[ by Howard Haykin ]

The Depository Trust Company filed for immediate effectiveness to update Its Corporate Actions Service in order to introduce a new standard to communicate certain corporate actions information to participants.  DTC's rule change accomplishes the following:

• it updates its standards for communicating information related to distribution events by publishing the data in industry-standard International Organization for Standardization (“ISO”) 20022 format for the entire lifecycle of the event. 

• it replaces the corporate actions functions on its Participant Terminal System (PTS)/Participant Browser Service (PBS) applications with a new browser user interface related to the processing of distribution events.

Purpose of the Rule Change.   When significant events occur in the life of a security, they typically are announced to shareholders and others in a press release or a Commission filing. 

• DTC handles essential aspects of processing distribution events by routinely receiving and distributing information to its Participants using its proprietary computer to computer facility (“CCF”) files.

• DTC seeks to reduce risk, improve transparency and increase efficiency in the announcing and processing of distribution events.

• Accordingly, it now is updating its standards for communicating information related to these events by publishing the data in industry-standard ISO 20022 format for the entire lifecycle of the event.

• DTC also will be replacing corporate actions functions on its PTS/PBS applications with a new browser user interface related to the processing of distribution events.

Pilot Program Testing.   Participants participating in a pilot program will receive ISO 20022 messages across the entire life cycle of distribution events (announcement, entitlements, instructions and allocations) for testing purposes. 

• The pilot program will be 2-tiered in nature, where testing will initially begin with DTC e-mailing sample ISO 20022 messages containing test data and then gradually move to messages that are generated systemically in order for Participants to conduct a parallel production test.

• Participants in the pilot will continue to receive all distribution event data via CCF files in order to run their proprietary production systems. 

• The pilot program will run until the Q2 of 2014.

• Following the termination of the pilot program, Participants will have the option to rely on the ISO 20022 distribution event information to process daily activity in their production environments.

• DTC, however, will continue to support its legacy proprietary CCF files for distribution event information until 2015.

For further details, go to:  [ DTC Rule Filing 12-08, 10/26/12 ]