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FEDWIRE :

The Federal Reserve Wire Network

What is Fedwire? • What does a Fedwire look like? • What Fedwire is used for?

Who has access to Fedwire?

HOW A FEDWIRE WORKS:

> Basic Domestic Transfers

> When a correspondent bank is involved

> When offshore (cross border) banks are involved

When Offshore (Overseas) Banks are Involved:

YOUR BANK > FEDERAL RESERVE > CORRESPONDENT BANK > RECEIVING BANK

When foreign banks are involved, funds are credited to the foreign bank's account in it's U.S. correspondent bank before being sent on to the overseas bank itself.

For example: Funds being transferred from Dallas to Nassau in the Bahamas will first be transferred to say, Chase Manhattan in New York.  This means that the Nassau bank maintains an account at Chase in New York.

1. The funds are debited from the sender's account in the Dallas bank.

2. The Dallas bank forwards the funds to its Fed account with instructions to credit Chase's Fed account with the transfer amount.

3. The Federal Reserve notifies Chase of the credit to it's Fed account.

4. Chase debits it's Fed account for the transfer amount and credits the Nassau bank's reserve account at Chase.

5. Chase notifies the Nassau bank of the credit to its Chase reserve account. 

6. The Nassau bank debits its Chase reserve account and credits the account of the receiving account holder.

This can take a couple of days, depending on the time the transfer was initiated, the difference in time zones, and bank holidays.  However, once the funds have been credited to the correspondent bank's account at the Federal Reserve, there is no calling back the transaction.  You will have to apply to the account holder to whom the funds were transferred in Nassau in order to have them sent back.

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"Fedwire Funds Transfers
 The Fedwire funds transfer system is a real-time gross settlement system in which more than 9,000 depository institutions initiate funds transfers that are immediate, final, and irrevocable when processed.  Depository institutions that maintain a reserve or clearing account with a Federal Reserve Bank may use Fedwire to send payments to, or receive payments from, other account holders directly. Depository institutions use Fedwire to handle large-value, time-critical payments, such as payments for the settlement of interbank purchases and sales of federal funds; the purchase, sale, and financing of securities transactions; the disbursement or repayment of loans; and the settlement of real estate transactions."  http://www.federalreserve.gov/PaymentSystems/FedWire/ par. 4.

The Fedwire funds transfer system operates from 12:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday. The deadline for initiating third-party transfers (that is, transfers initiated by a depository institution on behalf of its customers) is 6:00 p.m. eastern time.

(For more information, see Fed Point 43: Fedwire, the Fedwire Directory. and Fedwire and Net Settlement)

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