The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) today announced record discounts and year-end rebates for its customers totaling nearly $528 million, more than double what was returned to customers in 2004.
This record rebate follows on the heels of a December announcement by DTCC of an overall reduction of $161 million in transaction fees for services provided by its subsidiaries in 2006. It is the largest net fee reduction ever made by DTCC.
"The record rebates and our recent fee reductions reflect DTCC's continuing commitment to wring inefficiencies from our organization and drive down clearance and settlement costs, while continuing to ensure certainty, reliability and safety for our customers and the marketplaces we support," said Jill M. Considine, Chairman and CEO.
"There are several factors which have contributed to the historic rebates we're announcing. Our management team has established aggressive yearly expense reduction targets. We experienced record transaction processing volumes last year across our business lines, including equities, fixed income, mutual fund and insurance transactions. Lastly, DTCC completed multi-year initiatives in 2005 that previously required significant investment, including expenses for business continuity purposes such as the establishment of the Southern Business Center in Tampa and the insourcing of certain data processing functions for the clearing corporations," said Considine.
As a member-owned corporation, DTCC and its subsidiaries operate on an "at-cost basis," charging transaction fees for services and then returning excess profits to its members. DTCC is owned by its member firms including international broker/dealers, correspondent and clearing banks, mutual fund companies and investment banks.
In addition to the year-end rebate, DTCC provides its customers with monthly discounts, speeding up the refund process throughout the year and returning excess revenues to members as quickly as possible. The discount and rebate total for 2005 includes interest earned from cash deposits invested in Repos and overnight investment of unallocated cash dividends, interest and reorganization funds held by DTCC and its subsidiaries on behalf of customers.