CN1153562A - Device and method for improving speed and reliability of security trade settlements - Google Patents

Abstract

A security trade settlement device is provided. The device comprises a database having a plurality of delivery instruction sets, a database receiver for receiving an identifier, a database searcher for searching the database, and a database transmitter for transmitting the retrieved instruction set corresponding to the identifier. The device preferably also comprises a participant transmitter for transmitting the identifier and a participant receiver for receiving and outputting the retrieved, transmitted delivery instruction set. The database preferably also includes a plurality of account information sets which include a custodian delivery instruction set specified by the institution. In other aspects, the invention comprises methods of operating the database and the security trade settlement communication device.

Description

Apparatus and method for increasing the speed and reliability of settlement of securities transactions

The present invention relates to a securities transaction settlement system, more specifically, to a device and method for exchanging settlement information among securities transaction participants.

Various systems have been developed for the automation of securities trading portions from client accounts through order execution and block allocation.

US Patents 4,346,442, 4,376,978 and 4,774,663 issued to Merrill Lynch relate to systems for operating and maintaining commission management accounts for securities brokers.

Systems have also been developed for monitoring market operations and assisting investors in the trading decision-making process. British Patent Publication Nos. GB 2161003A and 2210714A relate to systems for allocating, processing and displaying funds information. US Patent No. 4,949,248 discloses a shared information access service or shared application control local area network, which is especially suitable for the trading floor of a securities company.

US Patents 4,674,044, 4,823,265 and 5,101,353 relate to electronic trade execution systems.

The prior art system in Figure 5 sends messages to brokers alerting them of changes in institutional investor accounts. After the trade is executed, the prior art system in FIG. 6 allows the investor to transmit information to the broker regarding stock transfers for executed block trades between accounts in an institution. When used in conjunction with the system of FIG. 5, the system of FIG. 6 communicates account information to the broker regarding the transfer of each block trade.

The Depository Trust Corporation's (DTC) Institutional Delivery (ID) System is designed to partially automate the settlement of book entry for DTC-listed U.S. securities. At the end of each U.S. trading day, brokers report trade information in bulk to the DTC. On the first day after the transaction, the so-called "T+1", DTC releases confirmation information to the relevant brokers, investment institutions (institution) and custodian banks, and the investment institutions must confirm this before bookkeeping and settlement . The system, which applies only to DTC-listed U.S. securities, requires brokers to collect and enter information pertaining to each trade, yet does not provide a mechanism to ensure the accuracy of trade information and cannot operate in real time.

The interactive ID system that DTC will allegedly have will involve addressing at least the last of these limitations. Published September 29, 1993 Details of the types of public information that this new system is capable of handling compared to Batch ID.

Nothing in the prior art systems addresses improving the accuracy and speed of communication of instructions for exchanging purchase funds and securities for settlement of executed transactions. Thus, existing systems cannot settle trades quickly enough if communications between institutional investors, brokers, and custodians are solely based on a mix of fax, telex, and telephone.

The current speed of transaction decision-making and execution has put a lot of pressure on participants in securities transactions, including institutional investors, brokers and custodians, who are eager to improve the process of transferring purchase funds to brokers or custodians. The speed of the transaction settlement process on the side of the seller's agent and transfer of title to the security to the side of the buyer's agent or broker.

The Securities and Exchange Management Commission has recently made a decision that, starting from June 1, 1995, US securities must be settled within three days of the trading day, which is the so-called "T+3". Usually, US stocks must be settled within five days of the trading day or "T+5". Therefore, for a settlement system that cannot operate in real time, the chances of settlement failure due to the lapse of time will increase.

Settlement of global securities transactions is especially difficult due to overlapping regulations, gaps in regulations, language barriers, exchange rate fluctuations, multiple tax rights, physical distance between participants and other factors. In cross border trades, the settlement failure rate is as high as 30%. Because institutional investors routinely make crossover transactions in block trades of over 100,000 shares, settlement failures can be very costly for all parties. Settlement lags can also be costly to all parties, as the uncertainty of outcome constraints limits an investor's ability to place subsequent trade orders.

Recognizing the need to reduce settlement times for securities transactions across borders, two organizations have undertaken concurrent work on harmonizing the types and formats of data transmitted between participants in securities transactions. In Europe, the first edition of the "Commercial Requirements Specification" 3 February 1992, published by the Industrial Users Group (IUG), specifies a standard format for electronic messages between institutional investors and brokers. In the US, the Industry Standardization for Institutional Transaction Communications (ISITC) Committee has published its own standard format for communicating transaction details between investors and custodians. These formats standardize the types of information exchanged between participants in securities transactions, but do not disclose or suggest specific systems or methods for enabling these exchanges, accelerating such exchanges, or improving the accuracy of the information exchanged.

Therefore, it is desirable to have a system that improves the accuracy of transaction settlement information and speeds up the transmission of transaction settlement information to transaction settlement participants, thereby reducing the time required for securities transaction settlement and improving the settlement rate of securities transactions. It is also required that settlement information comply with both IUG and ISITC standard formats in the provided system.

To this end, it is an object of the present invention to provide a communication device and method for use by participants in securities transactions that increases the speed and accuracy of transaction settlement.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a communication device and method of the above character that is compatible with one or both of the IUG and ISITC standards.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a communication device and method of the above character comprising a database which is automatically accessible by the communication device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a communication device and method with the above characteristics, which can automatically transmit the delivery order of the safekeeping party to the broker.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a communication device and method with the above characteristics, which can automatically transmit the broker's delivery order to the custodian and/or investment institution.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a communication device and method of the above character, which can automatically transfer account information of an institutional investor to a broker.

These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing such a securities transaction settlement communication device, which includes a database for storing multiple sets of delivery instructions; a database receiver for receiving identifiers; A database retriever for searching the database; and a database sender for sending out the retrieved command group corresponding to the identifier. The database preferably also includes a message generator for notifying participants of changes to the database.

The communication device also includes a participant transmitter for issuing an identifier, and for receiving and outputting a set of delivery instructions withdrawn and issued. The transmitter and receiver of the communication device are preferably two receiver-transmitters capable of performing both functions, and have an input unit for adding or changing delivery order sets in the database. Receiver-senders can also be used for non-settlement communications between participants via message routers in the database, such as e-mail.

The database also preferably includes sets of account information including sets of custodian delivery instructions designated by the investor. In this respect, the receiver-transmitter of the investment institution also includes an input unit for adding or changing the set of account information in the database.

The database also preferably includes cross-reference tables between custodians and account identifiers and between account identifiers and broker internal account numbers to link alerts and trade settlement information between participants.

In another aspect, the invention includes a method of operating a database and a securities transaction settlement communication device.

The invention and its particular features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a block diagram of the communication device and method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a database of the communication device and method shown in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of portions of the communication device and method shown in FIG. 1 for communicating settlement information between brokers and institutional investors.

4 is a block diagram of portions of the communication device and method shown in FIG. 1 for communicating settlement information between an institutional investor and a custodian.

Figure 5 is a block diagram of a prior art system for delivering messages to brokers alerting them of changes to institutional investor accounts.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a prior art system for communicating bulk trade transfers to brokers or account information for each trade transfer using the system of FIG. 5 to brokers.

1 is a block diagram of the apparatus and method 10 of the present invention for communicating securities transaction settlement information among securities transaction participants such as a plurality of institutional investors 12, a plurality of brokers 14, and a plurality of custodians 16. The so-called "institutional investors" refer to retirement pension funds, public fund companies, investment consultants, insurance companies and other investors who manage and conduct transactions of two or more accounts. The so-called "custodians" refer to banks, securities depositors, and other settlement agents.

Each line in FIG. 1 schematically represents a communication link in the method and apparatus 10 . Diagonal lines 20, 21, 22 represent communication links between the participants in the securities transaction and the central database 24 and between the participants themselves for exchanging information not related to the settlement of a particular transaction, such as electronic letters. These diagonal links 20 , 21 , 22 are discussed in more detail with reference to FIG. 2 . The horizontal and vertical lines 18 between the investment firm and the broker represent the communication link used to settle the trade immediately after the trade is executed. Likewise, the horizontal and vertical lines 19 between the investment institution and the custodian represent the securities transaction settlement communication link. Links 18, 19 will be discussed in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 .

The communication links 18-22 are telephone lines, but obviously dedicated wired or wireless links could also be used. Obviously "wired" refers to any physical connection, which could be fiber optic, coax, twisted pair or other connecting wires, while "wireless" refers to cellular, microwave, infrared (IR), laser or any other non-physical connect. To this end, each of the securities trading participants 12, 14, 16 is equipped with a computer, terminal, input/output device, transceiver or the like for sending and means (not shown) for receiving messages and information.

Therefore, references to a transaction participant in this specification include the participant's system terminal. Each such terminal is used to include a dedicated name or abbreviated name, which is used to identify the name as the sender or receiver of information in the system, and each terminal includes application software written in C language so that as shown in Figure 2 The central database 24 is maintained and operated as such and the communication links 18-22 are established as described in FIGS. Usually the terminal itself is a personal computer (PC) whose minimum recommended system requirements are DOS 3.3 or higher, an Intel 386 microprocessor operating at 33MHz, 2Mb of random access memory, 450Kb of free memory, and 2400 waves special transceivers, such as modems. Obviously, a dummy terminal connected to the host computer could also be used though. But it may not be necessary to connect these PCs to the participant's back office computer system. In addition, a particular participant may have many system terminals connected together by a LAN (Local Area Network) or other network so that different persons in a particular participant may follow the steps of method 10.

The structure, maintenance and operation of the central database 24 are described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 . The central database 24 is a host computer with 4 RISC processors, 64Mb of random access memory, 5Gb of online memory, UNIX operating system, and can be used by the participant's terminal application software in C language. The SUNMICROSYSTEMS MB 670 computer of the SYBASE database software transferred. In this particular hardware configuration, the central database 24 has a system capacity of 40,000 transactions per day, 15,000 total account records, and 2.5 million BIAs. Host Control Message Router 26 handles electronic mail between participants 12,14,16 on line 25; and also controls institutional account database 28; and broker and custodian delivery database 30.

Broker 14 and custodian 16 enter delivery instructions 32 into delivery database 30 along respective lines 31,33. The delivery instruction 32 is in a format compatible with the IUG and ISITC standards or can be retrieved and stored in the database 30 under these two standards. The order includes information such as the country of the security, the type of security, and details of the settlement method. In this way, the type of information stored in the delivery database 30 will be more detailed than previously provided by, for example, the IUG standard, which contains single field settlement information. In the event that brokers and custodians are unwilling to directly use their local terminals to enter delivery orders, they can contract with the data service center 34 to do this for them.

Each set of delivery instructions 32 is stored on the database 30 and made available under a unique identifier. The identifier includes identification of a particular set of orders for a designated broker or custodian. For example, each broker has similarly many sets of delivery orders related to the type and country of securities traded. Similarly, each custodian also has many groups related not only to the type and country of securities traded, but also to which institutional investor client ordered the trade. The identifier may also include the abbreviated name of the broker or custodian.

When a delivery order set 32 is entered into delivery database 30 or a delivery order 32 is modified in delivery database 30, central database 24 will generate a reminder message 36 for delivery along line 35 to other brokers 14 and custodians 16 to remind them The delivery order changes. At this point, it will be apparent to the participants 12, 14, 16 that the central database 24 includes wired or wireless transceivers to receive storage and retrieval request information, and to issue reminders and retrieval information. The software in the broker and custodian terminals can be customized to remove all information except those requested in these alert messages 36, or all information except alert messages from a particular broker 14 and/or a particular custodian 16 . Selection of reminders 36 can be done quickly where the delivery order identifier contains abbreviations representing originating brokers or custodians, and where those abbreviations are screened and sorted to remove unwanted reminders 36 .

A list 38 of custodian identifiers and broker abbreviations under which delivery order sets 32 have been stored in database 30 is supplied to investment institution 12 via line 40 . As described below with reference to FIG. 3, investment institution 12 receives and originates trade settlement communications with broker 14 using the broker abbreviation. The investment institution 12 stores the account information 42 on the investment institution account database 28 using the custodian identifier when generating it. Account information 42 may be stored on and retrieved from database 28 using a unique account identifier for each set of account information. The account identifier is the same as the broker and custodian identifier, including the identification of a specific account under the name of the indicated investment institution, and may also include the identification of the name or abbreviation of the investment institution.

Account information 42 includes a custodian identifier that can be retrieved from delivery database 30 of delivery order 32 along lines 43, 44 according to a particular custodian identifier. As indicated at reference numeral 46, the account information 42 and the withdrawn custodian specific delivery instructions are combined and stored on the account database 28.

In addition to fetching delivery instructions, line 43 also transmits and stores on delivery database 30 a cross-referenced table of account IDs and custodian IDs. This cross-reference or look-up table is used by the central database 24 to generate alert messages 48 to notify the investment institution 12 of changes to the set of custodian delivery orders represented by each particular order for each particular account.

Based on the reminder message 48, investors 12 can update their corresponding accounts by taking out changed custodian delivery instructions along lines 43, 44 and re-depositing these accounts on the account database 28. To this end, the investment institution's terminal database software can be made to automatically initiate these updates, save the reminders for review and can connect with the appropriate custodian, or perform some other function.

Broker 14 provides a cross-reference table between broker abbreviations, broker internal account numbers (BIAs), and account identifiers for each particular discretionary institutional account. The BLA/Account Identifier table 50 is stored on the account database 28 to generate reminder messages 52 which are sent to brokers 14 identified from the broker's abbreviated name and notify them of their mapping to the account information in table 50 Changes in BIA's account information. This change can be either the custodian delivery order portion or the account portion of the account information 46 .

Investors 12 and brokers 14 may maintain account database 28 directly through their terminals via settlement database 30, or they may contract with data entry service 34 to change and enter account information 46 and BIAs on the database.

The information taken out from the central database 24 for settlement of securities transactions is very accurate because each participant 12, 14, 16 enters information relevant to it on the database 28, 30, and because of the reminder Information 36, 48, 52 enables interested parties to review changes made in the database in real time. Anomalies in the database information can be identified by instant messaging between the involved parties via the information router 26 before significant settlement delays or failures result.

Storing custodian delivery instructions on delivery database 30 and account database 28 serves several purposes. First, it is possible to prevent the custodian from making changes in settlement of securities transactions in the account of the investment institution without the consent of the investment institution. Second, since only one database needs to be accessed, securities settlement information can be retrieved and transmitted from investment institutions to brokers more quickly.

As shown in FIG. 1, a transaction settlement communication link 18 between the investor 12 and the broker 14 is connected by means of a central database 24. Referring to FIG. 3 , an apparatus and method 10 for securities transaction settlement is described beginning with communication link 18 .

Usually investment institutions manage many different accounts, for example, different public funds in foundations, and these different accounts are aggregated into a pool trade order for large transactions. For another example, if funds A, B, and C managed by a single investment institution 12 all want to buy 10,000 shares of XYZ company stock, then investment institution 12 will place a buy order for 30,000 shares of XYZ company stock to a specific broker 14 . The buy order may or may not be executed at a single price level as a transaction, but after all 30,000 shares have been bought, the broker 14 sends the institutional abbreviated name to the institutional 12 including the broker identifier. The order execution notification 54 and the abbreviated name of the investment institution can be obtained from the transaction order. The order execution notification 54 also includes the name of the security, the type of the security, the country of the security, the number of stocks traded at each different price, the total number of stocks traded and the average price per share.

However, before the information is received by the investment institution, the central database 24 uses the broker identifier portion of the order execution notification 54 to fetch the broker delivery order set corresponding to the broker identifier from the delivery database 30 . Then, as shown in block 55, the broker's delivery order taken out by the central database 24 is sent to the designated investment institution together with the order execution notification.

Apparatus and method 10 are used to settle transactions, rather than place orders, so that a communication link does not have to be provided until the transaction is executed. However, Thomson Financial Services' Trade Order Routing System (TORS) is a software product available on institutional and broker terminals that allows institutional institutions to use the apparatus and method 10 to send trade orders to brokers. In addition, Thomson Financial Services' Trade Order Tracking System (TOTS) enables investment institutions 12 to track the execution of their block orders through participating brokers in real time between receipt of order execution notification 54 .

When receiving the execution notification 54, the investment institution 12 sends a bulk transfer information 58 to the account database 28, which information includes the account of each investment institution or the stock quantity and account identifier of the funds participating in the transaction, for example, Fund A is 10,000 shares, Fund B is 10,000 shares and Fund C is 10,000 shares. As indicated at 60, the received account identifiers are used to retrieve the account information, BIA, and custodian delivery instructions for each account. Account information may include account name, tax identification number, country, account registration name, tax withholding information, account type, confirmation and financial statement addresses, telex instructions, securities and cash account numbers, and contact phone numbers . The retrieved data is sent to the broker 14 via the central database 24 with an abbreviated name. The account information, BIA and custodian delivery instructions are appended to the order execution notification 54 issued by the broker 14, however, it will be apparent that this data could also be transmitted as a separate message.

Brokers 14 use the BLA to compare the transfer account and custodian delivery information 60 with their records of executed trades to ensure that they are the appropriate recipients of the transfer information and that they have received settlement instructions for each stock traded. If there is no correspondence between the two, the broker 14 will report this fact to the investment institution 12, otherwise the broker 14 will send a guarantee message 62 to the abbreviated name of the investment institution for each transfer. Guarantee information 62 includes detailed financial information about the transaction, including appropriate commissions, taxes, exchange rates, and all funds required to settle the transaction. The investment institution 12 receives and reviews the confirmation information 62, particularly the financial portion of all funds related to the settlement of the trade, and then sends back a message 64 to the broker abbreviation either agreeing or disapproving the trade. The certifying and agreeing or disapproving information is appended to the transfer account and custodian delivery information 60, but this information could also be transmitted as a separate message if desired.

Apparently, the above is only an explanation of the review of various information by investment institutions and brokers as the preferred use of the device and method 10, but it is by no means a constraint on investment institutions and brokers. The apparatus and method 10 provides a system for exchanging transaction settlement information among securities transaction participants, rather than a system for conducting securities transactions or settlements. The coercion of contracts or obligations adopted for communications throughout the system 10 is entirely a matter between the participants themselves and not with the provider of the communications system 10 .

Referring to FIG. 5, the existing ALERT product of Thomson Financial Services Company only includes a part of the functions of the central database 24. ALERT includes a database 91 of account information 92, which includes the account identifier of each account and the name of the custodian of its investment institution, but does not include the delivery order of the custodian. A message 93 alerting the broker 14 of a change in account information 92 is generated by the database 91 for provision to the broker. However, since it does not provide means to filter out unwanted information, reminders 93 that are important to a particular broker are often not found in the ocean of information that fills its terminal irrelevant to that broker .

Referring to FIG. 6, Thomson Financial Services' existing OASYS product provides a portion of the communication link 18 in combination with its ALERT product. As the order is executed, the investment institution 12 uses OASYS to send the account identifier for each transfer 94 to the account specific database 91 in order to retrieve the account information corresponding to each transfer 95 . After the review, the broker 14 sends a message 96 to the investment institution that approves or rejects the transfer message. Message 96 does not contain any information about the transaction's funding details and broker delivery instructions.

The combination of Thomson Financial Services' ALERT and OASYS cannot replace the combined functions of telephone, fax, and telegram that are usually used in securities transaction settlement, but only provides an additional medium that only exchanges securities transaction settlement Some of the data required for this transaction, especially for international securities transactions that include additional financial and regulatory matters due to language barriers that hamper communication. All of these factors can lead to delays and failures in the settlement of costly securities transactions. The communication link 18 of the apparatus and method 10 provides a fast, efficient, integrated means for exchanging all necessary settlement information between the investment institution 12 and the broker 14.

The type and format of account information exchanged over communication link 18 adheres to IUG standards which help make the apparatus and method 10 compatible with computer systems of investment institutions or broker offices. However, the delivery order information exchanged is far more detailed than a single field assigned by the IUG standard. These additional details reduce settlement delays and failure rates. Referring to Fig. 1 again, after the settlement information has been exchanged with the broker 14, the investment institution 12 uses the communication link 19 to notify the custodian 16 of the transaction and provides them with the delivery order for settlement by the trading broker, as shown in Fig. 4 .

At 64, after agreeing to the confirmation 62 made by the broker for each transfer, the investment institution 12 converts or reorganizes the confirmation information in the IUG format, if necessary, into the ISITC format, and This information is sent to custodian 16 as transaction opinion 66 . Obviously, at each step in the trade settlement process additional information is added to the exchange information, so that information originally included in order execution notifications now also includes account information, BIA, custodian and broker delivery instructions, and financial detail. Thus, the system 10 does not store or retain information related to any particular executed transaction, but merely communicates that information between participants. If desired, personal information or records on a central database that restrict access to specific participants for each particular transaction can be used. However, since a complete settlement communication record is sent at each step of method 10, by adding additional information to the original order execution notification, participants do not have to waste time comparing information.

Cross-references 70 to various security numbering systems, such as CUSIP, ISIN, SEDOL, etc., can be accessed using the security name portion of the transaction opinion 66. The cross-reference database 70 may be accessed at a third party location, or it may be used in conjunction with the central database 24 if desired. As shown in block 68, the transaction opinion 66 is sent to the custodian 16 along with the various security codes. When receiving, the custodian 16 sends back the received message 72 to the investment institution 12, indicating that the custodian will proceed with transaction settlement according to the received transaction opinion. Furthermore, it is apparent that any contractual obligations or commitments between securities participants 12, 14, 16 are solely between the participants and not related to the provider of the communication means and method 10, which are used only to enable Information can be exchanged between participants.

The custodian 16, as the institution that notifies the investment institution 12 that the transaction has been settled, will provide a periodic reconciliation report (reconciliation report) 74, which includes, for example, every account bought, sold and held by each investment institution account during the cycle. The number of shares of different securities, the current stock price and the stock price per transaction.

As noted above, the communication link 18 has access to both the account and delivery order databases 28, 30, while the communication link 19 does not have access to either. However, it may be desirable to have access to the delivery database 30 via the communication link 19, for example when the investment institution 12 does not need or wish to review the broker's delivery orders.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the components and features of a specific device, this cannot be an exhaustive description of all possible devices or features. In fact, for those skilled in the art, on the basis of the present invention Many other modifications and variations can be made above.

Claims amended under PCT Article 19

1. A device for transmitting securities settlement information among investors, brokers and custodians, comprising:

first and second databases with software and hardware for storing and retrieving data based on unique identifiers;

a plurality of broker delivery orders stored on said first database based on broker identifiers;

information related to a plurality of investor accounts stored on said second database based on account identifiers;

a broker sender for sending a broker identifier to the first database receiver;

a first database sender for sending broker delivery orders retrieved from said first database by means of the received broker identifier to investor receivers;

an investor sender for sending broker delivery instructions received from the first database sender, said investor sender being further operable to send an account identifier to a second database receiver;

a second database sender for sending account information retrieved from said second database by means of the received account identifier;

a broker receiver for transferring securities shares traded based on account information received from said second database sender; and

a custodian receiver for exchanging funds and securities for settlement of transactions in accordance with broker delivery instructions received from said first database sender.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the information about the plurality of investor accounts includes custodian delivery instructions corresponding to the accounts for use by brokers in exchanging funds and securities for settlement of transactions.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a plurality of custodian delivery instructions stored on said first database based on unique custodian identifiers, and wherein said first database includes instructions for retrieving from stored custodians A delivery order means for generating a table of custodian identifiers to be used by investors to designate custodians for investor accounts.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said first database sender also sends the table of custodian identifiers to investor receivers.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said investor sender also sends a custodian identifier corresponding to an investor account to the first database receiver, and wherein said first database sender also sends The custodian delivery order retrieved from said first database by means of the received custodian identifier is sent to the second database receiver and stored on the second database.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, including custodian input means at the custodian location for generating custodian delivery instructions to be stored on said first database.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, comprising means for detecting storage of a custodian delivery order on the first database and generating a message alerting investors of the storage of a custodian delivery order, and wherein said first A database sender also sends the information to the investor receiver.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 including an investor input unit at an investor location for generating account information to be stored on said second database.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, including means for detecting storage of investor account information on the second database and generating a message alerting the broker of the storage of investor account information, and wherein said The second database sender also sends this information to the broker receiver.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 including a broker input unit at a broker location for generating broker delivery orders for storage on said first database.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, including means for detecting the storage of a broker delivery order on the first database and generating an alert to the custodian of the storage of broker delivery order information, and wherein said first A data transmitter also sends the information to the custodian receiver.

12. A device for settling securities transactions of investors, comprising:

first and second databases with software and hardware for storing and retrieving data based on unique identifiers;

a plurality of custodian delivery instructions stored on said first database based on custodian identifiers;

an investor sender for sending information about the investor's account to the second database receiver, and for sending the custodian identifier corresponding to the account information to the first database receiver;

a first database sender including means for fetching and sending to a second database receiver a custodian delivery instruction corresponding to the received custodian identifier;

The second database receiver is used to receive the investor account information from the investor sender and the custodian delivery order from the first database sender, the second database includes combining the account information and the custodian delivery order according to means for storing account identifiers on said second database;

This investor sender is also used to send account identifiers;

a second database sender for retrieving and sending account information and custodian delivery instructions corresponding to the received account identifier; and

A broker receiver for generating certification information based on received account information and initiating the exchange of funds and securities based on received custodian delivery instructions for settlement of trades.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, comprising a custodian input unit at a custodian location for generating custodian delivery instructions to be stored on said first database.

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, comprising means for detecting the storage of the custodian delivery order on the first database and generating a message to remind investors to pay attention to the custodian delivery order, and wherein said first database The sender also sends this information to the investor receiver.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, including means for detecting storage of investor account information on a second database and generating information to alert a broker to investor account information, wherein said second database sender This information is also sent to the broker receiver.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, comprising a plurality of broker delivery orders stored on said first database based on specific broker identifiers, and further comprising means for detecting a broker on said first database means for storing delivery orders and generating a message alerting the custodian to the broker's delivery order, and wherein said first database sender also sends the message to the custodian receiver.

17. An apparatus for communicating securities settlement information between a custodian and a broker, comprising:

Databases with software and hardware for storing and retrieving data based on private identifiers;

a plurality of custodian delivery instructions stored on said database based on identifiers;

an investor sender for sending identifiers; a database receiver for receiving identifiers sent by said investor sender, and for taking out custodian delivery instructions corresponding to the received identifiers;

a database sender for sending custodian delivery instructions retrieved from said database; and

A broker receiver for receiving custodian delivery instructions from the database sender and initiating the exchange of funds and securities in accordance with the custodian delivery instructions for trade settlement.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 including a broker output unit at a broker location for displaying received custodian delivery instructions.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein custodian delivery instructions are stored on and retrieved from said database along with information about investor accounts, and wherein the identifier comprises an account identifier.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said database includes a cross-reference table of account identifiers and broker account numbers stored thereon, and wherein said database sender also sends The identifier is a broker account number retrieved from said database, and wherein said broker receiver also receives the broker account number to enable identification of the received account information.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 including an investor input unit at an investor location for generating account information and corresponding custodian delivery instructions stored on said database.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 including means for detecting storage of investor account information on a second database and generating a message alerting a broker to investor account information, wherein said database transmitter further This information is sent to the specific broker identified from the cross-reference table.

23. An apparatus for communicating securities settlement information between a broker and a custodian, comprising:

databases having software and hardware for storing and retrieving data based on private identifiers,

a plurality of broker delivery orders stored on said database based on broker identifiers;

a broker sender for sending out a broker identifier;

a database receiver for receiving a broker identifier sent by said broker sender, and for fetching a broker delivery order corresponding to the received identifier;

a database sender for sending to investor receivers broker delivery instructions retrieved from said database by means of the received broker identifier;

Investor sender, which is used to send broker delivery instructions received from the database sender;

A custodian receiver for receiving broker delivery orders from investor senders and initiating the exchange of funds and securities in accordance with the broker delivery orders for trade settlement.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, including a custodian output unit located at the custodian location for displaying received broker delivery orders.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said database utilizes stored broker delivery orders to generate a list of broker names, and wherein said database sender also sends the list of broker names, wherein investor receiver Use the received broker table to send out information about the trade.

26. A method for communicating securities settlement information between an investor, a broker, and a custodian comprising the steps of:

storing a plurality of broker delivery orders on the first database based on the broker identifier;

storing information about a plurality of investor accounts on a second database based on account identifiers;

sending the broker identifier from the broker sender to the first database receiver;

fetching a broker delivery order from the first database using the received broker identifier;

sending the withdrawn broker delivery order to the investor receiver by means of the first database sender;

Use the investor transmitter to send the broker delivery order received by the investor to the custodian receiver;

using the investor sender to send the account identifier to the second database receiver;

fetching account information from the second database using the received account identifier;

Sending the retrieved account information to the broker receiver with the second database sender;

Generate warranty information based on account information; and

Initiates the exchange of funds and securities based on broker delivery orders.

27. A method for settling an investor's securities transaction comprising the steps of:

storing a plurality of custodian delivery instructions on the first database according to the custodian identifier;

sending information about the investor's account from the investor sender to the second database receiver;

sending the custodian identifier corresponding to the account information from the investor sender to the first database receiver;

Take out the custodian delivery instruction corresponding to the received custodian identifier;

sending the received custodian delivery instruction from the first database sender to the second database receiver;

receiving investor account information and custodian delivery instructions at a second database receiver;

Combining the received account information and the received delivery instruction from the custodian into the second database according to the account identifier;

sending the account identifier from the investor sender to the second database receiver;

Take out the account information corresponding to the received account identifier and the custodian delivery instruction;

sending the withdrawn account information and custodian delivery instructions from the second database sender to the broker receiver;

transfer securities based on account information received; and

Initiate the exchange of securities and funds upon receipt of custody delivery instructions.

28. A method as claimed in claim 27, comprising the steps of: detecting the storage of account information on the second database, and generating a message to alert the broker to the account information, and sending the message from the second database transmitter to broker.

29. A method for communicating securities settlement information between a custodian and a broker comprising the steps of:

storing multiple custodian delivery orders on the database according to the identifier;

Send the identifier from the investor sender to the database receiver;

Retrieve the custodian delivery order from the database using the received identifier;

Send the withdrawn custodian delivery order from the database sender to the broker;

receiving custodian delivery instructions from the database sender at the broker; and

Initiates the exchange of funds and securities in accordance with custodian delivery instructions.

30. A method as claimed in claim 29, comprising the steps of: detecting the storage of the broker's delivery order on the database, and generating a message to remind investors to pay attention to the custodian's delivery order, and sending the message from the database transmitter to Investor Receiver.

31. A method for communicating securities settlement information between a broker and a custodian comprising the steps of:

storing multiple broker delivery orders on the database according to the broker identifier;

Send the broker identifier from the broker sender to the database receiver;

Retrieve the broker delivery order from the database using the received broker identifier;

Using the database sender to send the retrieved broker identifier to the investor receiver;

Use the investor sender to send the broker's delivery order to the custodian;

receiving broker delivery instructions from investor transmitters at the custodian; and

Initiates the exchange of funds and securities based on broker delivery orders.

32. The method of claim 31, comprising the steps of: detecting the storage of broker delivery orders on the database and generating a message to alert the custodian to the broker delivery orders; and sending the message from the database transmitter to Custodian Receiver.

Claims (37)

1. A device for transmitting securities settlement information among investors, brokers and custodians, comprising: first and second databases with software and hardware for storing and retrieving data based on unique identifiers; storing a plurality of broker delivery orders on the first database based on broker identifiers; information related to a plurality of investor accounts stored on the second database according to account identifiers; a broker sender for sending a broker identifier to the first database receiver; a first database sender for sending broker delivery orders retrieved from said first database by means of the received broker identifier to investor receivers; an investor sender for sending broker delivery orders retrieved from the first database sender to the custodian receiver, said investor sender being also operable to send the account identifier to the second database receiver; and A second database sender for sending account information retrieved from said first database by means of the received account identifier to the broker receiver. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the information about the plurality of investor accounts includes custodian delivery instructions corresponding to the accounts. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a plurality of custodian delivery instructions stored on said first database based on a unique custodian identifier. 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first database generates a table of custodian identifiers based on stored custodian delivery instructions. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first database sender also sends a table of custodian identifiers to the investor receiver. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the investor sender also sends the custodian identifier to the first database receiver. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first database sender further sends to the second database receiver custodian delivery instructions retrieved from the first database by means of the received custodian identifier. 8. The apparatus of claim 3, including a custodian input device at a custodian location for storing custodian delivery instructions on said first database. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first database sender further sends a message to the investor receiver alerting the investor of the deposit of a custodian delivery order on the first database. 10. The apparatus of claim 1 including an investor input unit at an investor location for storing account information on said second database. 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said second database sender further sends a message to a broker receiver alerting the broker of depositing information about investor accounts on the second database. 12. The apparatus of claim 1 including a broker input unit at a broker location for storing broker delivery orders onto said first database. 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first database sender further sends a message to the custodian receiver alerting the custodian of the deposit of a broker-in delivery order on the first database. 14. A device for settling securities transactions of investors, comprising: first and second databases with software and hardware for storing and retrieving data based on unique identifiers; a plurality of custodian delivery orders stored on the first database according to the custodian identifier; an investor sender for sending information about the investor's account to the second database receiver, and for sending the custodian identifier corresponding to the account information to the first database receiver; The first database sender is configured to send the custodian delivery instruction corresponding to the taken out custodian identifier to the second database receiver; The second database receiver is used to receive the investor account information from the investor sender and the custodian delivery order from the first database sender, and store the combination of the account information and the custodian delivery order according to the account identifier in on the second database. 15. The apparatus of claim 14, including a custodian input unit located at the custodian location for storing custodian delivery instructions on said first database. 16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said first database sender further sends a message to the investor receiver, reminding the investor that the custodian delivery order is deposited on the first database. 17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said second database sender further sends a message to the broker receiver alerting the broker that information about the investor's account is deposited on the second database. 18. The apparatus of claim 16, comprising a plurality of broker delivery orders stored on said first database based on specific broker identifiers. 19. The apparatus of claim 14, comprising a broker sender for sending the broker identifier to the first database receiver. 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said first database sender further sends a message to the custodian receiver alerting the custodian of the deposit of broker delivery orders on the first database. 21. An apparatus for communicating securities settlement information between a custodian and a broker, comprising: Databases with software and hardware for storing and retrieving data based on private identifiers; a plurality of custodian delivery orders stored on said database according to identifiers; investor sender for sending the identifier to the database receiver; a database sender that sends custodian delivery instructions retrieved from said database by means of the received identifier; and A broker receiver that receives custodian delivery instructions sent from a database sender. 22. The apparatus of claim 21 including a broker output unit at a broker location for displaying received custodian delivery instructions. 23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein custodian delivery instructions are stored on and retrieved from said database along with information about investor accounts, and wherein the identifier comprises an account identifier. 24. The apparatus of claim 23 including a cross-reference table of account identifiers and broker account numbers stored on said database. 25. The apparatus of claim 24 including an investor input unit at an investor location for storing account information and corresponding custodian delivery instructions on said database. 26. Apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said database sender further sends a message to a particular broker identified from the cross-reference table, alerting the broker to deposit information relating to the appropriate account on the database . 27. An apparatus for communicating securities settlement information between a broker and a custodian comprising: databases with software and hardware for storing and retrieving data according to private identifiers, a plurality of broker delivery orders stored on said database based on broker identifiers; a broker sender for sending a broker identifier to a database receiver; a database sender for sending broker delivery orders retrieved from said database to investor receivers by means of the received broker identifier; Investor sender for sending broker delivery orders received from database sender; Custodian Receiver, which is used to receive broker delivery orders from Investor Sender. 28. The apparatus of claim 27, including a custodian output unit located at the custodian location for displaying received broker delivery orders. 29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said database generates a list of broker names using stored broker delivery orders. 30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said database sender also sends a list of broker names to investor receivers. 31. A method for communicating securities settlement information between an investor, a broker, and a custodian comprising the steps of: storing a plurality of broker delivery orders on a first database based on broker identifiers; storing information about a plurality of investor accounts on a second database based on account identifiers; sending the broker identifier from the broker sender to the first database receiver; fetching a broker delivery order from the first database using the received broker identifier; sending the withdrawn broker delivery order to the investor receiver by means of the first database sender; Use the investor transmitter to send the broker delivery order taken out by the investor to the custodian receiver; using the investor sender to send the account identifier to the second database receiver; fetching account information from the second database using the received account identifier; and The retrieved account information is sent to the broker receiver with the second database sender. 32. A method for settling an investor's securities transaction comprising the steps of: storing a plurality of custodian delivery orders on a first database according to the custodian identifier; sending information about investor accounts from the investor transmitter to a second database receiver; sending a custodian identifier corresponding to the account information from the investor sender to the first database receiver; Take out the custodian delivery instruction corresponding to the received custodian identifier; sending the received custodian delivery instruction from the first database sender to the second database receiver; receiving investor account information and custodian delivery instructions at a second database receiver; and The received account information and the received custodian delivery order are stored in the second database according to the account identifier. 33. A method as claimed in claim 32 which includes the step of sending a message from the second database sender to the broker receiver alerting the broker of the deposit of account information on the second database. 34. A method for communicating securities settlement information between a custodian and a broker comprising the steps of: storing multiple custodian delivery orders on the database according to the identifier; Send the identifier from the investor sender to the database receiver; Retrieve the custodian delivery order from the database using the received identifier; send the withdrawn custodian delivery order from the database sender to the broker; and Custodian delivery instructions from the database sender are received by the broker. 35. The method of claim 34, including the step of: sending a message from the database sender to the investor receiver alerting the investor of the deposit of the custodian delivery order on the database. 36. A method for communicating securities settlement information between a broker and a custodian comprising the steps of: storing multiple broker delivery orders on the database according to the broker identifier; Send the broker identifier from the broker sender to the database receiver; Retrieve the broker delivery order from the database using the received broker identifier; Using the database sender to send the retrieved broker identifier to the investor receiver; use the investor transmitter to send broker delivery instructions to the custodian; and Broker delivery instructions from investor transmitters are received at the custodian. 37. The method of claim 36 including the step of: sending a message from the database sender to the depositary receiver alerting the depositary of the deposit of broker delivery orders on the database.

Images