Straight Through Processing
This letter was sent prior to the 2006 merger between The Securities Industry Association and The Bond Market Association.
February 22, 2001
Dear Managing Executive,
As you are aware, the industry's preparations for the move to a T+1 settlement environment are well underway. In July of last year, the SIA published its T+1 Business Case Report outlining the "ten building blocks" and implementation time line necessary to successfully achieve this goal. The purpose of this letter is to ensure your firm has assigned a T+1 Settlement Project Manager and have him/her register via the SIA web site.
Arthur Levitt, in a letter recently written to executives of securities firms, investment advisors, and transfer agents, strongly urged them to immediately begin implementing the changes needed to prepare for the shortening of the settlement cycle to T+1. Citing the SIA's efforts already underway, Levitt called the achievement of T+1 and straight through processing "critical to the continued success of our markets." In order to accomplish the infrastructure changes within the timeframe outlined in SIA's T+1 Business Case, Levitt stressed the necessity of firms immediately focusing on their preparations and allocating the necessary resources to the project.
Currently, the SIA's T+1 Steering Committee and its associated subcommittees have undertaken the effort to translate these business case building blocks and roadmap into the next level of detailed project plans. To this end, The Capital Markets Company (Capco) has been engaged to facilitate the coordination and production of plans that will directly reflect the milestones and tasks that have been identified as necessary to achieve T+1. These plans will also provide a "key" link to your firm as you conduct your own internal planning processes.
As each of the ten building blocks are completed and tested they will go "live" in daily production. The intent is to be operating within the new infrastructure by mid-2003 and then test and convert to T+1 by mid-2004. This will necessitate your firm keeping pace with the industry's progress.
As we begin this critical phase in the implementation process, it is essential that the appropriate members of your staff are identified for cross-industry coordination purposes. As such, I am asking that your firm designate a T+1 Project Manager(s) in much the same way as we did with the Year 2000 initiative. This individual should register on the SIA's web site at http://www.sia.com/stp/html/registration.html to ensure all the latest information, requirements and updates are communicated to your firm in a timely fashion. For more information, please contact me at: jpanchery@sifma.org or via telephone at 212 618-0559.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
John D. Panchery
Vice President & Managing Director
T+1 Settlement Project Manager