# Cash NFCI／OFR Branch Determination v1.0

Fixed: 2026-08-26 (JST)  
Decision: **TWO ISOLATED LANES／NO SUBSTITUTION**

This v1.0 supersedes only the longer response-control dates recorded in the earlier NFCI rights/alternative record. It does not loosen any model, rights or release gate.

## Current disposition

| Lane | Definition | Current status | Public model |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFCI / Cash v0.31 | Comprehensive weekly U.S. financial conditions | Inquiry sent; written rights response pending | Rights HOLD |
| OFR FSI / Cash v0.2+ | Daily global market-based systemic financial stress | Unselected; clarification prepared but not sent | BLOCKED |

NFCI remains the canonical liquidity component of the unchanged Cash v0.31 protocol, but no Raw intake, calculation or public output is authorized. OFR FSI is not an equivalent replacement. It may be evaluated only as a separately named new-version stress component.

## Why the lanes cannot be merged

The Chicago Fed defines NFCI as a comprehensive weekly measure of U.S. financial conditions across money, debt and equity markets and traditional and shadow banking systems. Its published history can change as new data, revisions and estimated weights arrive.

OFR defines FSI as a daily market-based snapshot of systemic stress in global financial markets, built from 33 variables across credit, equity valuation, funding, safe assets and volatility. It is published with a two-business-day lag. OFR's legal notices distinguish federal works from third-party copyrighted material, and the FSI page warns that use may implicate privately owned rights.

Therefore:

- no automatic NFCI-to-OFR fallback;
- no historical splice;
- no transfer of NFCI weights, thresholds or normalization;
- no selection after comparative results are viewed;
- no interpolation, carry-forward, proxy or retrospective repair.

## Locked branch rules

1. If all NFCI rights are granted in writing, continue v0.31 only after attribution, complete monthly Raw Coverage, SHA-256, Cold Start, Forward Validation and human approval.
2. If the NFCI reply is conditional or unclear, keep v0.31 on Rights HOLD.
3. If any required NFCI right is denied, close that public-model scope; do not adopt OFR automatically.
4. If no substantive NFCI reply exists by 2026-09-03 07:00 JST (approximately five U.S. business days after sending), send exactly one concise follow-up.
5. If no substantive reply exists by 2026-09-11 07:00 JST after that follow-up, open the isolated v0.2+ evaluation lane while v0.31 remains blocked.
6. OFR may advance only after its inquiry is actually sent, all rights and Raw-schema questions are disposed, a new Transform and validation protocol are locked before observations are opened, and a human approves the new version.

## Release state

Selected public lane: NONE. Raw downloaded: NO. Results opened: NO. Transform executed: NO. Forward count: 0. Preview and Production Emit: BLOCKED. Public Cash state: Unknown / Rights HOLD.

## Official sources

- https://www.chicagofed.org/research/data/nfci/current-data
- https://www.chicagofed.org/utilities/legal-notices
- https://www.financialresearch.gov/financial-stress-index/
- https://www.financialresearch.gov/legal-notices/