FRM Exam Part II · Intraday Liquidity Risk Management

Basel Intraday Liquidity Monitoring Tools (BCBS 248) Explained

Updated 11 October 2026 · Fact-checked

BCBS 248 sets out monitoring tools, not limits, that let supervisors track a bank's intraday liquidity. The main indicators include daily maximum liquidity usage, available liquidity at the start of the day, total payments, time-specific obligations and throughput. To solve questions, build the cumulative net payment position, find its lowest point, and compare it with available liquidity.

Understand Basel Intraday Liquidity Monitoring Tools

Intraday liquidity is the funds a bank can access during the business day to make payments and settle obligations in real time. A bank can end the day with a healthy balance and still fail to pay on time at 11 a.m. That gap is why the Basel Committee published BCBS 248, *Monitoring tools for intraday liquidity management*, to complement the Principles for sound liquidity risk management.

The tools are monitoring indicators. They are not limits, not capital charges and not a replacement for the LCR. Supervisors use them to see how a bank behaves intraday, how much it relies on incoming payments, and how it might cope under stress. Banks measure them for each significant currency and, as direct participants, for their settlement-system accounts.

The indicators are these:

Daily maximum intraday liquidity usage: the largest net cumulative negative position during the day. It shows the most liquidity the bank actually needed.
Available intraday liquidity at the start of the business day: central bank reserves, collateral pledged or pledgeable at the central bank, other unencumbered liquid assets that can be turned into funding, and balances at other banks.
Total payments: gross payments sent and received each day. It shows the scale of the activity.
Time-specific obligations: payments that must settle by a set time, such as CLS pay-ins, margin calls or securities settlement.
Intraday throughput: the share of outgoing payments settled by given times of the day. It shows the timing of payments.

Two more apply only where the bank offers the service: payments made on behalf of correspondent banking customers, and intraday credit lines extended to customers. Know the full list of seven, and know which two depend on the services a bank provides.

Think of it as a story. Available liquidity is what you start with. Daily maximum usage is the worst dip. Throughput shows whether you pay early or lean on others. Time-specific obligations show the payments you cannot delay.

Key formulas to remember

Net cumulative position: Net cumulative position at time t = Σ payments received up to t − Σ payments sent up to t; A negative value means the bank has used its own intraday liquidity to fund payments.
Daily maximum intraday liquidity usage: Daily maximum usage = largest negative net cumulative position during the day (shown as a positive amount); If the position never goes negative, usage is zero. Measure it per currency and per settlement system.
Headroom (practical check): Headroom = available intraday liquidity at start of day − daily maximum usage; A working comparison, not a Basel-defined limit. Negative headroom signals a shortfall.
Intraday throughput: Throughput at time t = value of outgoing payments settled by t ÷ total value of outgoing payments × 100%; Low early-day throughput means payments are back-loaded and the bank leans on incoming funds.
Scope rule: Seven indicators: daily maximum usage, start-of-day available liquidity, total payments, time-specific obligations, throughput, correspondent banking payments, intraday credit lines to customers; The correspondent banking and customer credit line indicators apply where the bank provides those services. The tools are monitoring tools, not limits or ratios with a required minimum.

How to solve Basel Intraday Liquidity Monitoring Tools questions

Use this order for any question on the BCBS 248 tools, numerical or conceptual.

1Identify which indicator the question is about: usage, available liquidity, total payments, time-specific obligations, throughput, or one of the two service-specific ones (correspondent payments, customer credit lines).
2Note the currency and the time frame. Indicators are measured per currency and per day.
3For usage questions, list payments sent and received in time order and compute the net for each interval.
4Build the running (cumulative) net position. Find its lowest point. That depth is the daily maximum usage.
5Compare usage with available intraday liquidity at the start of the day to judge headroom.
6For throughput, divide the cumulative outgoing value settled by the stated time by total outgoing value.
7Interpret: is the bank back-loading payments, depending on incoming flows, or exposed to time-specific obligations?
8Check the answer against the framework: these are monitoring tools, not limits or capital requirements.

Quickest way: Lowest point of the running total

When to use it: Use it for any numerical question that gives a schedule of payments sent and received during the day.

Write net flow per interval as received minus sent.
Add each net flow to the running total.
Circle the most negative running total. That is daily maximum usage.
Subtract from start-of-day available liquidity for headroom.
For throughput, divide cumulative outgoing value settled by total outgoing value.
Eliminate options that confuse gross total payments with net usage.

Common mistakes in Basel Intraday Liquidity Monitoring Tools

Treating daily maximum usage as total payments sent.
Both sound like 'how much was paid'.
Fix: Usage is the deepest net cumulative negative position after counting payments received. Total payments is a separate, gross indicator.
Taking the end-of-day net position as the maximum usage.
Students stop at the last row of the table.
Fix: Check every interval. The lowest running total usually occurs mid-day, and the bank may end the day positive.
Calling the indicators limits or required ratios.
Other Basel liquidity standards, such as the LCR, have minimums.
Fix: BCBS 248 tools are for monitoring. They do not set a minimum or a cap.
Counting the service-specific indicators as applying to every bank.
Students memorise the list without scope.
Fix: Correspondent payments and credit lines extended to customers apply only to banks that provide those services.
Computing throughput on total payments, including incoming ones.
The word 'payments' is used loosely.
Fix: Throughput uses outgoing payments only: share settled by a given time over total outgoing value.
Leaving out collateral and balances from available liquidity.
Students think only of central bank reserves.
Fix: Available intraday liquidity includes reserves, collateral that can be pledged to the central bank, other unencumbered liquid assets that can be converted into funding, and balances at other banks.

Worked examples

Example 1

A bank has USD 600 million of available intraday liquidity at the start of the day. Payments (USD million), in time order, are: 9:00 sent 400, received 150; 11:00 sent 300, received 100; 13:00 sent 200, received 500; 15:00 sent 250, received 350; 17:00 sent 100, received 300. What is the daily maximum intraday liquidity usage? (A) 250 (B) 450 (C) 150 (D) 800

Show the solution

Net flow per interval (received − sent): 9:00 = 150 − 400 = −250; 11:00 = 100 − 300 = −200; 13:00 = 500 − 200 = +300; 15:00 = 350 − 250 = +100; 17:00 = 300 − 100 = +200.
Running total: −250; −450; −150; −50; +150.
The lowest point is −450 at 11:00, so daily maximum usage is USD 450 million.
Headroom = 600 − 450 = USD 150 million, so the start-of-day liquidity covered the dip.
Option A is only the first interval's net outflow. Option C is the end-of-day net surplus of +150, a positive balance and not a usage figure. Option D (800) is not derived from the schedule.

Answer: (B) USD 450 million, reached at 11:00. Headroom is USD 150 million.

Example 2

A bank's total outgoing payments for the day are USD 2,000 million. Settled by 12:00: USD 700 million. Settled by 14:00: USD 1,300 million. All settled by 17:00. What is intraday throughput at 14:00, and what does the pattern suggest? (A) 35% (B) 54% (C) 65% (D) 100%

Show the solution

Throughput at 14:00 = cumulative outgoing value settled by 14:00 ÷ total outgoing value.
= 1,300 ÷ 2,000 = 0.65 = 65%.
At 12:00 it was 700 ÷ 2,000 = 35%, so only 35% of outgoing payments had settled by midday and 65% settle after 12:00. By 14:00, 35% of payments are still unsettled.
Interpretation: the bank pays most of its outflows after midday. It may be waiting for incoming funds, which raises its exposure if counterparties pay late or an operational disruption hits late in the day.
Option A is the 12:00 figure. Option B (54%) is 700 ÷ 1,300, which uses the wrong base. Option D is the end-of-day figure.

Answer: (C) 65%. Only 35% settled by midday, so the bank pays most of its outflows after midday and may rely on incoming flows.

Exam tips

Know the full list of BCBS 248 indicators and which two apply only where the bank offers the service. Questions often ask which indicator applies to which bank.
For numbers, always build the running net position. Distractor options usually use gross totals or the end-of-day balance.
Remember the tools are monitoring tools. Any option that calls them a binding minimum or a capital charge is wrong.
Link each indicator to its risk story: usage shows the worst dip, throughput shows timing behaviour, time-specific obligations show payments that cannot be delayed.
Read the currency and settlement system carefully. Indicators are measured per significant currency.

Practice questions from Intraday Liquidity Risk Management

Basel Intraday Liquidity Monitoring Tools: frequently asked questions

What is BCBS 248?

It is the Basel Committee's 2013 paper on monitoring tools for intraday liquidity management. It gives supervisors a set of quantitative indicators to track how banks manage liquidity during the business day.

How is daily maximum intraday liquidity usage calculated?

Track the net cumulative position through the day, which is payments received minus payments sent. The largest negative value is the daily maximum usage. It is measured per currency and per settlement system.

What is intraday throughput in the Basel framework?

Throughput is the proportion of a bank's outgoing payments that have settled by specific times of the day. It shows whether a bank pays early or leans on incoming payments to fund its outflows.

Are the BCBS 248 indicators limits or minimum requirements?

No. They are monitoring tools for supervisors and do not set a limit or minimum. They sit alongside the LCR and other liquidity standards rather than replacing them.