The Underwriting Service is the starting point for all securities offerings at The Depository Trust Company (DTC).

Overview

Through the service's New Issue Eligibility program, underwriters can distribute both primary and secondary offerings of securities quickly and economically via electronic book-entry delivery and settlement. These newly issued securities are then available for the full range of depository services.

Additional capabilities offered within Underwriting include the Money Market Instrument (MMI) Program, the Initial Public Offering (IPO) Tracking Service and the New Issue Information Dissemination System (NIIDS) for Municipal Securities.

The MMI Program provides customers and issuing and paying agents with a fully automated book-entry environment for the issuance and settlement of money market securities.

The automated IPO Tracking system allows underwriters to track deliveries of equity securities by syndicate members to identify securities sold back during the underwriting stabilization period.

NIIDS assists underwriters in meeting the reporting standards set forth by the Municipal Securities Rule Making Board (MSRB). This new process also allows for more timely, accurate and efficient processing of new municipal issues and gives expanded access to underwriters enabling them to better manage their deals.

Who Can Use the Service

Lead managers, underwriters and placement agents who are DTC participants are eligible to use the service. (In addition, the service is available to those firms that are not direct participants but maintain a clearing relationship with a DTC participant.)

Benefits

DTC's Underwriting Service offers solutions that create efficiencies in the capital markets and reduce risk to the industry by facilitating the distribution and settlement of new and secondary equity issues, and new corporate and municipal debt issues (including 144A issues in the U.S. market and its Regulation S counterparts, which are distributed abroad).

DTC offers a high level of straight-through processing by leveraging new technologies that replace manually intensive processes with electronic alternatives.

All programs use DTC's highly efficient electronic book-entry system and standardized operational arrangements to significantly reduce the cost and risk associated with physical processing.

How the Service Works

For a new or secondary issue distribution and settlement at DTC, a participant requesting that an issue be made eligible must:

• Submit an offering document (e.g., prospectus, official statement, offering memorandum) and eligibility information, such as issue and contact information, CUSIP numbers, pricing data, etc.

To streamline the new issue process, the following enhanced features are available:

• The new online Securities Origination, Underwriting and Reliable Corporate Action Environment (UW SOURCE) allows for the electronic transmission of both securities offering data and offering documentation for Municipal and Equity issues. Customers will be able to choose a number of different transmission options for submitting data, such as a Web-based screen, a spreadsheet upload or a vendor-provided electronic file.
• The Prospectus Repository System (PRS), an online vehicle to view, retrieve and print offering material.

Participants using the functionality on DTC's Participant Terminal System (PTS) can also:

• View the details of a DTC-eligible issue.
• Track an issue's progress if originally submitted online throughout the underwriting process (for instance, approval, processing, packaging and closing status), determine DTC certificate denomination requirements and research a file dating back at least 15 months from an issue's first settlement date.
• Submit for review eligibility requests for older issues (issues previously distributed and settled outside of DTC).
• View DTC Important Notices for corporate and municipal underwritings and MMI issues.
• Monitor the market "flipping" activity of an IPO issue and get itemized reports.
• Electronically send to DTC issuance and delivery instructions (as an Issuing/Paying Agent), and receive instructions (as sales agent or custodian) for money market instruments.

For More Information

Please contact Relationship Management at 866-724-4402.