Clearing and Settlement: The Half Nobody Watches

A trade is agreed in microseconds and completed days later, and in between both sides hold a promise rather than an asset. This path covers the machinery that closes that gap: novation, which replaces a stranger's creditworthiness with one institution's, the default waterfall that institution burns through when a member fails, and the delivery mechanics that make losing your money outright impossible. It ends on an honest accounting of where the risk actually went.