The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has confirmed that it will press ahead with a raft of straight-through processing initiatives despite the announcement by the Securities Industry Association to postpone the mandated US market move to T+1.
DTCC's major STP initiatives include moving to real-time trade capture; re-writing the Continuous Net Settlement (CNS) system; and combining the settlement systems of DTC and NSCC.
The organisation's plans also include introducing an inventory management system for settlement; real-time trade matching for fixed income securities; changes in underwriting services for electronic storage of prospectuses and documents, as well as an electronic eligibility questionnaire; and a number of other STP capabilities in support of securities loan recalls and corporate action processing.
Dennis Dirks, DTCC's chief operating officer, states: "While these projects position the industry for future decisions about a shortened settlement cycle, the cost savings and risk benefits of STP transcend the decision on reducing the settlement cycle."
Projects that were specific to a shortened settlement cycle (T+1) will, however, be postponed. These include an earlier netting cycle and the testing and work associated with the actual conversion itself.
DTCC says it will be working closely with the SIA STP Steering Committee to support the latter's STP initiatives.