Patent ID: 7698207

Claim:
An automated, computer-implemented method for carrying out financial transactions within a Central Securities Depository (CSD), comprising an automated, computer-implemented clearing process and an automated, computer-implemented settlement process, the clearing process preparing a financial transaction for the settlement process using the following automated, computer-implemented sub-process steps: providing a set of settlement rules to be followed in the clearing process, selecting, by a first computer process, a settlement rule from the set of settlement rules to be followed in the clearing process, the settlement rule defining how the financial transaction is to be settled, defining, by a second computer process, a settlement instruction group including a number of settlement instructions to be settled at the same time, where the settlement instructions describe obligations of participants to the financial transaction, following the selecting and defining steps, locking-in, by a third computer process, the assets to which the financial transaction concerns, the locking-in having the effect of reserving said assets for a specific settlement, reserving by the third computer process said assets for the specific settlement based on the locking-in step, thereby clearing the financial transaction for settlement, and the settlement process includes the following automated, computer-implemented sub-process steps: providing a set of transfer instructions, selecting, by a fourth computer process, transfer instructions from the set of transfer instructions for all settlement instructions belonging to said settlement instruction group, said transfer instructions being irrevocable instructions to transfer the locked-in assets between participants in the CSD, transferring by the fourth computer process the locked-in assets between the participants in the CSD, checking, by a fifth computer process, that said transfer instructions are carried out successfully to complete settlement of the financial transaction, and following the selecting and checking steps, reporting, by a sixth computer process, the result of the settlement to participants involved in the financial transaction.