A custodian bank, or simply custodian, is a specialized financial institution responsible for providing securities services. It provides post-trade services and solutions for asset owners, asset managers, banks and broker-dealers. It is not engaged in "traditional" commercial or consumer/retail banking like lending.
The Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS) is a United States private clearing house for large-value transactions. As of 2023, it settles approximately 500,000 payments totaling US$1.7 trillion per day. Together with the Federal Reserve Banks' Fedwire Funds Service, CHIPS forms the primary U.S. network for large-value domestic and international USD payments where it has a market share of around 96%. CHIPS transfers are governed by Article 4A of Uniform Commercial Code.
HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG, operating as HSBC Deutschland, is a German financial services company. It traces its history back to 1785 and is one of the longest-established members of the HSBC Group. HSBC in Germany has operations in private, commercial and investment banking and asset management. HSBC has announced it would transfer ownership of HSBC Trinkhaus from UK-based HSBC Bank plc to Paris-based HSBC Continental Europe then to convert it into a branch of HSBC Continental Europe by end-2023.
A primary dealer is a firm that buys government securities directly from a government, with the intention of reselling them to others, thus acting as a market maker of government securities. The government may regulate the behaviour and number of its primary dealers and impose conditions of entry. Some governments sell their securities only to primary dealers; some sell them to others as well. Governments that use primary dealers include Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Big Four is the colloquial name given to the four main banks in several countries where the banking industry is dominated by just four institutions and where the phrase has thus gained relevance. Some countries include more or fewer institutions in such rankings, leading to other names such as Big Three, Big Five, or Big Six.
