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Spotlight PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 The EU e-invoicing mandate is here — France Sept 2026, Belgium Jan 2026, Germany 2025.

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MT540 — Receive Free

The "receive securities free of payment" instruction. Sent by the investor or its asset manager to the custodian to flag an upcoming receipt of securities on an account, with no cash counter-leg. Typical case: transfers between accounts of the same holder, initial deposits, securities lending returns.

Purpose

MT540 instructs the custodian to receive on the beneficiary securities account a quantity of units or face value of an instrument, without payment (FoP, Free of Payment). Use cases: transfer between two accounts of the same investor, initial delivery in a new custody relationship, return after securities lending, or in-kind contribution to a fund.

The custodian matches the MT540 with the matching MT542 (Deliver Free) sent by the delivering side. When the two instructions match, the depositary's settlement engine (Clearstream, Euroclear, T2S) processes the transfer at T+0 or on the :98A::SETT// date provided.

Sequence structure

  • GENL — General Information: reference, function, dates.
  • TRADDET (Trade Details) — transaction details: trade and settlement dates, ISIN.
  • FIAC (Financial Instrument Account) — beneficiary account, quantity.
  • SETDET (Settlement Details) — settlement type (FREE = free of payment), settlement modalities.
  • SETPRTY (Settlement Parties) — chain agents: DEAG (delivering agent), REAG (receiving agent), BUYR/SELR.

Key tags

TagNameUsage
:20C::SEME//Sender's Message ReferenceUnique MT540 identifier.
:20C::RELA//Related ReferenceOriginating MT515 or MT502 reference.
:23G:FunctionNEWM, CANC, AMEN, PREA (pre-advice).
:98A::SETT//Settlement DateDesired settlement date.
:98A::TRAD//Trade DateTrade date.
:35B:Instrument IDISIN.
:36B::SETT//Settlement QuantityQuantity of securities to receive.
:97A::SAFE//Safekeeping AccountBeneficiary securities account.
:22F::SETR//Settlement Transaction TypeFREE (Free of Payment) — defines the MT540.
:22F::SETT//Settlement TypeICOL (in collateral), ISSU (issuance), TRAD (trade), TRPO (treasury purchase opening).
:95P::DEAG//Delivering AgentBIC of the custodian delivering the securities.

Real-world example

BNP Paribas instructs Clearstream Luxembourg to receive 100 Amundi Funds Global Equity units (FR0010315770) on account 12,345,678, free of payment, coming from account 99,999,999 at Société Générale (SOGEFRPP), settlement on 16 May 2026:

text mt540-receive-free.txt 
{1:F01BNPAFRPPAXXX0000000000}{2:I540CEDELULLAXXXN}{3:{108:RECF20260515001}}{4:
:16R:GENL
:20C::SEME//RECF20260515001
:20C::RELA//ORD20260515001
:23G:NEWM
:98A::PREP//20260515
:16S:GENL
:16R:TRADDET
:94B::TRAD//EXCH/XPAR
:98A::SETT//20260516
:98A::TRAD//20260515
:35B:ISIN FR0010315770
AMUNDI FUNDS GLOBAL EQUITY
:16S:TRADDET
:16R:FIAC
:36B::SETT//UNIT/100,
:97A::SAFE//12345678
:16S:FIAC
:16R:SETDET
:22F::SETR//FREE
:22F::SETT//ICOL
:16R:SETPRTY
:95P::DEAG//SOGEFRPPXXX
:97A::SAFE//99999999
:16S:SETPRTY
:16S:SETDET}
  • :22F::SETR//FREE — this tag defines an MT540 (FREE = Free of Payment).
  • :36B::SETT//UNIT/100, — quantity to receive.
  • :97A::SAFE//12345678 — beneficiary securities account at Clearstream.
  • :95P::DEAG//SOGEFRPPXXX — Société Générale as delivering agent.
  • :22F::SETT//ICOL — collateral settlement (typical of inter-account moves for collateral purposes).

Common pitfalls

  • FREE vs APMT — MT540 is only for free-of-payment transfers. If the transaction involves cash, use MT541.
  • No DEAG/REAG match — an MT540 without a matching MT542 (from the DEAG) never settles. Make sure BICs and accounts on both sides match exactly.
  • Settlement date too tight — on T2S, the cut-off for a same-day FoP is typically 16:00 CET. A late instruction rolls to T+1.
  • Fractional quantity on equities — :36B::SETT//UNIT/100,5 is rejected on regulated cash equity markets (whole units only). Fund units allow decimals.
  • SETT//ICOL without collateral context — the ICOL indicator should be used in a tri-party collateral workflow. Otherwise use TRAD for a plain transfer.

ISO 20022 equivalent

  • sese.023 — Securities Settlement Transaction Instruction (direct equivalent, FREE type).
  • sese.022 — Status Advice (to follow matching).
  • sese.011 — Allegement Notification, on matching default.
  • MT542 — Deliver Free, the delivery-side counterpart.
  • MT541 — Receive Against Payment, the with-payment variant.
  • MT544 — Receive Free Confirmation (post-settlement confirmation from custodian).
  • MT548 — Settlement Status and Processing Advice (status tracking).
  • ISO 20022: sese.023, sese.022, sese.011.