentrated is UYU clearing?

The three largest UYU correspondents between them serve about 56% of the banks that publish a UYU 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 UYU correspondent?

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