what is the qualified special representative agreement qsr 
the qualified special representative agreement qsr is an agreement between broker dealers to clear trades without interacting with the nasdaq act system the qsr agreement allows one broker dealer to send trades directly to the national securities clearing corporation on behalf of another broker dealer this method of clearing trades provides simpler processing lower transaction costs and extended trading hours understanding the qualified special representative agreement qsr the qualified special representative agreement qsr applies to nasdaq trades that a broker dealer would normally process through the act system the act system matches trades and then communicates the transaction to the broker dealer s clearing firm the act system also reports the trade to the national securities clearing corporation a qualified special representative agreement qsr has two parties the receiving party and the delivering party both parties need to be registered with the securities and exchange commission as most broker dealers are required to utilizing this agreement speeds up the settlement process because it removes some of the steps in the process trade details can be shared between these two parties outside of the clearing house which speeds things up while the benefits include increased efficiency improved communication and lower costs the risks include counterparty risk one party does not act accordingly as stipulated by the agreement and operational risk if counterparty issues arise between both parties the agreement usually stipulates the steps to remedy any disagreements this usually includes specific timeframes such as reporting the issue steps to resolve the dispute and guidance on escalation to higher regulatory authorities matching and reporting trades