DTC Issues Timetable and Plans For New Corporate Actions Platform
The Depository Trust Company (DTC) has released a timetable for the implementation of its corporate actions reengineering project. It details a phased-in approach over the next several years and itemizes key deliverables and the schedule for the release of reengineering documentation for 2010.
The corporate actions reengineering will upgrade and replace many of the 60 legacy systems that currently support corporate actions and will create a single new platform capable of handling increasingly sophisticated types of securities, both domestic and international. Any system changes for new products or enhancements remain optional for DTC customers through 2010.
“Because of the size and complexity of the reengineering initiative, it will be deployed in several phases,” said Patrick Kirby, DTCC managing director, Asset Services. “Corporate action announcements will come first, followed by elections and payments for distribution events, redem-ption events, and finally reorganization events.”
The first phase of the project, already completed, added new data elements to the Global Corporate Action (GCA) Validation Service. The following are the remaining implementation dates and a snapshot of the planned changes:
- April 2011: new ISO 20022 corporate action announcement messages with a unique DTC ID and an inbound XBRL interface will be introduced.
- June 2011: full connectivity to issuer-based XBRL tools.
- March 2012: a new customer user interface and ISO 20022 messaging will be introduced for the entire lifecycle of distribution events.
- September 2012: a new customer user interface and ISO 20022 messaging will be introduced for the entire lifecycle of redemption events.
- March 2013: a new customer user interface and ISO 20022 messaging will be introduced for the entire lifecycle of reorg events.
- 2015 or before: all DTC legacy CCF files will be retired, as well as the GCA proprietary file and ISO 15022 message.
“We are committed to working with our customers and the vendor community to prepare for these changes and the transition to the new platform,” said Kirby, “and we will be seeking client feedback as we move forward on the implementation and finalization of the new standards.
“In January, we are releasing documentation describing the new event types and data elements and how they relate to DTC legacy formats, as well as GCA Validation Service legacy and ISO message formats. Client input will help shape these documents as well as the finalization of the ISO 20022 standards,” he added.
Budgetary impact
To assist the industry in budgeting for the associated development work required for the new platform, DTC will:
- Conduct a series of webinars demonstrating the new user interface and dashboard prototype for the platform during the first half of 2010.
< March in files announcement CCF existing to mapping data-element and extensions of use the including announcements 20022 ISO for layouts message detailed> - Publish detailed message layouts for all message types covering the full corporate actions lifecycle in June 2010.
- Provide an outline of key event scenarios and the mapping between legacy and ISO 20022 in June 2010.
Kirby said the goals of the reengineering initiative are to enforce ISO standards and provide the highest quality corporate actions data, while improving the identification and representation of events. He also said that DTC will offer customers a number of service options, including near real-time delivery and access to scrubbed non-North American data. DTC will continue to support the DTCC SMART network but will also offer delivery of data to clients over the SWIFT network. @
[For a detailed look at the goals, phases and dates of the multiyear reengineering project, go to www.dtcc.com, click Thought Leadership and Reengineering.]