The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, announced that its subsidiary, the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC), has extended its clearing hours to 24×5 availability, from Sundays at 8:00 PM ET to Fridays at 8:00 PM ET, supporting overnight trading activity from Alternative Trading Systems (ATS) and exchanges.

The move to 24×5 trading reflects growing global demand for increased access to U.S. markets as investors seek greater flexibility to trade outside traditional hours. By supporting 24×5 trading activity, NSCC is helping to strengthen the safety, soundness and efficiency of the U.S. equities marketplace while supporting greater global participation.

This milestone represents a major step forward in the evolution of the U.S. equities market, enabling NSCC to apply its central counterparty guarantee immediately to transactions executed across extended trading hours and multiple time zones.

“Today marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the U.S. equities market,” said Brian Steele, Managing Director and President of Clearing & Securities Services at DTCC. “By increasing clearing hours to operate on a near-continuous basis, we are enhancing access to U.S. markets for investors around the world, while maintaining the robust risk management and resiliency capabilities that are critical to market stability.”

Over the past year, DTCC has worked closely with clients, exchanges, alternative trading system providers and other industry partners to support readiness for this transition, including extensive testing, operational planning and client engagement to ensure a smooth and seamless implementation. DTCC opened its testing environment in January 2026, requiring all consumers of the UTC real-time messages to test the required changes. All firms completed testing successfully prior to the recent go-live.

“DTCC has collaborated closely with our clients and industry stakeholders to prepare for this moment,” Steele added. “With 24×5 trading now in place, we are enabling market participants to operate confidently in a more accessible, globally connected trading environment.”

This development builds on earlier enhancements to NSCC’s operating hours with took place in September 2024 and reflects DTCC’s broader transformation efforts to advance post-trade infrastructure, strengthen resiliency and improve operational efficiency across the financial ecosystem.

ATSs have already been leveraging NSCC’s previously extended operating window, introduced in September 2024 with clearing beginning approximately 2.5 hours earlier than before, while exchanges are expected to follow with longer trading hours in late 2026, alongside planned extensions from Securities Information Processors (SIPs).

“The expansion to 24×5 clearing is a critical enabler for continuous trading models,” said 24X National Exchange Founder and CEO Dmitri Galinov. “As a venue built to operate beyond traditional market hours, we see strong demand from global participants seeking seamless 24×5 access to U.S. equities. This development helps align clearing infrastructure with that demand and supports 24X’s long-term vision of a truly around-the-clock marketplace.”

“NSCC’s move to 24×5 clearing is a significant advancement that supports growing investor demand for broader market access,” said Bill Capuzzi, CEO of Apex Fintech Solutions. “As the clearing agent for Bruce ATS, Apex is committed to enabling seamless post-trade processing and maintaining strong operational resiliency as trading activity expands across time zones.”

“Since Blue Ocean ATS officially launched, we’ve seen a meaningful shift in how global retail investors engage with U.S. equities, demanding real-time access aligned to their local markets and time zones,” said Brian Hyndman, CEO of Blue Ocean Technologies. “NSCC’s move to 24×5 clearing represents a critical inflection point in that evolution, reinforcing the infrastructure needed to support sustained, around-the-clock participation and bringing us closer to a truly continuous global marketplace.”

“The DTCC’s move will add another layer of resilience by removing counterparty risk from overnight trading and encouraging broader adoption among a more diverse set of market participants,” said Jason Wallach, CEO of Bruce Markets. “It confirms that 24/5 trading is the new standard and marks a major step forward for the industry. Today’s announcement will fundamentally strengthen our financial system and affirms what we have long believed: the best markets remove friction while inviting broad and responsible participation.”

“Cboe has long supported innovation that enhances market access and efficiency,” said Oliver Sung, Head of North American Equities at Cboe Global Markets. “Now that the clearing infrastructure is in place to support extended trading hours for U.S. equities, the industry will continue to build on that progress. Cboe has already successfully introduced near 24×5 trading in many of its markets and looks forward to bringing that same capability to our U.S. equities exchange next.”

“As clearing agent for Moon ATS, we recognize the importance of aligning our infrastructure with changing trading patterns as global market participation expands,” said Gerry Milligan, Head of Americas and President, Instinet, LLC. “To support extended-hours activity, we have strengthened our operational and risk management framework, ensuring trades are processed efficiently and reliably.”

“MEMX supports efforts that promote greater competition, efficiency and accessibility across U.S. equities markets,” said Adrian Griffiths, Head of Market Structure at MEMX. “NSCC’s move to 24×5 clearing represents meaningful progress in modernizing post-trade infrastructure, helping ensure the industry can meet growing demand for extended trading while maintaining strong operational resilience.”

“NSCC’s transition to 24×5 clearing is a significant step forward in supporting always-on trading,” said Cromwell Coulson, President and CEO of OTC Markets Group, Operator of Moon ATS and OTC Overnight ATS. “As investor demand grows for access to NMS and OTC equities beyond traditional market hours, having a resilient post-trade infrastructure is essential. By reducing operational risk and speeding settlement processes across time zones, we can bring more global liquidity to America’s financial markets.”

“Extending clearing hours is a critical step in modernizing U.S. equity market infrastructure,” said Chuck Mack, Senior Vice President, North American Markets, Nasdaq. “As trading and operating hours adapt to an always-on environment, a resilient, continuously aligned post-trade process is essential to supporting liquidity, price discovery, and investor confidence. This milestone helps ensure markets can scale globally while maintaining the strength and integrity that investors expect.”

“DTCC’s 24×5 clearing is the unlock that makes extended hours trading possible at scale,” Kevin Tyrrell, Head of Markets at NYSE. “We’re proud to work alongside DTCC and lead the industry to bring more investors into U.S. markets while maintaining the transparency and protections they depend on.”

“NSCC’s move to 24×5 clearing represents a significant advancement in supporting the continued growth of extended-hours trading,” said Michael Sanocki, CEO of RQD* Clearing. “As the clearing agent supporting Blue Ocean’s activity, RQD* recognizes that this evolution strengthens the risk management and post-trade infrastructure needed to facilitate consistent, reliable processing across a near-continuous trading cycle. It marks an important step toward enabling greater stability and scalability as participation in after-hours markets continues to expand globally.”

Source: DTCC