Intraday Liquidity Management

Intraday liquidity management ensures a bank has sufficient liquid funds at every point during the business day to meet payment and settlement obligations as they arise — across MEPS+, FAST, SWIFT, and other payment systems.

📌 Key Concepts

Term	Definition
Intraday Liquidity	Cash or liquid assets available within the business day to fund payments
MEPS+	MAS Electronic Payment System — Singapore's RTGS for interbank SGD settlements
RTGS	Real-Time Gross Settlement — each payment settled individually and immediately
Settlement Account	Bank's SGD account used to settle obligations in MEPS+
Intraday Liquidity Facility	Eligible intraday liquidity made available under the payment system's rules and collateral arrangements
Queue Management	Ordering and releasing queued payments to optimise liquidity use
Gridlock	Situation where banks cannot settle because each is waiting for another to pay first
Peak Liquidity Demand	Time of day when outgoing payment volumes are highest

🏦 Liquidity Sources During the Day

Source	Description
Opening balance	SGD balance in MAS MEPS+ account at start of day
Incoming FAST/MEPS+ receipts	Payments received from other banks throughout the day
Maturing placements	Interbank or MAS bills maturing intraday
Eligible collateral or secured funding	Liquidity raised under available central-bank or market facilities
FX swap proceeds	SGD leg receipts from FX swaps settling intraday

🛠️ Intraday Monitoring Workflow

Morning Setup

1. Treasury operations reviews projected intraday cash flow: expected receipts vs. outgoing payments
2. Confirm opening MEPS+ balance; compare against projected peak demand
3. Pre-fund the settlement account if projected liquidity is insufficient, using an approved funding source
4. Queue critical high-value payments for early release

During the Day

1. Real-time monitoring of MEPS+ position via bank's payment operations system
2. Priority payments (correspondent bank settlements, large corporate payments) released first
3. Queue management: hold lower-priority payments if liquidity is tight; release when inflows received
4. Escalate to Treasury dealer if position breaches internal intraday warning threshold
5. Use available intraday liquidity facilities, where eligible and permitted

End of Day

1. Resolve or cancel queued items before the applicable payment-system cut-off
2. Repay intraday credit before the applicable deadline
3. Treasury establishes the required overnight position using approved facilities or market transactions
4. EOD reconciliation: MEPS+ statement vs. internal nostro ledger
5. Intraday liquidity report filed for management and regulatory reporting

🧮 Key Metrics

Intraday Liquidity Buffer

Buffer = Available Intraday Liquidity - Peak Intraday Requirement (observed or stressed)

Example:
Available: Opening balance SGD 800M + Repo facility SGD 500M = SGD 1,300M
Peak observed outflow: SGD 900M
Buffer = SGD 400M

Time-of-Day Payment Profile

Monitor cumulative outflows by hour to identify peak windows.

Example:
09:00–10:00: SGD 300M out (SWIFT batches)
10:00–12:00: SGD 250M out (corporate settlements)
14:00–15:00: SGD 200M out (FX settlements)
Peak window: 09:00–10:00 → pre-fund accordingly

Illustrative collateral capacity

Available secured liquidity = Eligible collateral pledged × (1 − applicable haircut)

Example: SGD T-bills pledged SGD 600M, haircut 2%
Available secured liquidity = SGD 600M × (1 − 0.02) = SGD 588M

📋 Regulatory Requirements

• BCBS 248 intraday liquidity monitoring tools apply to internationally active banks, with national supervisors determining broader application
• MAS expects banks to maintain robust intraday liquidity frameworks with documented stress scenarios
• Internal intraday liquidity limits approved by ALCO; breaches reported to Treasury Head and Risk
• Intraday liquidity data reported internally and to supervisors at the applicable frequency
• Business Continuity Plan (BCP) must address intraday liquidity failures — including contingency access to MAS Standing Facility