What does PENF CLAC mean?

Your receipt is failing because the delivering counterparty does not have the securities. The intended settlement date is lost. Chase the counterparty; nothing in your own account will fix it.

What is the difference between CLAC and LACK?

LACK: your account is short of securities on your delivery. CLAC: the counterparty’s account is short on its delivery to you. The counterparty sees LACK for the same trade when you see CLAC.

Will I pay penalties for a CLAC fail?

Under CSDR in the EU, cash penalties for a lack of securities are charged to the delivering participant, so a CLAC fail on your receipt is not your penalty. Check your CSD’s penalty report to confirm how it was attributed.

Settlement status codes

CLAC: Counterparty Insufficient Securities

Written and maintained by ZagTrader. Last reviewed 21 October 2026. How this page is sourced and checked

CLAC tells you that your receipt is not settling because the delivering counterparty does not have enough deliverable securities. It is the mirror image of LACK: the problem sits on the other side.

Code: CLAC
Kind: Reason (24B)
Used with: PEND, PENF

What CLAC means

CLAC is reported on a receipt: a MT540 or MT541 in MT, or a receiving sese.023. Your instruction is matched, but the counterparty’s matching delivery cannot settle because its account holds too few deliverable securities, or none at all. The counterparty itself receives LACK on its delivery for the same trade.

Under PEND the counterparty still has time to deliver on the intended settlement date. Under PENF the date is lost and the trade is failing. On a receipt against payment your cash is normally not taken until the securities move, so a CLAC fail rarely costs you cash, but it can leave you short for an onward delivery.

Not every market reports counterparty reasons. A CSD can only tell you about the other side when both parties are its participants or when the information comes back from the market; through a chain of custodians you may simply see PEND or PENF without a reason.

When you see it

In an MT548 or sese.024 on or after the intended settlement date, once matching is done and the settlement system has tried to settle the trade.
Common causes on the counterparty’s side: its own purchase failed upstream, it sold securities it had lent out, a corporate action blocked or changed the position, or it is waiting for securities from another custodian.
In T2S a receipt can carry CLAC together with a cash reason. On a receipt against payment where the counterparty lacks securities and you lack cash, the reasons are CLAC and MONY (ECB T2S multiple-status reporting).

What to do next

Contact the counterparty (or your broker) with the trade reference and ask when the securities will be delivered. You cannot settle the trade by moving anything in your own account.
If you have an onward delivery that depends on this receipt, warn that counterparty now: your delivery will report LACK or LAAW next.
If partial settlement is allowed on both instructions, partial delivery of what the counterparty holds may settle part of the trade.
In the EU, CSDR cash penalties for this fail are charged to the failing (delivering) participant and credited to the receiving side through the CSD’s penalty process. Under the CSDR Refit, mandatory buy-ins apply only if the European Commission activates them by an implementing act.

Where it appears in MT and ISO 20022

MT (ISO 15022)

MT548 sequence A2a (REAS), :24B::PEND//CLAC after :25D::SETT//PEND, or :24B::PENF//CLAC after :25D::SETT//PENF.
MT537 sequence B1 or C3a, :24B::PEND//CLAC or :24B::PENF//CLAC.

MX (ISO 20022)

sese.024 SttlmSts/Pdg/Rsn/Cd/Cd = CLAC or SttlmSts/Flng/Rsn/Cd/Cd = CLAC.
Not in the pending processing list (PrcgSts/PdgPrcg): it only makes sense once the trade is matched and in settlement.

Questions

What does PENF CLAC mean?: Your receipt is failing because the delivering counterparty does not have the securities. The intended settlement date is lost. Chase the counterparty; nothing in your own account will fix it.
What is the difference between CLAC and LACK?: LACK: your account is short of securities on your delivery. CLAC: the counterparty’s account is short on its delivery to you. The counterparty sees LACK for the same trade when you see CLAC.
Will I pay penalties for a CLAC fail?: Under CSDR in the EU, cash penalties for a lack of securities are charged to the delivering participant, so a CLAC fail on your receipt is not your penalty. Check your CSD’s penalty report to confirm how it was attributed.