

Each month, DTCC measures sigma levels for a variety of transaction processes, including those for underwriting, redemptions, dividend and interest payments, and reorganization announcements.
The sigma levels evaluate the accuracy, quality, and timeliness of these processes, and different sigma levels measure these factors in different ways – an “internal” sigma level measures the impact on the process of defects identified as originating within DTCC, an “external” sigma level measures the impact on the process of defects identified as originating outside DTCC (e.g., as the result of bad input by an agent or a service provider), and an “overall” sigma level measures the performance of the process generally, without distinguishing between the sources of the defects. Over the course of 2008, DTCC plans to begin publishing all sigma ratings for each of the measured processes, so that by year-end these metrics for all of the measured processes will be published.