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Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI)
in the trade lifecycle

The post-trade processing cycle faces numerous challenges, leading to inefficiencies in trade execution. These challenges include a lack of transparency, limited end-to-end visibility of settlements, and poor exception handling (mainly due to insufficient or incorrect data). Such inefficiencies not only hinder operational processes but also increase the likelihood of errors, thus leading to financial penalties and operational risks. Addressing these challenges requires an enhanced system that streamlines post-trade processes, enhances transparency, and expedites operations, thereby fostering trust and efficiency in financial markets. Let’s discover the value of the Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI) in Trade Life Cycle

Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI) in the trade lifecycle

The post-trade processing cycle faces numerous challenges, leading to inefficiencies in trade execution. These challenges include a lack of transparency, limited end-to-end visibility of settlements, and poor exception handling (mainly due to insufficient or incorrect data). Such inefficiencies not only hinder operational processes but also increase the likelihood of errors, thus leading to financial penalties and operational risks. Addressing these challenges requires an enhanced system that streamlines post-trade processes, enhances transparency, and expedites operations, thereby fostering trust and efficiency in financial markets.

Cloud-Native Solutions: Empower Your Digital Transformation
Cloud-Native Solutions: Empower Your Digital Transformation

Why are we talking about a Unique Transaction Identifier for securities settlement?

For every securities trade, a singular and distinctive 52-character alphanumeric code, known as the UTI, is meticulously assigned. This UTI serves as a reference number or tracking beacon, facilitating the seamless identification and monitoring of transactions by intricately interlinking all messages pertinent to the transaction across every intermediary involved in the securities lifecycle.
In essence, the UTI remains constant throughout the lifecycle of the transaction. Given the heightened industry emphasis on operational risk and resilience, the integration of UTI brings a sense of assurance and stability, poised to mitigate settlement failures and enhance the modernization of market practices, especially in the context of transitioning to a T+1 settlement environment.
The widespread adoption of the UTI within the industry will revolutionize securities tracking, enabling comprehensive monitoring from inception to settlement.

Comprehensive Lifecycle Visibilitity

Enabling end-to-end visibility throughout the entire lifecycle, providing the ability to monitor operational risks during post-trade processes in real time.

Enhanced Workflow Efficiency:

Leveraging data from Swift securities messages to enhance decision-making processes, determining necessary actions and next steps to ensure seamless settlement.

Precise Issue Detection:

Facilitating early identification of settlement data discrepancies through real-time visibility. This allows firms to promptly address operational issues and bottlenecks, ensuring efficient exception management.

The anticipated savings from implementing the UTI are as follows:

A 50% decrease in the instances of pre-settlement matching and timing exceptions that necessitate active investigation with a counterparty.

A notable 90% reduction in the occurrences of matching or timing failures.

These estimated savings underscore the efficiency and effectiveness of adopting the UTI in optimizing operational processes and mitigating risks within the securities trade lifecycle.

Be Geared up for
T+1 settlement

Undoubtedly, the adoption of UTI marks a significant step towards enhanced automation in the post-trade settlement cycle, particularly as markets eagerly anticipate the shift to the T+1 settlement cycle. With a shorter timeframe for post-trade processing and asset servicing, automation becomes paramount. Additionally, the integration of UTI into Swift Securities View introduces a new level of end-to-end visibility to post-trade processing. This service plays a crucial role in mitigating settlement failures, which currently incur substantial costs for the industry annually, while also facilitating readiness for the global transition to shorter settlement cycles
Swift Securities View, a service developed together with the industry, utilizes the Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI) to enhance transparency in post-trade processing. This initiative is pivotal in reducing settlement failures, which collectively cost the industry billions annually, and in preparing for the global transition to shorter settlement cycles.
By leveraging the Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI), Swift Securities View seamlessly links all Swift messages associated with the same securities settlement flow within a transaction chain. Trade matching platforms such as CTM from DTCC actively support this service by generating and transmitting the Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI) at the moment of trade execution/allocation to both trade parties.
Consequently, all transaction participants, ranging from asset managers and brokers to global custodians and CSDs, benefit from automated tracking capabilities on both sides of the transaction.

How ECS Fin can help:

We have developed a IMS trade processing solution tailored to the needs of capital market firms. This solution offers fully customizable and seamlessly integrated applications that orchestrate, streamline, oversee, and govern the entire trade processing cycle. A key feature of our solution is 'Securities View,' which allows customers to experience an end-to-end processing cycle by providing real-time status updates to the parties concerned. This is achieved through the utilization of the Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI), which connects all Swift securities messages associated with the same securities settlement process.

Our streamlined approach ensures swift resolution of any issues or trade failures, thereby ensuring accurate trade settlements. With our solution, transitioning to an integrated trade processing platform is effortless, eliminating the need to handle tokens or manually re-enter data for individual interactions with each counterparty.

Process, Manage, and Control all Trade and Funds related activities.

Utilize real-time dashboards and notifications to minimize breaks.

Exchange data via Host2Host, shared service center, and ECS Swift Service Bureau.

Organize, Streamline, and Defragment trade processing workflows.

Comply with every counterparty’s preferred messaging standards/protocols, including ISO 20022.

Detect and avoid settlement failures across the entire trade lifecycle using our IMS Trade processing solution.