Under the clearing agreement, all settlements between individuals and legal entities from the participating countries, the agreements are conducted in clearing currency by non-cash offset of mutual obligations and claims. Payments from clearing accounts are conducted in each country in its currency with the conversion of the clearing currency into national currency at the rate of the relevant country, unless otherwise stipulated in the currency clearing agreement.

The procedure for settlements in clearing currency is as follows: importers and other debtors of one country that have monetary obligations to legal and individuals of another country, deposit the corresponding amounts in the national currency at the rate of the clearing currency to the clearing account of the bank of the counterparty country opened in the bank of this country. Payments to counterparties of the other party (for example, exporters) are made in clearing currency from the balance of funds in the clearing account in the relevant bank. If there is no balance in the clearing currency, depending on the terms of the clearing agreement, creditors (for example, exporters) either have to wait until funds in the clearing currency appear on the account, or a technical loan is provided in this currency.

Examples of clearing currencies

Countries participating in the clearing agreement	Validity	Clearing currency
Bilateral agreements between the USSR and the socialist countries	1950-1963	Soviet ruble
USSR - Finland	1945-1990	Ruble
Bilateral agreements: Bulgaria - India, Poland - India, USSR - India	1970s	Indian rupee
USSR - Pakistan	1970s	Pakistani rupee
Bulgaria - Sri Lanka	1970s	British pound sterling
USSR - China	1970s	Swiss frank
USSR - Yugoslavia	1970s	U.S. dollar

Russia's settlement and credit relations with many countries were previously based on clearing-type payment agreements. Some of the settlements with countries such as China, Egypt and India are still cleared, although by agreement current payments are currently made in freely convertible currencies. The fact is that earlier between the Soviet Union and these countries there were clearing-type payment agreements, and when switching to settlements in freely convertible currencies, clearing accounts were not completely “closed”, and therefore part of the operations by Russia as the legal successor Soviet Union maintained on these accounts.

In order to determine the real ratio of clearing and closed currencies to the ruble and base currencies, in 2000 8 special correction factors were introduced to the official exchange rate am. dollar, Swiss franc, Indian rupee, previously used for clearing with India, China and Egypt. These coefficients are used when determining the book value of funds in certain clearing and closed currencies, when calculating the taxable base and the amount of customs payments, but are not used when determining the amount of foreign exchange earnings to be credited to residents' accounts with authorized Russian banks. The sizes of the coefficients, established in 2000, are: am. USD for settlements with Egypt, India and China - 0.9, the Indian rupee - 0.85, Swiss frank on clearing with China - 0.85. Clearing-type payment agreements (clearings) involve a centralized, mandatory set-off of mutual monetary claims and obligations arising between countries through various economic and other ties.

These payment agreements are based on unified system and contain the following main elements:

1. The system of clearing accounts - each country provides for the opening of a clearing account, which takes into account all payments and receipts: in Russian Federation- in the Vneshtorgbank of the Russian Federation, and in the contracting countries - in the National (Central) banks of the respective states.

2. Volume of clearing - all payments and receipts on export-import, transport and other operations stipulated in the agreements are reflected in the clearing accounts. Some agreements allow payment for some goods or transactions in freely convertible currencies and such clearings are called incomplete.

3. Clearing currency is the currency in which clearing accounts are maintained; such a currency can be currency unit one of the contracting parties or the currency of a third party (most often the US dollar). But in all cases, it is a conventional unit of account that is used by the parties in certain areas specified in these clearing agreements.

4. Currency clauses - the need to include them is dictated by the fact that the clearing currencies are subject to devaluations, and in order to prevent losses, the agreements provide for currency and multicurrency clauses, according to which the balance on the clearing account, expressed in some clearing currency, is recalculated in case of a change in its exchange rate to a harder currency ( US dollar) or to several pre-specified currencies (multi-currency clause).

5. Technical credit is mutually admissible lending in certain volumes by each other's countries during the implementation of the agreement; the absolute size of such a loan is indicated (usually about 5 percent of the estimated volume of payments). This loan is revolving (revolving) and is provided free of charge, since the negative balance is formed from one side or the other.

6. Current equalization of the clearing balance - carried out regularly within the agreed timeframe (six months, a year); depending on the methods of repayment of the emerging balance (in excess of technical credit), clearings are divided into:

a) clearing without the right to convert - in this case, the debt is repaid only by the proceeds from the export of goods or the provision of services, for which the party that has a negative balance increases the supply of goods (services), A the other - temporarily suspends until the calculations are aligned;

b) clearing with free conversion - this is when a party that has a negative balance in any amount (in excess of a technical loan) is obliged to repay this balance with a freely convertible currency;

c) clearing with limited conversion - a negative balance formed by any party (supertechnical loan) is repaid in a freely convertible currency if this balance exceeded the amount determined by the parties, or was not repaid within a period previously agreed upon from the moment of its occurrence (for example, 3 months); in these cases, interest is paid on the excess amount at the rates of the world credit market.

7. Final regulation balance-clearing agreements are concluded for a fixed period (3 or 5 years), and sometimes for a year, but with automatic extension, if the parties do not inform in advance (3 or 6 months before the expiration of the corresponding one year period) about

intention to terminate the clearing agreement.

In order to finally regulate the negative balance formed by some party, they can be applied. various ways- additional deliveries of goods (services), redemption in freely convertible currency, transfer of this balance to a clearing account of a third party (with the consent of the latter).

3.5.3. Currency clearing

Clearing is a netting of payments, i.e. a situation where monetary claims ( accounts receivable) participants are repaid by their own monetary obligations (accounts payable) without using real money.

Clearing operations are usually classified according to two criteria: the frequency of conducting and the composition of participants. According to the first feature, clearing is divided into one-time, which is carried out episodically as accounts receivable and payable accumulate, or permanent, carried out periodically, regardless of the state of monetary obligations and monetary claims of the clearing participants. Depending on the composition of participants, clearing can be bilateral or multilateral.

Currency clearing represents intergovernmental agreements on mutual (non-cash) offset international requirements and obligations based on an agreement between the government of two or more countries. Currency clearing involves the centralization of settlements between the states - parties to the clearing agreement on special clearing accounts opened by authorized banks. This scheme is mandatory for individuals and legal entities whose transactions are subject to the agreement. Importers and exporters, as well as other creditors and borrowers, are not entitled to make mutual settlements other than through currency clearing. Currency clearing is also based on other mandatory elements:

Its volume;

Clearing currency;

Amount of technical loan

Clearing volume refers to the extent to which payments are covered. With full currency clearing, the entire foreign trade turnover falls under this scheme. With partial clearing, non-trading operations (tourism, maintenance of embassies and trade missions, business trips abroad, etc.) are carried out in the usual way - through correspondent accounts.

The clearing currency is the agreed unit of account (currency) in which clearing accounts are maintained. It can be expressed in currency:

One of the partner countries;

Both states;

third country.

Payments or receipts from clearing accounts are made in each of the countries only in terms of national currency at the appropriate rate. Clearing currencies are used exclusively in non-cash form. The source of clearing currencies is mutual lending for the supply of goods and the provision of services by countries participating in the agreements. Clearing currencies are used on the principle that they must be spent in the country where they are earned.

The volume of technical credit (the maximum allowable balance of debt) is necessary to ensure the continuity of settlements; is determined in accordance with the share of the balance of debt in the volume of deliveries. In practice, various methods of regulating the balance of a clearing account are used.

Clearing currency is considered a special type, which in world practice, especially in Asia and Africa, serves such a form of mutual settlements as currency clearing. Currency clearing is understood as an intergovernmental agreement on the mutual offset of claims and obligations in foreign currency arising from the cost equality of commodity supplies and services rendered. Clearing currency - special units of account used in foreign trade on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement of two or more states. The clearing currency is used in non-cash form, in the form of accounting records on the accounts of banks of the countries that signed the clearing agreement. The clearing currency can be any. In practice, either the currency of one of the countries participating in the clearing agreement or the currency of a third country is used. In the USSR, clearing currencies were widely used in settlements for foreign trade transactions. On January 1, 1999, the Bank of Russia terminated the official rates of clearing and settlement currencies. For the purposes of accounting, taxation and customs payments on transactions with all clearing and settlement currencies, official rates the respective base freely convertible currencies established central bank RF. The single type is the fundamental form of clearing and settlement. This type of clearing is used, as a rule, when trading real goods. The conclusion of the transaction must be followed by the delivery of the real goods. For example, after the conclusion of the transaction, the buyer of the security transfers cash or its equivalent into a form accessible to the seller. The seller is holding securities in a form suitable for delivery to the buyer. The two parties then agree to use some mechanism to exchange the papers for money. Full clearing. The system within which clearing center is an intermediary and guarantees all transactions, typical for modern futures markets. Such a system is called full clearing. Full clearing systems originate from the Japanese rice exchanges of the 18th century and the European coffee exchanges of the 19th century and were first adopted in the United States by the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce (now the Minneapolis Grain Exchange) in 1891. The largest US futures exchange, SWOT, adopted a full clearing system in 1925. Direct Settlement. The simplest and oldest form clearing is a direct settlement (settlement), bilateral satisfaction of contractual obligations between the parties to the contract. Direct settlement can occur in three ways: 1. Delivery of goods after the expiration of the contract 2. Direct compensation - liquidation of contractual obligations cash payment. The contract is then repurchased from the original buyer by the seller. Payout in this case equals the value of the contract at signing minus the value of the contract at the time of repurchase. 3. Non-fulfillment of the contract - a situation where, upon expiration of the contract, one of the parties is unwilling or unable to fulfill its obligations. The settlement of the contract occurs through the court or according to the rules of this exchange regarding arbitration. Two important advantages of a full clearing system over direct and round-robin settlements are: 1. Bidders do not have to worry about the identity of their partners. 2. Bidders can liquidate their positions by entering into offset trades without the original partner's consent or even being aware of it. The balance sheet currency is the sum of the assets and liabilities of the balance sheet.

State intervention in the sphere of international payments is manifested in the periodic use of currency clearing - agreements between the government of two or more countries on the mandatory mutual offset of international claims and obligations. Currency clearing differs from internal interbank clearing. First, offsets for internal clearing between banks are made on a voluntary basis, and for currency clearing - mandatory: if there is a clearing agreement between countries, exporters and importers do not have the right to evade clearing settlements. Secondly, according to internal clearing, the offset balance immediately turns into money, and in foreign exchange clearing, the problem of repaying the balance arises.

The goals of currency clearing are different depending on the monetary and economic situation of the country:

equalization of the balance of payments without spending gold and foreign exchange reserves;

receiving preferential loan from a counterparty with an active balance of payments;

a response to the discriminatory actions of another state (for example, Great Britain introduced clearing in response to the termination of payments by Germany to British creditors in the 30s);

irrevocable financing by a country with an active balance of payments of a country with a passive balance of payments.

A characteristic feature of currency clearing is the replacement of foreign exchange turnover with foreign exchange settlements in the national currency with clearing banks that carry out the final offset. mutual demands and obligations. Clearing is the main, but not the only type of payment agreement. Payment agreements between states regulate various issues of international settlements, in particular, the procedure for using foreign exchange earnings, the state of the balance of payments and its individual items, the mutual provision of currencies for current payments, the regime of limited currency convertibility, etc.

Clearing forms are diverse and can be classified according to the following main features:

depending on the number of participating countries, unilateral, bilateral, multilateral and international clearings are distinguished. One-way clearing is not viable. This is evidenced by the experience of Italy, which introduced unilateral clearing in relation to the UK in the early 30s. As a result, Italian exporters preferred to receive pounds sterling bypassing a clearing account, while importers preferred clearing settlements by depositing lira into their bank and freeing themselves from the need to buy British currency. As a result, a large unilateral debt of the Bank of Italy to the British was formed. More common are bilateral clearings, in which accounts are maintained in both countries. In this case, the accepted international practice forms of payment (collection, letter of credit, transfer, etc.), but importers deposit national currency into their bank, and exporters receive national currency instead of foreign exchange earnings. Mutual claims and obligations are offset by banks that maintain clearing accounts. Multilateral clearing involves three or more countries. An example is the EPS. International clearing has not been created, although its draft was developed by J. M. Keynes in 1943;

in terms of the volume of transactions, there is a distinction between full clearing, covering up to 95% of the payment turnover, and partial clearing, covering certain transactions;

according to the method of regulating the balance of the clearing account, clearings are distinguished:

with a freely convertible balance;

with conditional conversion, for example, after a certain period after the formation of the balance;

non-convertible, balances that cannot be exchanged for foreign currency and is repaid mainly in commodity deliveries.

The clearing currency can be any. Sometimes two currencies or an international currency unit are used. From an economic point of view, it makes no difference in which currency the clearing settlements are made, as long as one currency is used. When settling through currency clearing, money performs the functions of a measure of value and a means of payment. With a mutual offset of claims without the formation of a balance, money acts as ideal. In clearing settlements, two categories arise - currency risk - freezing of foreign exchange earnings in case of non-convertible clearing and losses when the exchange rate changes. The volumes of trade turnover and clearing almost never coincide. Various combinations are possible depending on the type of clearing. With partial clearing, the turnover exceeds the volume of clearing settlements; with full clearing - on the contrary, since current and financial operations balance of payments, including securities transactions.

FX clearings have a dual effect on foreign trade. On the one hand, they mitigate the negative effects of foreign exchange restrictions, enabling exporters to use foreign exchange earnings. On the other hand, in this case, it is necessary to regulate foreign trade turnover with each country separately, and foreign exchange earnings can only be used in the country with which a clearing agreement has been concluded. Therefore, foreign exchange clearing is unprofitable for exporters. In addition, instead of revenue in convertible currency, they receive the national currency. Therefore, exporters are looking for ways to bypass currency clearing. Among them: manipulations with prices in the form of understating the contract price in the invoice (double contract) so that part of the foreign exchange earnings goes to the free disposal of the exporter, bypassing the authorities currency control; shipment of goods to countries with which there is no clearing agreement; lending to a foreign buyer for a period calculated for the termination of the clearing agreement.

Multilateral currency clearing differs from bilateral in that the offset of mutual claims and obligations and the balancing of international payments are carried out between all countries covered by the clearing agreement.