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clearing member Finance Definition

The member of a futures exchange who accepts responsibility for all trades cleared, or settled, through him or her. The clearing member is responsible for matching the buy orders with the sell orders to make sure that the transactions are settled. Clearing members share secondary responsibility for the liquidity of the clearing operation. Clearing members earn commissions for matching their clients’ trades with the counterparty, and they pay lower margins than non-clearing members and their customers. They must meet minimum capital requirements.