The language of treasury in emerging markets
Clear, plain-language definitions of the terms behind USD liquidity, FX access, and cross-border settlement across Africa and Latin America.
USD Repatriation
USD repatriation is the process of converting locally-held earnings into U.S.
FX Allocation Backlog
An FX allocation backlog is the queue that forms when demand for foreign currency — usually U.S.
Correspondent Banking
Correspondent banking is the network of intermediary banks that route cross-border payments between institutions that don't hold accounts with each other.
Cross-Border B2B Payments
Cross-border B2B payments are transfers of funds between businesses in different countries — for example, an importer paying an overseas supplier.
Authorized Dealer
An Authorized Dealer is a commercial bank licensed by a central bank to buy and sell foreign currency and execute cross-border payments on behalf of importers and exporters.
Trapped Cash
Trapped cash is money a business holds in a country but cannot convert to hard currency or move abroad, usually because of foreign-exchange controls or shortages.
Import Cover
Import cover is the number of months a country could keep paying for imports using only its foreign-exchange reserves — a standard gauge of external-buffer adequacy, with three months treated as the rough minimum.
Parallel Rate
The parallel rate is the unofficial, market-driven exchange rate at which currency trades outside official channels, typically weaker than the central-bank rate; the gap between them is the parallel premium.
Compliance-First Stablecoin Settlement
Compliance-first stablecoin settlement is the use of regulated, fully-backed digital dollars — moved through licensed channels with full KYC/AML and an auditable trail — to settle the dollar leg of a cross-border payment without joining a central-bank FX allocation queue.