Nostro reconciliation: how it works in a bank

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Introduction to the foreign exchange market

The Foreign Exchange (FX) Market is one of the biggest and most liquid markets in which currencies are traded over the counter (OTC) involving players like central banks, corporate majors, hedge funds, investment banks, commercial banks etc. It aids activities such as cross-border trade, mergers & acquisitions, tourism etc. As per the Bank for International Settlements, the average daily turnover of global foreign exchange as of April 2010 is estimated at $3.98 trillion. In order to deal in the Foreign Exchange Market and transact in foreign currencies, banks maintain accounts with other banks globally. This is known as a Nostro Account. For instance, consider two banks: ABC Bank, New York and XYZ Bank, Mumbai. For XYZ Bank, its account in ABC Bank is a Nostro Account (My account with you) and ABC Banks account with it is a Vostro Account (your account with me). Nostro and Vostro are Italian words for Our and Your respectively. Reconciliation of these accounts is called Nostro Account Reconciliation or simply Nostro Reconciliation. In India only Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCB) can maintain a Nostro Account, and three types of branches are permitted to deal in them. The A category branch owns, maintains and funds this account. After the Nostro Reconciliation, they submit the statutory returns to the appropriate authorities. The B category branch can operate the account maintained by A category branches and the C category branches are the remaining Scheduled Commercial Bank branches dealing through B or A category branches for their forex transactions.

Terms used in the reconciliation process

The account maintained by a bank with another bank is known as a Nostro account and the statement which it receives from the bank with which it maintains accounts is known as a Nostro account statement. The replica of this account is maintained by the bank in its books for operational purposes and is known as a Nostro mirror account. Through the process of reconciliation, banks can track the status of cash received/receivable and the amount paid/payable and track unsettled transactions either in mirror or in actual Nostro accounts. For instance, banks can ensure that their interbank cash flows from FX Spot, FX Forward, FX Swaps, borrowings, placements, derivative trades and merchant flows like Foreign Bills purchased/realized, Foreign Inward/ Outward Remittances etc. are received and paid appropriately. It is important for banks to reconcile Nostro accounts immediately on receipt of the statements from the correspondent banks as this will enable them to reconcile the same with their Nostro mirror balances and also take quick remedial action in case of unsettled/ discrepancy in transactions. Most banks receive Nostro account statements through SWIFT MT940 and MT950. Banks without SWIFT get a soft copy of the statement either by email or a hardcopy delivered from the local branch of the correspondent bank.

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Access to users
Reconciliation is an important activity with only authorized users permitted to do it. To ensure and manage operational risk in the reconciliation process, generally two independent teams from the bank are involved. Normally treasury back office users handle settlements, whereas middle office users take care of Nostro reconciliation.

Process of reconciliation
Nostro debit entries are reconciled against the mirror credit entries
Nostro debits may arise due to: Honoring the payment messages sent by the bank/payment of draft issued by the bank Charges debited in the Nostro accounts Reimbursement to negotiating bank, under Letters of Credit transactions Payments on account of interbank deals This is to ensure that all the payment settlements are acted upon by the correspondent bank and are reflected in the Nostro statement accordingly. Inward remittances received on behalf of customers Interest amount credited Receipts from interbank deals Realization of bills sent for collection Reimbursement of negotiated bills This is to ensure that all the receipt settlements are acted upon by the correspondent bank and are reflected in the Nostro statement accordingly. Credit in the Nostro mirror is to be reconciled with debit in the actual Nostro account. Credit in actual Nostro is to be reconciled with debit in Nostro mirror accounts.

Nostro credit entries are reconciled against the mirror debit entries
Nostro credit may arise due to:

Various methods of reconciliation

Options include Automated Reconciliation through specialized solutions, wherein Straight Through Processing is possible and Manual Reconciliation using the Nostro Statements and Mirror Accounts. Automated Reconciliation happens following types of reconciliations: as the value date, transaction reference number, counterparty etc. are matching. Partly matched: In this case all the conditions need not be met. Some relaxations can be made from the auto-matched condition e.g. Reference number etc. Un-reconciled entries pending post Automated Reconciliation can be cleared through:

Fully matched: Reconcile only when all the given conditions like currency, amount,

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 Forced matching: This is a manual process where the user can choose transactions and force match them. In forced matching: One-to-many (one credit with multiple debits or vice versa) reconciliation can also be done. Most of the reconciliation solutions support uploading of SWIFT statements MT940 and MT950 along with other types of file formats. Illustration: XYZ Bank, Mumbai prepares a Nostro Reconciliation Statement for its USD Nostro Account with ABC Bank in its books as under. Reconciliation Statement of ABC Nostro in USD Currency for the month ending XXX Amounts in USD Balance as per the Mirror Account (Debit Balance) XXXX Less: Un-reconciled Mirror Debits XXXA Less: Un-reconciled Nostro Debits XXXB Add: Un-reconciled Mirror Credits YYYA Add: Un-reconciled Nostro Credits YYYB Balance as per the Nostro Statement (Credit Balance) ZZZZ Balance as per the Nostro Statement is the derived figure, which should match with the actual Nostro Balance. On matching, the Nostro Reconciliation process is deemed complete and thereafter banks aim to minimize un-reconciled or open items. The following section lists each un-reconciled entry in the order of importance or risk to the bank:

entries here indicate funds not received from the counterparty.

Un-reconciled nostro debits

These entries point to a wrong payment or payment of an incorrect amount. They are second in the order of importance because funds have already left the banks Nostro account. Outstanding entries in case of interbank transactions indicate that funds have been paid out to the counterparty without a deal in the books or have been paid wrongly or an incorrect amount has been paid.

Un-reconciled mirror credits

In this case, a payment initiated by the bank is not acted upon by the Nostro agent. This is true of interbank transactions as well.

Un-reconciled nostro credits

Here, funds received by the bank are not applied either because the customer is unaware of receipt or undecided on what to do. In case of interbank transactions, it means that either the counterparty has made a payment without a deal or has paid before the due date. In the event of a long-pending unapplied Nostro credit, the treasury back office or the branch where the customer holds the account is contacted and all relevant details are sought. Several unapplied or incorrect credits in a Nostro account mean a greater propensity of fraud and reconciliation not being a guarantee for correctness of funds applied, owing to high transaction volumes. Banks need to control application of funds older than one month through multiple authorization levels. Unreconciled Nostro credit over long periods attracts the wrong kind of attention. Staff dealing with this routinely and aware of the workings of this account can collude and divert these funds to a fraudulent operative account. Frauds of this nature come to light when the original beneficiary or remitter comes to check with the bank, in all likelihood, after the damage is done.

Un-reconciled mirror debits

These entries are of utmost importance to the bank as they reflect the extent of fund shortage. They indicate that funds have either been paid without the Nostro credit or paid twice. In case of interbank transactions, outstanding

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Fails management
Banks can charge interest on delayed interbank payments or ask for back validation of the payment. The latter is preferred if the bank has run into overdraft due to non-receipt of funds.

MIS to management/Central bank

Banks prepare age-wise analysis of unreconciled Nostro entries to share with the top management and the Central Bank. This is done with the intention of keeping minimum outstanding un-reconciled entries in the bank. In India, Scheduled Commercial Banks are required to submit the un-reconciled Nostro entries to the Reserve Bank of India on a monthly basis.

Specialized reconciliation solutions

Banks look to automate the Nostro reconciliation process as it is a key factor in funds management and credit risk. Some of the reconciliation solutions available in the market are: Smart Stream from Smart Stream Technologies Finacle Nostro Reconciliation from Infosys Limited Ambit Reconciliation from SunGard There are various other options, which offer a host of solutions like position, securities and payment reconciliation, among others.

Vinod Kumar Adepu

Principal Consultant, Finacle, Infosys

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About Finacle
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