Securities settlement system

Abstract

A securities settlement system for clearing trades comprising an input for receiving trade information, a selector for selecting a group of trades to be cleared, an aggregation unit for determining an aggregated obligation to be cleared by each user associated with the group of trades and a settlement unit for executing the aggregated obligations for each user to clear the trades in the group of trades.

1 . A securities settlement system for clearing trades comprising an input for receiving trade information, a selector for selecting a group of trades to be cleared, an aggregation unit for determining an aggregated obligation to be cleared by each user associated with the group of trades and a settlement unit for executing the aggregated obligations for each user to clear the trades in the group of trades.  
   
   
       2 . Securities settlement system according to  claim 1 , further comprising a register indicating each user's obligation limit and a comparator for comparing each user's aggregated obligation with the obligation limit and if an obligation fails for a user, the selector modifies the selected group of trades to arrive at a new selected group where all obligations can be met by all users.  
   
   
       3 . Securities settlement system according to  claim 2 , wherein the selector modifies the selected group of trades by removing at least one of the trades from the selected group of trades, the at least one removed trade being associated with the user failing to meet the obligation.  
   
   
       4 . Securities settlement system according to  claim 2 , wherein the selector modifies the selected group of trades by iterating through a set of algorithms to determine a minimum number of trades required to be removed from the selected group of trades in order to meet the aggregated obligation for all users.  
   
   
       5 . Method of clearing trades in a securities settlement system, comprising the steps of: 
 receiving information relating to a number of trades;    selecting a group of trades from said number of trades;    determining an aggregated obligation to be cleared for each user associated with the group of trades; and    executing the aggregated obligation for each user, thereby clearing the group of trades.    
   
   
       6 . Method of clearing trades according to  claim 5  comprising the further steps of: 
 comparing the aggregated obligation for each user with an obligation limit associated with each user; and    modifying the selected group of trades if at least one aggregated obligation cannot be met.    
   
   
       7 . Method of clearing trades according to  claim 6 , wherein the step of modifying the selected group of trades includes removing at least one trade associated with the aggregated obligation that cannot be met.  
   
   
       8 . Method of clearing trades according to  claim 7 , wherein the step of modifying the selected group of trades includes iteratively making random assignments of a new group of trades and saving an optimal selection.  
   
   
       9 . Method of clearing trades according to  claim 8 , wherein the step of iteratively making random assignments of a new group of trades includes successively increasing the new selected group of trades.  
   
   
       10 . A securities settlement system for clearing trades comprising an input for receiving trade information, a sorting unit for sorting out trades associated with a specific sorting criteria and an aggregation unit for determining an aggregated obligation to be cleared for each user.  
   
   
       11 . Securities settlement system according to  claim 10 , wherein the specific sorting criteria is one or more criterias selected from the group of: user, instrument type and market.  
   
   
       12 . Securities settlement system according to  claim 10 , further comprising a register indicating a user's obligation limit and a comparator for comparing the user's aggregated obligation with the obligation limit and if an obligation fails for the user, at least one of the sorted out trades is removed from the trades associated with the user failing to meet the aggregated obligation.  
   
   
       13 . A securities settlement system for clearing trades comprising an means for receiving trade information, means for selecting a group of trades to be cleared, means for determining an aggregated obligation to be cleared by each user associated with the group of trades and means for executing the aggregated obligations for each user to clear the trades in the group of trades.  
   
   
       14 . Securities settlement system according to  claim 13 , further comprising means for determining each user's obligation limit and means for comparing each user's aggregated obligation with the obligation limit and if an obligation fails for a user, the means for selecting a group of trades modifies the selected group of trades to arrive at a new selected group where all obligations can be met by all users.  
   
   
       15 . Securities settlement system according to  claim 14 , wherein the means for selecting a group of trades modifies the selected group of trades by removing at least one of the trades from the selected group of trades, the at least one removed trade being associated with the user failing to meet the obligation.  
   
   
       16 . Securities settlement system according to  claim 14 , wherein the means for selecting a group of trades modifies the selected group of trades by iterating through a set of algorithms to determine a minimum number of trades required to be removed from the selected group of trades in order to meet the aggregated obligation for all users.