Products & Services

Equities Clearance and Settlement

Foreign Securities Comparison and Netting

a service offering of National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC)

The Foreign Securities Comparison and Netting (FSCN) Service automates the comparison and netting of non-U.S. equity transactions executed by members of National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC).

Multi-Cycle Output Times

Overview

FSCN allows non-U.S. equity transactions to be processed in NSCC's Over-The-Counter (OTC) Clearance System. This system uses a common price to net and settle compared trades on a participant-to-participant basis. Money settlement of these trades is in U.S. dollars and occurs on a three-day cycle.

Who Can Use the Service

All qualified NSCC members are eligible to use the service.

Benefits

FSCN standardizes and automates the comparison and netting process for non-U.S. equity transactions in a manner similar to that for U.S. equity transactions.
NSCC generates receive and deliver instructions, and distributes them to participants, on the morning after comparison. This quick turnaround expedites the settlement process for non-U.S. equity transactions.
Netting trades on a participant-to-participant basis reduces the number of physical deliveries required for settlement. Fewer deliveries can reduce the probability of "fails," or trades that remain unresolved (or "open") due to a lack of funds and/or securities available for delivery. This in turn can decrease carrying costs and market risk.

How the Service Works

Trades in non-U.S. equities executed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. are routed to NSCC's OTC Clearance System as locked-in trades and compared in the Automated Confirmation Transaction (ACT) service or through a Qualified Special Representative (QSR) of the Nasdaq Stock Market. Trades executed elsewhere must be submitted directly to NSCC for comparison in its OTC Comparison System.

Trades locked in by NASDAQ or QSRs are reported during the day on NSCC's OTC 400-byte Universal Trade Recording machine readable output and recapped on an end-of-day basis in print image format. For transactions matched by NSCC, the results are reported to members after the match is completed.

In addition, NSCC also generates FSCN blotters that segregate these transactions from other trade data for participants' convenience. On the same morning, NSCC determines net buyers and sellers of non-U.S. equities, calculates settlement obligations for securities and cash, and distributes receive and deliver instructions.

Trades in the same issue with the same settlement date are assigned an average price, which is the average of all prices submitted by participants for that security. During the processing cycle, NSCC calculates cash differences between the average price and the actual trade value. On settlement date, NSCC totals clearance cash adjustments for each participant and includes this amount on FSCN netting members' final settlement statements.

Participants will then settle the trades on a free-of-payment basis in the local market with the underlying cash being transferred in the U.S.

For More Information:

Please call Relationship Management at 1 888.382.2721.

This description is for informational purposes only. This Service is governed by applicable Rules, Procedures, and Service Guides for each DTCC subsidiary, which contain the full terms, conditions, and limitations applicable to this Service.