Each day approximately $1.3 trillion changes hands by means of wholesale wire transfers. Of this total, about $638 billion is exchanged on Fedwire, the Federal Reserve wire transfer network, while just under $622 billion moves over the privately-owned Clearing House Interbank Payment System...

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When a money market instrument is traded, the clearing and settlement process establishes the change in ownership. Because the process involves both costs and risks, money market participants have developed means of making clearing and settlement more efficient and less risky.

During the last several years, the banking community has become increasingly aware of the risks faced by participants on electronic funds transfer (EFT) networks. Of particular concern have been the volume and incidence of “daylight overdrafts” on Fedwire and the risk of systemic failure due...

It is an article of faith among American bankers and their regulators that some daylight overdrafts are necessary to the efficient functioning of large-dollar wire transfer systems. But the Swiss have injected an element of doubt by developing a system that does away with daylight overdrafts....