SEC Approves NSCC's Move to 24x5 Clearing

The SEC approved the National Securities Clearing Corporation ("NSCC") proposed rule change to move its equity-trade capture and clearing operations to a "24x5" schedule.   

The "24x5" schedule will begin at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday through 8:00 p.m. Friday, The current NSCC's Universal Trade Capture system, or UTC, operated from 1:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Eastern time each business day, accepting locked-in trades from exchanges and Qualified Special Representatives ("QSR") (i.e. members that submit trades on behalf of automated execution systems or alternative trading systems) between 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Under the approved changes, NSCC will accept locked-in trades for any market trading session, including pre-market, core, post-market and overnight sessions, on the new 24x5 schedule.

The rule change also introduces a "Good Night Message" mechanic: each business day every self regulatory organization and QSR will submit a message to NSCC confirming the conclusion of trading activity for the current Trade Processing Date.  Exchanges and firms may not submit trade data for the next trade date until NSCC processes a Good Night Message closing the current day. Members that wish to participate in overnight sessions must establish separate Special Representative and Qualified Special Representative relationships for overnight trading.

NSCC said it is not proposing changes to its risk-management rules or margin and Clearing Fund methodology in connection with the move.