The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) recently issued a proposal designed to shorten the standard settlement cycle for securities purchases.
The current standard for the securities industry is a three-day settlement cycle commonly known as “T+3” — shorthand for trade date plus three days — and applies to securities purchased or sold by national banks, federal savings associations, and FDIC-supervised institutions.
The agencies are issuing the proposal in connection with an industry-wide shift to a T+2 settlement cycle, officials noted, adding the new T+2 cycle is the culmination of a multi-year securities industry initiative and rule changes being implemented by other financial regulators and securities self-regulatory organizations.
The OCC and FDIC said industry-wide standards established by the applicable securities and self-regulatory organizations’ rules for T+2 securities clearance and settlement go into effect on Sept. 5, 2017, and the agencies previously issued guidance to assist their supervised institutions in preparing for the change.
Officials maintain the current OCC and FDIC regulations on settlement periods do not interfere with banks adapting to the T+2 settlement cycle, but the agencies are proposing amendments to these regulations to further align them with T+2.