Due to a preference for the central matching workflow and ALERT enrichment available, we are currently working with the majority of our clients to begin moving their US trades from OASYS to CTM. Supporting US trades via CTM is the first step in an evolution to a more seamless, automated trade matching and confirmation platform and will be integral to helping you continue to connect with your counterparties.

There are a few parity issues between OASYS and CTM.  For example, stepouts are not supported in CTM.  Development is currently underway to address parity items between OASYS and CTM.  We anticipate that all of these parity items will be addressed by mid-year 2019.

CTM offers several different connection options including:

1. Manual Entry User interface

2. File-based Broker Batch solutions via Message Translation Interface (MTI)

3. FIX messages

4. XML messages via a Direct or MQ-based Push interface

All of the automated options listed above are supported by existing third party interfaces.

CTM supports all of the asset classes that OASYS does with the exception of Options.  Development is currently underway to address parity items between OASYS and CTM.  We anticipate that all of these parity items will be addressed by mid-year 2019.

Yes, we are currently maintaining a list of all buy and sell side clients who are actively supporting US trades on CTM. This list is posted to Service Central - Client Lists.

For more information, or to sign up for CTM, please contact us directly via ServiceCentral.

Affirmation is an important part of a no touch workflow for DTC-eligible trades.  An affirmed confirm triggers an automated settlement process at the DTC.  If a confirm is unaffirmed, both the broker and the custodian need to take independent manual steps to effect settlement.  If the investment manager is currently auto-affirming, there are two features which will support high affirmation rates as clients look to move US trades to CTM:

• No Touch Workflow: When the broker supports a no touch workflow they send confirms only into CTM and suppress the submission of confirms into TradeSuite ID.  These confirms are propagated out to TradeSuite ID by CTM on behalf of the broker and the status of the confirm reflects the match status of the trade in CTM and user preferences.  
  
• CTM AutoAffirmation: For brokers who do not support a no touch workflow, there is new functionality that would allow the investment manager’s allocations to drop from CTM into TradeSuite ID after matching in CTM.  This is similar to how OASYS passes allocations to TradeSuite ID today.  This second match in TradeSuite will allow the confirms to promote to affirmed . If the allocation mismatched in TradeSuite, the investment manager could use TradeSuite Web to resolve the problem.

Yes, OASYS-only Investment Managers will need to sign a CTM schedule.  If you already have access to CTM in your organization, you do not need to sign an additional schedule to support US trades on CTM.

Over 300 brokers support US trades on CTM. View a list of all the brokers via Service Central - Client lists.  We are actively working with OASYS brokers who do not use CTM for US trades.  It should be noted that if you continue to trade US securities with a non-CTM OASYS broker, you will continue to send allocations through OASYS for that broker counterparty until they implement CTM .  ITP recommends talking to your brokers to ensure they are taking steps to support US trades on CTM.  Once all your brokers support CTM, you can discontinue using OASYS and leverage the full benefits of a single global platform.

The list of brokers supporting CTM includes details on the asset classes they support.

Implementation times depend on which interface you decide to use. View a list of implementation guides here.

All of the most popular OMS partners and outsourcers currently support an interface to CTM.  You can view the list of all the certified OMS partners and outsourcers here.

Brokers on CTM are identified with a BIC, not an OASYS Acronym.  As you look to route trades to a CTM vs OASYS broker, you need to identify both yourself and your counterparty using a BIC.  You can view a list of all the dealers who are currently supporting US trades on CTM and their identifiers on Service Central - Client Lists.

US trades on CTM will follow the same workflow for trade submission and matching as non-US trades in CTM.  There are however several best practices to support high quality data and straight through processing for US trades on CTM.  For example, the use of broker matching groups for US trades is discouraged.  More information on how to do this is available here.

Yes, the same US Settlement Instructions from ALERT will be enriched on allocations in CTM. For OTM clients moving to CTM, US SSIs in ALERT will be leveraged to send the trade from CTM into TradeSuite.  The investment manager needs to provide US SSIs following the ALERT Best Practices for US.  Likewise, the broker must setup broker delivery instructions in ALERT following best practices.  If you aren’t currently leveraging ALERT enrichment in CTM, you should review how ALERT Key Auto Select (AKAS) can facilitate this process for you.

At the request of investment managers wanting to sustain high affirmation rates as they move US trades to CTM, ITP is rolling out CTM AutoAffirmation functionality which, like OTM, will allow allocations in CTM to flow down into TradeSuite ID after the trade is Match Agreed in CTM.  This is an interim step while brokers move to an optimal no touch workflow.  When utilizing an optimal no touch workflow, CTM will pass the confirm into TradeSuite ID on behalf of the broker rather than requiring the broker to send it directly via a second interface.

To support and encourage our investment manager community in moving their US domestic trade volume from OASYS into CTM, ITP is waiving onboarding charges and implementing harmonized pricing across our OASYS and CTM products. The harmonized rates for investment managers and brokers will be rolled out July 1, 2019.

Depending on the interface option you choose, you can be up and running in under 2 weeks. We have established a dedicated team of resources to help you support US trades on CTM as quickly as possible. In addition to an expedited onboarding process, DTCC ITP is waiving the CTM domestic base fee and onboarding charges for clients migrating from OASYS to CTM and supporting US trades exclusively.

Yes, there is a new schedule for OASYS-only brokers who are looking to take up CTM. If you already have access to CTM in your organization, you do not need to sign an additional schedule to support US trades.

DTCC ITP is waiving the CTM domestic base fee and onboarding charges for OASYS only brokers migrating from OASYS to CTM and supporting US trades exclusively. 

ITP will be harmonizing the rates between CTM and OASYS for both Brokers and Investment Managers effective July 1, 2019.  Please refer to the communicaiton sent out on April 1, 2019.

To reduce exceptions for US trades on CTM, we have produced a set of CTM Best Practices promoting the use of a USD Match Profile with tolerance matching on deal price and net amount. In addition, we are actively looking to reduce the number of investment managers who hide certain economic value fields on trades.

There are numerous other best practices which will be promoted as investment managers look to move US trades from OASYS to CTM. Primarily, the adoption of functionality aimed at enabling a no touch workflow including but not limited to: ALERT Key Auto Select (AKAS) SSI enrichment on the allocation in CTM, transferring maintenance of ALERT SSIs to the custodian via GC Direct, matching on PSET, and aggregating allocations under the block trade.

Yes, almost all correspondent clearers already have access to CTM. DTCC is working very closely with correspondent clearers to support them as they look to move US trades to CTM.

If you access CTM via your clearer, they have the option to submit confirms directly to TradeSuite ID via CTM.

We are committed to providing the same level transparency into block trades via CTM that a broker currently has on OASYS. We’re achieving this with a couple different initiatives:

• The CTM View Instructing Party Alleged (VIPA) subscription option is available to Investment Managers and enables sell-side clients to query and/or view blocks alleged against them when an investment manager has utilized a Broker Matching Group (BRMG) identifier which contains a single active broker BIC. The VIPA subscription option creates full visibility earlier in the trade life cycle and provides greater transparency to help expedite the resolution of block shaping discrepancies.The VIPA subscription was turned on for the majority of the CTM buy-side community in January 2019.

• DTCC has created a new type of broker entity called a View Only Broker (VOB). The VOB entity grants a CTM broker view only access to unpaired investment manager alleged blocks, where the investment manager used a BRMG to identify the broker. The Investment Manager will need to add the VOB BIC to the applicable BRMG and this allows the VOB to view and monitor UNMATCHED trades alleged against them. The broker will use their normal CTM BIC to modify or process the trade to a MATCH AGREED state.

Yes, CTM generates a Rule 10b10 compliant confirmation using information submitted by the broker as part of the central trade matching process. CTM has a full set of fields to support all the necessary disclosures brokers are required to make under this rule.

As part of the ITP strategy we are focused on reducing and ultimately eliminating the need for a broker to interface with multiple systems. As such we have introduced a no touch workflow that allows confirms submitted to CTM to drop down into TradeSuite ID^TM on behalf of the broker. This workflow is currently available.

If you choose not to implement this functionality and enable a no touch workflow then you will need to send confirms directly into both CTM and TradeSuite ID.