MT 200 Explained: Financial Institution Transfer for its Own Account

MT 200 covers a bank moving its own money — not a customer's — typically to rebalance liquidity between its nostro accounts held at different correspondent banks. If a bank needs more US dollars sitting at its New York correspondent and has a surplus at another, MT 200 is how it instructs that internal transfer.

Key fields

• 20 — Transaction Reference: Reference for the transfer.
• 32A — Value Date/Currency/Amount: When, in what currency, and how much is being moved.
• 53a — Sender's Correspondent: Where the funds are being debited from.
• 56a — Intermediary: An intermediary bank, if the transfer needs to route through one.
• 57a — Account With Institution: Where the funds should land — the destination account.
• 72 — Sender to Receiver Information: Free-text operational notes.

Because no customer or beneficiary institution outside the sending bank's own control is involved, MT 200 is simpler than MT 202 — there's no field for a separate beneficiary institution, since the bank is both sender and ultimate recipient.