By Frank La Salla  , President, CEO and Director, DTCC  

Now that we’ve concluded the first week of a T+1 settlement cycle for the North American capital markets, I’m pleased to share that our industry implementation was a success. I want to first thank you and your firms for your partnership and support. In addition, I want to acknowledge SIFMA, the Investment Company Institute and all of our industry partners and stakeholders for your collaboration throughout this transition. Working together, we’ve made T+1 a reality. Accelerating the settlement cycle will deliver greater operational efficiencies, substantially lower margin requirements and reduce risk in the financial system. With T+1 now live, we’ve begun to achieve those benefits collectively.

Our work doesn’t completely end now that we’ve transitioned to T+1. We’re urging firms to automate post-trade processes and take advantage of DTCC’s CTM and M2i to help meet the new deadlines under T+1. DTCC will also work to ensure that firms are clear on the role affirmation plays in the U.S. settlement process and our collective goal to achieve 100% affirmation of all trades by the 9 p.m. ET cut-off on trade date.

In addition, resilience is absolutely critical to operating under a compressed T+1 timeframe. We encourage you to review and enhance your contingency plans post-implementation to ensure you’re able to address any challenges related to settlement deadlines and issues. As your strategic partner, DTCC will provide elevated support and keep you, our industry stakeholders and regulators informed on T+1’s progress.

Again, thank you for your ongoing collaboration on this monumental achievement for our industry. Our hard work will deliver the rewards of lower risk, stronger resilience and greater capital efficiencies in the global financial markets.

Regards,

Frank La Salla
President, CEO and Director, DTCC