Settlement & FX
What is Settlement finality?
Settlement finality is the moment a transfer becomes legally irreversible and unconditional. After finality, the payment cannot be recalled or reversed by the sender or an intermediary. It is the property that lets recipients safely treat funds as their own, and it is defined by the rules of the settlement system used.
Different rails reach finality differently: real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems finalize each payment individually and immediately; net settlement systems finalize in batches. Finality timing is central to liquidity and counterparty-risk management in cross-border flows.