What is the difference between MT300 and MT304?

The MT300 confirms an FX deal between the two parties that traded it. The MT304 is sent by a fund manager to the fund’s custodian, which was not a party to the trade, so that the custodian settles it on the fund’s accounts.

Can any bank receive an MT304?

Only banks registered in the message user group for the MT304. The sender and receiver must both be members, so the arrangement is set up as part of the custody relationship.

Category 3: Foreign exchange, money markets and derivatives

MT304 Advice/Instruction of a Third Party Deal

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

The MT304 is sent by a fund manager to the fund’s custodian to advise the details of a foreign exchange deal that the manager agreed with a third party bank, and to instruct the custodian to settle it. It carries the trade (currencies, amounts, rate, value date) and the settlement instructions for both legs.

Message type: MT304
Category: 3
Status: In the current standard
ISO 20022: No direct equivalent

What MT304 is used for

A fund manager often trades FX with banks other than the fund’s custodian. The custodian still has to pay away one currency and receive the other on the fund’s accounts, so the manager sends it an MT304 for each new deal, and can also use it to send a settlement notification, an amendment or a cancellation (field 22A carries NEWT, AMND, CANC or DUPL). What counts as a “third party” deal has to be agreed up front between the manager and the custodian.

The MT304 is not a confirmation between the two trading parties: that is the MT300, exchanged between the fund (or its manager) and the bank it traded with. The MT304 can also go to a member of a central FX settlement system, or to the settlement system itself. Its use requires registration in a Swift message user group (MUG).

Sent by: The fund manager (instructing party)
Sent to: The fund’s custodian, or a member of a central settlement system

Fields

This is a catalogue entry: the field-by-field structure is not shown here because we publish structures only where we have checked them against public sources. Paste an MT304 into the parser to see each field decoded with its tag, name and value.

Decode an MT304 in the parser

ISO 20022

No ISO 20022 equivalent: Swift’s MT and MX equivalence table lists none for this message. Treasury messages in category 3 were not part of the CBPR+ migration of cross-border payment instructions and remain MT messages on Swift.

MT304 questions

What is the difference between MT300 and MT304?: The MT300 confirms an FX deal between the two parties that traded it. The MT304 is sent by a fund manager to the fund’s custodian, which was not a party to the trade, so that the custodian settles it on the fund’s accounts.
Can any bank receive an MT304?: Only banks registered in the message user group for the MT304. The sender and receiver must both be members, so the arrangement is set up as part of the custody relationship.

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