This week marks an important milestone in DTCC’s history – it’s our 50th anniversary. Anniversaries like this are special moments that allow us to reconnect with the past, reflect on the path our company has traveled and gain perspective on how those experiences have shaped our firm’s evolution.
When I think back to where our industry was in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it’s been an amazing journey. DTCC has been shaping and advancing the financial services industry since the Depository Trust Company (DTC) was created in 1973 to solve the Wall Street paperwork crisis.
One of our first actions was to digitize and create the first electronic security long before digitization became mainstream. Since then, we’ve launched many other innovations to drive positive change, including:
- Introducing multi-lateral netting, which significantly streamlined settlement and reduced risk,
- Automating the clearance and settlement of trades in US Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in the world’s largest fixed income market,
- Delivering greater efficiency, cost savings and risk mitigation to institutional trading and investors, and
- Pioneering ground-breaking derivatives services to support payment reconciliation and providing automated matching and confirmation, asset servicing, and centralized settlement for OTC credit default swaps (CDS).
During these past five decades, we’ve also partnered with our clients, created new businesses and launched many other strategic initiatives that have reduced costs, enhanced efficiencies and mitigated risk for the industry.
Achieving a milestone of 50 years in business is important to celebrate, but it raises a natural question: What’s next for us?
When I think about the years ahead, I often come back to the same word: stewardship. We’ve earned our reputation as a trusted steward by protecting the safety and stability of the financial markets, but in the years to come, we want to grow our impact.
We’re committed to delivering solutions to address challenges the industry can’t solve on its own and drive major initiatives to define how clearance and settlement and the operational side of market structure evolve.
I believe the best way we can honor DTCC’s legacy is by taking definitive steps today to prepare the firm for a new era of industry leadership.
As we celebrate this landmark event, I want to thank our employees, Board, clients and other stakeholders – past and present – for your support and contributions to the firm’s longevity and success. We’re looking forward to working with all of you as we begin writing the next chapter in this amazing company’s history.