With millions of accounts worth billions of dollars routinely transferred from one financial institution to another each year, the fast, efficient delivery of cost-basis information has become an increasingly important service. Customers need this vital information to compute gains and losses for tax purposes, and researching missing cost-basis data is extremely time-consuming and expensive.

Overview

The Cost Basis Reporting Service (CBRS) is an automated system that provides brokerage firms, banks and other financial organizations the ability to transfer customer cost basis information from one firm to another on any asset transferred through the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS).

Who can use the service

All eligible and qualified NSCC settlement members and DTC member banks can use this service if they also use ACATS.

Benefits

• Permits the automated transfer of cost basis information, making it quick, easy and inexpensive to obtain or provide such information

• Eliminates the need for a broker or bank, or an individual investor, to research and obtain such information independently

• Provides an important level of customer service that can be a key advantage in customer selection of a brokerage firm or bank

How the service works

Customer accounts and assets are transferred through ACATS in the usual way, usually within six business days of the transmission of the request. On the day assets settle through ACATS (Settle Close) and for a period of up to 10 days, information on the cost basis for the assets transferred can be sent through CBRS. Features of the service include:

• There is no charge to the delivering firm for sending the information. Only receiving firms are charged, and are charged only for assets that contain cost-basis data.

• Assets are generally reported in tax lots (i.e., if there were three different purchases of a single stock at different prices, that data is retained in individual tax lots when the cost basis-information is transferred). If brokerage firms or banks have a portfolio management system, that system can be programmed to transfer the data automatically through CBRS.

• Cost basis information can be supplied for any asset transferred through ACATS, not just or DTC-eligible or CNS-eligible assets.

• CBRS is an optional service and is not required. ACATS is required for all self-clearing broker/dealers.

For more information:

Please call Relationship Management at 1 888.382.2721.