New NSCC Requirements for 24x5 Trading
As previously announced in a FINRA Technical Notice, FINRA’s Trade Reporting Facilities1 (TRFs) will be extending their operating hours to support 23x5 trade reporting, with a 1-hour technical pause each weeknight at 8 p.m. (Eastern Time), starting December 6, 2026.
As part of this industry-wide extended trading hours initiative,2 DTCC’s NSCC subsidiary expanded its hours of operation on June 28, 2026 to support 24x5 trading.3 DTCC has published a set of Trade Processing FAQs to help its members prepare for the expanded NSCC hours.
FINRA is publishing this Technical Notice to alert FINRA members that use the FINRA TRFs to submit trades to clearing about NSCC requirements related to 24x5 trade processing, as described in DTCC Trade Processing FAQ #4:
Separate 9A/9B Trading Relationships for the Overnight Session NSCC will enhance its Trading Relationship Management system so members can manage broker dealer locked-in agreements separately for the new overnight session. For Correspondent Clearing (CORR) and Qualified Special Representative (QSR) relationships, members wishing to participate in overnight trading must establish and maintain separate relationships for overnight sessions. These relationships can be established through the Automated Special Representative Facility.
To be clear, this is an NSCC requirement, not a FINRA requirement. FINRA has made the decision not to require firms to update their Uniform Reporting Agreements (URAs) for overnight trade reporting. However, if firms do not adhere to the NSCC requirement, there could be a situation where QSR clearing trades are reported to and accepted at a TRF, but those same trades would be rejected at NSCC if firms have not updated their 9A/9B agreements for the overnight session. Note: DTCC’s 9A/9B Trading Relationship validations do not apply to AGU clearing trades.
Firms are advised to contact the NSCC Integration Team at [email protected] if they have any questions.
Firms may sign up for FINRA Facilities-related notifications via the FINRA Email Subscription Service page by accessing the “Equities” subscription list under the “Market Transparency” section.
If you have any questions, please contact FINRA Business Services.
1 FINRA’s Trade Reporting Facilities are the FINRA/NYSE TRF, the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Carteret and the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Chicago. FINRA’s Alternative Display Facility (ADF), which is also a trade reporting facility for the purpose of reporting Over-The-Counter (OTC) trades in NMS stocks, will not be adjusting its operating hours at this time.
2 The Operating Committees of the SIP Plans have announced that they expect implementation of the SIP Plan amendments to extend SIP operating hours will occur on December 6, 2026.
3 See DTCC’s press release announcing 24x5 clearing hours expansion, available at https://www.dtcc.com/news/2026/june/29/nscc-now-live-with-clearing-hours-extended