how the depository trust and clearing corporation dtcc works
the dtcc processes trillions of dollars of securities on a daily basis as the centralized clearinghouse for various exchanges and equity platforms the dtcc settles transactions between buyers and sellers of securities and plays a critical role in automating centralizing standardizing and streamlining the world s financial markets 4for example when an investor places an order through their broker and the trade is made between that broker and another broker or similar financial professional information about that trade is sent to the nscc or an equivalent clearinghouse for clearinghouse services after the nscc has processed and recorded the trade using continuous net settlement cns they provide a report to the brokers and financial professionals involved this report includes their net securities positions after the trade and the money that is due to be settled between the two parties at this point the nscc provides settlement instructions to the depository trust company dtc a securities depository the dtc transfers the ownership of the securities from the selling broker s account to the account of the broker who made the purchase the dtc is also in charge of transferring funds from the buying broker s account to the account of the broker who made the sale the broker is then responsible for making the appropriate adjustments to the client s account this entire process typically happens the same day the transaction occurs the process for institutional investors is similar to the process for retail investors 5the dtcc settles the vast majority of securities transactions in the u s settlement is an important step in the completion of securities transactions 3 by ensuring that trades are executed properly and on time the settlement process contributes to investor confidence and reduces market risk timely and accurate trades guarantee that investors won t lose their money with solvent brokerage firms or other intermediaries 5the dtcc provides clearance settlement and information services for a wide range of securities products including government and mortgage backed securities corporate and municipal bonds derivatives mutual funds money market instruments alternative investment products and insurance products at times clearing corporations may earn clearing fees by acting as a third party to a trade for example a clearinghouse may receive cash from a buyer and securities or futures contracts from a seller the clearing corporation then manages the exchange and collects a fee for this service the size of the fee is dependent on the size of the transaction the level of service required and the type of instrument being traded investors who make several transactions in a day can generate significant fees in the case of futures contracts specifically clearing fees can accumulate for investors because long positions can spread the per contract fee out over a longer period of time history of the dtccthe national securities clearing corporation currently a subsidiary of the dtcc was originally founded in 1976 6 before the nscc was founded stock exchanges would close once a week to complete the lengthy task of processing paper stock certificates the large volume of trading overwhelmed brokerage firms and many chose to close every wednesday in addition to shortening trading hours on other days of the week 7brokers had to physically exchange certificates which required them to employ people to carry certificates and checks the process for transferring securities also relied heavily on physical recordkeeping the exchange of physical stock certificates was difficult inefficient and increasingly expensive to overcome this problem two changes were made first it was recommended that all paper stock certificates were stored in one centralized location and that the process become automated by keeping electronic records of all certificates that indicated changes of ownership and other securities transactions this eventually led to the development of the depository trust company dtc in 1973 8second multilateral netting was proposed in a multilateral netting process multiple parties arrange for transactions to be summed rather than settling them individually all of this netting activity is centralized to reduce the amount of invoicing and payment settlements in response to this proposal of multilateral netting the nscc was formed in 1976 6depository trust company dtc vs the national securities clearing corporation nscc the depository trust company dtc is a subsidiary of the dtcc and is responsible for settling securities trades moving securities for nscc net settlements processing corporate actions underwriting and other services the dtc s settlement services result in reduced costs and increase efficiencies by serving as the central repository for millions of active securities and facilitating ownership changes for securities 8the national securities clearing corporation nscc another subsidiary of the dtcc provides clearing settlement risk management and other financial services regulated by the securities exchange commission sec the nscc also provides multilateral netting whereby transactions among several parties are summed up centrally rather than individually 2