Partial settlement · Concepts · European Finance Observatory

Roles that need it

Settlement failA settlement fail is a transaction that does not settle on its intended settlement date, because securities or cash are missing or the instructions do not match. Under the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR), fails in EU CSDs trigger daily cash penalties and reporting, and may lead to a buy-in.
Settlement matchingSettlement matching is the comparison of the buyer's and seller's settlement instructions by the settlement system before settlement, field by field (securities, quantity, amount, dates, accounts). Only matched instructions can settle. The Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR) requires CSDs to offer matching tools and tolerances for small cash differences.
Cash penalty (CSDR)A cash penalty is a daily charge that an EU central securities depository (CSD) applies to the participant responsible for a settlement fail, and pays to the counterparty that suffered it. The amount is a rate set by delegated regulation times the value of the failed instruction, with rates that differ by asset type and liquidity.
T2S (TARGET2-Securities)TARGET2-Securities (T2S) is the Eurosystem platform that settles securities transactions in central bank money for the central securities depositories (CSDs) connected to it. It settles delivery versus payment on a single technical platform across markets, in euro and in Danish kroner.

Updated 31 Oct 2026.