Thought Leadership
Industry Issues
How Much of the Industry's Huge Bill for Processing Paper Certificates Do You and Your Customers Pay Every Year?
Paper certificates are a holdover from the 19th century that cost you and your investor customers many millions of dollars for issuing, processing, custody, shipping, surety bonds, microfilming, loss replacements, messengers, medallion guarantees and other expenses.
Outdated rules foster the continued use of paper certificates. A few states still require companies to issue equities in physical form. And electronic registration is not a listing requirement at major exchanges.
DTCC is working closely with the Securities Industry Association, launching the NO MORE PAPER campaign to educate both investors and lawmakers about how much paper certificates cost us all.
So Just How Much is Paper Costing the Industry?
| Industry Costs for Paper Certificates | |
|---|---|
| The cost of issuing, storing, and processing paper certificates every year: | |
| DTCC Physical Security Handling Costs | $86,300,000 |
| Lost or stolen certificate costs | $49,400,000 |
| Broker/dealers and custodian banks costs | $48,500,000 |
| Transfer agent service costs | $45,000,000 |
| Costs for issuing paper certificates | $15,400,000 |
| Securities Information Center operating costs | $5,400,000 |
| Total: | $250,000,000 |
The Solutions
- Dematerialize your physical securities holdings.
- Cut costs by using DTCC programs to eliminate paper certificates and reduce processing costs.
- Educate investors and others about the benefits of electronic securities ownership.
Download the Brochure
$250 million - The Annual Cost of Processing Paper Securities. A look at the real costs for handling paper certificates … and what you can do to reduce them...starting now.
Idea no. 1 in DTCC's No-More-Paper series.