Setting Up AKAS in ALERT
The AKAS database includes the following default security type groups for global Place of Settlement (PSET) BICs:
- Corporate Fixed Income (FI)
- Equities
- Government Fixed Income (FI)
- Money Markets
About Default Depositories
The AKAS database is separate from the ALERT database. When you submit AKAS trades, CTM makes two calls for ALERT keys:
- First, it makes a call to the AKAS database for the keys that it returns on the AKAS-prepended keys in the CTM InfoResponse and InfoSettlementResponse messages.
- Next, it makes a separate call to the ALERT database for the keys that it returns along with the accompanying settlement instruction on the ALERT keys in the CTM InfoResponse and InfoSettlementResponse messages.
The ALERT and AKAS-prepended key values are the same. The majority of ALERT key combinations in AKAS are comprised of the local depository for the known security type and country of the security in the submitted trade.
Click the icons to expand, collapse, and print the content on this page.
The following ALERT and AKAS-prepended keys demonstrate how the default depositories work in a "happy day" scenario:
| Country | Security | Method | PSET BIC | → | AKAS Keys | ALERT Keys |
| Australia | Government FI | AustraClear | ACLRAUS2 | Success | Success and same as AKAS |
| Note |
| Securities that have an ISIN code starting with the country code XS default to a Country of EUROPE and a Method of EURO_CLEAR. |
If your firm always settles government fixed income securities using a different country, security, and method/PSET than that listed in the Default Depositories list, then you need to create and maintain overrides for the default AKAS keys to ensure correct automatic key selection. It is a DTCC best practice to create overrides for the default settings before you submit a trade to avoid issues during the settlement cycle.
| Note |
| You are responsible for overriding the Default Depository to meet your requirements as the Default Depositories list used by the AKAS functionality is, by default, considered correct. |
About Non-Default Depositories
For the following situations, the Default Depositories list does not include ALERT keys so refer to the following sections for more information about how to know which countries do not have standard defaults and do not have depositories of record:
- More than one depository PSET BIC exists for a security type in a country (see Countries Without Standard Default Depositories).
- No depository exists for any security types in a country (see Countries Without Default Depositories).
Countries Without Standard Default Depositories
Composed of only a few countries, this category of depositories include ALERT keys for countries in which multiple depositories exist for a security type. China, for example, has two separate depositories for equities:
| Country and Security Type | PSET BIC | ALERT Method | SMPG Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equities | SSCECNS1 | SHANGHAI | Shanghai Securities Central Clearing & Registering Corporation (SSCCRC) |
| Equities | SSCCCNS1 | SHENZHEN | Shenzhen Securities Clearing Co. Ltd (SSCC) |
Therefore, if you are trading Chinese equities, it is a DTCC best practice to create an override in AKAS for settling your Chinese equities. The same is true for the other country/ security combinations in Table A.2, Countries Without Default Depositories, of the ALERT Key Auto Select (AKAS) Implementation Guide. If you do not create overrides for these countries, you will be unable to use AKAS and will need to provide standard ALERT enrichment keys to successfully enrich your transactions.
Countries Without Default Depositories
Many countries do not have default depositories, local or otherwise. If you settle trades in one of those countries, it is a DTCC requirement to provide a default set of ALERT keys for AKAS to use when it supplies those keys back on your response messages.
Example—Say you do not supply default instructions in AKAS for a country that does not have a depository. AKAS takes your information but does not find any ALERT keys because none exist for the country in which your trade settles.
| Note |
| As part of the enrichment process, CTM runs validation checks on the data returned by ALERT and returns errors if they occur. For a list of those errors, see the Error Handling section of the ALERT Key Auto Select (AKAS) Implementation Guide. |