| gen. |
clearing house (A centralized and computerized system for settling indebtedness between members. The best known in the UK is the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS), which enables the member banks to offset claims against one another for cheques and orders paid into banks other than those upon which they were drawn. Similar arrangements exist in some commodity exchanges, in which sales and purchases are registered with the clearing house for settlement at the end of the accounting period. See: London Clearing House. OF&B Alexander Demidov) |
