Financial Node

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Discussion

A Financial Node is a Node that participates in a distributed financial system.

A Financial Node inherits the identity, role, responsibility, communication, governance, attribution, monitoring, Evidence, Provenance, and Traceability characteristics of a Node. Its assigned roles concern financial information, financial activities, financial agreements, financial events, financial calculations, financial obligations, financial controls, or financial outcomes.

A Financial Node provides a stable point of responsibility for:

Financial-information processingFinancial-event processingFinancial calculationsFinancial state managementFinancial validationFinancial policy evaluationFinancial agreement evaluationRegulatory evaluationCommunicationAttributionMonitoringGovernanceEvidenceProvenanceTraceabilityA Financial Node performs one or more Node Roles, has a Node Identity, participates in one or more Runtime Planes, and exchanges information through one or more Communication Endpoints.

A Financial Node exists at the conceptual or logical level. An implementation can realize a Financial Node as a:

ProcessContainerPodServiceVirtual machinePhysical machineGatewayExternal interfaceAnalytical engineRules enginePolicy componentMonitoring componentPersistence serviceHuman-operated participantOther deployed participantThe realization does not redefine the Financial Node.

A Financial Node can host or use software modules, analytical engines, rules engines, policy components, persistence mechanisms, communication adapters, and other implementation artifacts. The Financial Node remains distinct from the software and artifacts it uses.

Definition

Node that participates in a Distributed Financial System

Source

Adapted from:

FX Demo Reference Architecture, Section 2.1.1, NodeFinancial Systems Archetype conceptual and logical architectureNodeThe original definition described an “architectural participant in a distributed financial system.” This revision defines Financial Node as a specialization of Node and preserves the financial-system participation characteristic.

Note

Every Financial Node is a Node. A Node is not necessarily a Financial Node.

A Financial Node is not defined by its implementation technology. A process, container, pod, service, virtual machine, physical machine, or software module can realize or support a Financial Node but does not by itself constitute the Financial Node.

A Financial Node is distinct from:

A Communication EndpointA Data Structure DefinitionA Data Structure InstanceA software moduleA containerA podA processA runtime hostA Deployment TargetA deployment artifactA Financial Node can participate in a system that also contains Nodes that do not perform financial roles. Monitoring, infrastructure, communication, security, or administrative Nodes do not become Financial Nodes solely because they support a distributed financial system.

A supporting Node becomes a Financial Node when its assigned role forms part of the financial behavior, financial state, financial controls, or financial outcomes of the distributed financial system.

Example

An FX validation service acts as a Financial Node when it evaluates an FX transaction against the applicable structural, lifecycle, agreement, or policy constraints.

An ACTUS cash-flow computation service acts as a Financial Node when it calculates contractually defined financial events and cash flows.

A policy release service acts as a Financial Node when it determines whether a proposed financial state transition satisfies the applicable release policies.

A general infrastructure-monitoring service remains a Node but does not necessarily become a Financial Node when it observes only computing-resource health and performs no assigned financial role.

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