Glossary

Every term between trade and settlement.

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)

20-character alphanumeric code under ISO 17442 that uniquely identifies legal entities in financial transactions, required for MiFID II, EMIR, and CAT regulatory reporting, and the primary party identifier in ISO 20022 sese.023 settlement instructions.

Maker-Checker Workflow

A two-person segregation of duties control requiring that any action entered by one operator must be reviewed and approved by a second before it takes effect.

MiCA Digital Asset Operations

The EU regulatory framework governing crypto-asset issuance and service provision — covering EMT and ART stablecoins, CASP authorization, and travel rule compliance — fully operational since December 2024.

Middle Office Software

The control layer between execution and settlement that automates trade validation, compliance monitoring, allocation, IBOR maintenance, and exception management in real time under T+1 and hybrid digital asset workflows.

Nostro / Vostro Reconciliation

Comparing a firm's nostro ledger against correspondent bank statements — closing fee, FX, and value date breaks before they become T+1 settlement funding failures.

NSCC Continuous Net Settlement

DTCC's central counterparty that novates equity trades, nets obligations multilaterally by CUSIP, and carries unsettled positions until DvP finality at DTC.

Operational Risk Management Securities

The identification and mitigation of risks from failed processes, human errors, technology failures, and external events that disrupt securities operations or cause financial loss.

Payment Stablecoin Reserve Requirements

Payment stablecoin reserve requirements mandate 1:1 backing of outstanding tokens with high-quality liquid assets — short-duration Treasuries, insured deposits, and central bank balances.

Payment versus Payment (PvP)

PvP links both currency legs of an FX trade so that neither payment is released unless both are confirmed — the mechanism that prevents one party from delivering its currency and receiving nothing in return.