Document

Self-Regulatory Organizations; National Securities Clearing Corporation; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change Concerning NSCC's Ability To Support Industry Efforts To Extend Trading Hours for the U.S. Equity Markets

[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 73 (Thursday, April 16, 2026)] [Notices] [Pages 20507-20515] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo....

[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 73 (Thursday, April 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20507-20515]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07344]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-105210; File No. SR-NSCC-2026-006]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; National Securities Clearing 
Corporation; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change Concerning NSCC's 
Ability To Support Industry Efforts To Extend Trading Hours for the 
U.S. Equity Markets

April 13, 2026.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that 
on April 2, 2026, National Securities Clearing Corporation (``NSCC'') 
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') the 
proposed rule change as described in Items I, II and III below, which 
Items have been prepared by the clearing agency. The Commission is 
publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change 
from interested persons.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
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I. Clearing Agency's Statement of the Terms of Substance of the 
Proposed Rule Change

    The proposed rule change consists of amendments to the NSCC Rules & 
Procedures (``NSCC Rules'') to describe (i) NSCC's ability to support 
industry efforts to extend trading hours for the U.S. equity markets 
and (ii) the publication of general timeframes, deadlines or cutoff 
times related to NSCC's core trade acceptance, clearing, settlement and 
risk management processes, including those applicable to extend trading 
hours.\3\
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    \3\ Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning 
assigned to such terms in the NSCC Rules, available at www.dtcc.com/legal/rules-and-procedures.

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[[Page 20508]]

II. Clearing Agency's Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis 
for, the Proposed Rule Change

    In its filing with the Commission, the clearing agency included 
statements concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule 
change and discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule 
change. The text of these statements may be examined at the places 
specified in Item IV below. The clearing agency has prepared summaries, 
set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant 
aspects of such statements.

[lpar]A[rpar] Clearing Agency's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The primary purpose of the proposed rule change is to amend the 
NSCC Rules to describe NSCC's ability to support industry efforts to 
extend trading hours for the U.S. equity markets. The proposed rule 
change would also describe how NSCC would provide additional clarity 
and transparency around the key timeframes related to NSCC's core trade 
acceptance, clearing, settlement and risk management processes, 
including those applicable to extended trading and clearing hours, by 
making such times available on the NSCC website. The proposed rule 
change is discussed in detail below.
Background
NSCC Trade Capture and Recording Services
    The Universal Trade Capture system (``UTC'') is NSCC's system for 
validating and reporting equity transactions submitted to NSCC by self-
regulatory organizations (``SROs''), specifically registered securities 
exchanges (``Exchanges''), and Qualified Special Representatives 
(``QSRs'') \4\ submitting trades on behalf of an automated execution 
system or Alternative Trading System (``ATS''). UTC currently operates 
from 1:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time each business day.\5\
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    \4\ A ``Special Representative'' is a Member or a Registered 
Clearing Agency which applies to NSCC for such status and designates 
those Members for which it will act. Special Representatives may 
submit to NSCC for trade recording trade data on any transaction 
calling for delivery of Cleared Securities between it and another 
person. See NSCC Rule 7, Sections 1 and 2(a), supra note 3. A 
``Qualified Special Representative'' (or QSR) is a Special 
Representative who (i) operates an automated execution system where 
it is always the contra side to each transaction; (ii) has a parent 
corporation or affiliated corporation that operates an automated 
execution system where the Special Representative is always the 
contra side to each transaction; or (iii) clears for a broker/dealer 
who operates an automated execution system where the broker/dealer 
is always the contra side to each transaction, and the subscribers 
to the automated execution system enter into an agreement with the 
broker/dealer and the Special Representative acknowledging the 
Special Representative's role in the clearance of trades executed on 
the automated execution system. See NSCC Rule 7, Section 3, supra 
note 3.
    \5\ All times discussed herein are Eastern Time unless otherwise 
indicated.
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    NSCC begins accepting locked-in trades from certain QSRs for ATS 
activity between 1:30 and 4:00 a.m. each business day.\6\ NSCC also 
accepts locked-in trades from both Exchanges and QSRs from 4:00 a.m. to 
8:00 p.m. each business day. This window is aligned with current 
Exchange trading sessions supported by the Securities Information 
Processors (``SIPs''),\7\ which generally include an early hours or 
pre-market session from 4:00 to 9:30 a.m., regular hours or core market 
session from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and late hours or post-market 
session from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. In addition, NSCC accepts other non-
Exchange/non-QSR activity through UTC between the hours of 8:00 and 
11:30 p.m., such as primary market exchange-traded fund activity, prime 
broker activity, and options exercise and assignment activity from The 
Options Clearing Corporation.
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    \6\ This activity currently represents approximately one percent 
of the overall trade volume cleared by NSCC.
    \7\ SIPs link the U.S. markets by processing and consolidating 
all protected equities bid/ask quotes and trades from every 
registered exchange and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, 
Inc.'s Alternative Display Facility into a single, easily consumable 
data feed. There are currently two SIPs: (i) the combined 
Consolidated Tape Association (``CTA'') SIP, and (ii) the Unlisted 
Trading Privileges (``UTP'') SIP. The CTA SIP oversees the 
dissemination of real-time trade and quote information in New York 
Stock Exchange LLC (Network A) and Bats, Cboe, NYSE Arca, NYSE 
American and other regional exchanges (Network B) listed securities. 
See CTA Plan website available at www.ctaplan.com/index. The UTP SIP 
oversees the dissemination of Nasdaq-listed securities (sometimes 
called ``Network C'' or ``Tape C'' securities). See UTP Plan 
website, available at www.utpplan.com. Each SIP is governed by a 
plan and run by an Operating Committee comprised of its plan 
participants, which are counseled by an advisory committee made up 
of individuals representing firms from across the industry and 
representing the diverse viewpoints of the market.
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    In response to growing demand for 24-hour trading, NSCC proposes to 
extend its UTC operating hours and associated clearing hours to support 
extended trading hours for the U.S. equity markets.
Industry Initiatives To Extend Trading Hours for U.S. Equities
    The industry is currently working on a number of initiatives to 
expand trading hours for the U.S. equity markets due to growing 
interest in 24-hour trading, particularly from retail investors. This 
includes initiatives by Exchanges, QSRs and ATS operators, and the 
SIPs, as well as industry coordination through task forces and working 
groups organized by The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation 
(``DTCC'') \8\ and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets 
Association (``SIFMA''). For example:
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    \8\ DTCC is NSCC's parent company.
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      On November 27, 2024, the Commission issued an order 
approving an application by 24X National Exchange LLC (``24X'') for 
registration as a national securities exchange.\9\ As part of its 
application, 24X proposed to operate an overnight trading session from 
8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. (``24X Market Session'').\10\ The adoption of 
this overnight session is subject to 24X filing a subsequent proposed 
rule change with the Commission and such filing being approved or 
otherwise becoming effective; \11\
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    \9\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 101777 (Nov. 27, 
2024), 89 FR 97092 (Dec. 6, 2024) (File No. 10-242) (``24X Order'').
    \10\ 24X subsequently filed a proposed rule change with the 
Commission to amend the start time of the 24X Market Session to 9:00 
p.m. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 104086 (Sept. 26, 
2025), 90 FR 46978 (Sept. 30, 2025) (SR-24X-2025-07).
    \11\ See 24X Order at 97105-97106, supra note 9.
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      On February 11, 2025, the Commission approved a proposed 
rule change by NYSE Arca, Inc. (``NYSE Arca'') to offer trading from 
1:30 a.m. through 11:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, and 1:30 a.m. 
through 8:00 p.m. on Friday.\12\ The adoption of NYSE Arca's proposal 
is also subject to NYSE Arca filing a subsequent proposed rule change 
with the Commission and such filing being approved or otherwise 
becoming effective; \13\
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    \12\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 102400 (Feb. 11, 
2025), 90 FR 9794 (Feb. 18, 2025) (SR-NYSEARCA-2024-89) (``NYSE Arca 
Order'').
    \13\ See NYSE Arca Order at 9795-9796, id.
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      Cboe Global Markets announced plans to offer 24-hour, 
five-days-a-week trading for U.S. equities on its Cboe EDGX Equities 
Exchange (``EDGX''), subject to regulatory review; \14\ and
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    \14\ See Cboe Global Markets, Cboe Announces Plans to Launch 
24x5 U.S. Equities Trading, available at https://ir.cboe.com/news/news-details/2025/Cboe-Announces-Plans-to-Launch-24x5-U.S.-Equities-Trading-2025-NwujmKvsxb/default.aspx.
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      Nasdaq announced plans to enable 24-hour trading on the 
Nasdaq Stock Market, subject to regulatory review.\15\
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    \15\ See Nasdaq 24-Hour Trading Hub website, available at 
www.nasdaq.com/24-hour-trading-hub.
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    The participants of the SIPs have also submitted amendments to 
their respective operating plans (``Plan Amendments'') to the 
Commission to extend their operating hours. The Plan Amendments propose 
new operating

[[Page 20509]]

hours (excluding holidays) of 9:00 p.m. Sunday to 8:00 p.m. Friday; 
provided, however, that the SIPs will pause operations at 8:00 p.m. on 
Monday through Thursday for an hour to accommodate technical refreshes 
for the SIPs, SIP participants, and other market participants.\16\ NSCC 
notes that the SIPs' Plan Amendments include certain conditions, 
including that DTCC offers clearing during the proposed hours of 
operation.
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    \16\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 104665 (Jan. 22, 
2026), 91 FR 3602 (Jan. 27, 2026) (SR-CTA/CQ-2026-01) (Consolidated 
Tape Association; Notice of Filing of Fortieth Substantive Amendment 
to the Second Restatement of the CTA Plan and Thirty-First 
Substantive Amendment to the Restated CQ Plan) and 104670 (Jan. 22, 
2026), 91 FR 3609 (Jan. 27, 2026) (File No. S7-24-89) (Joint 
Industry Plan; Notice of Filing of the Fifty-Fifth Amendment to the 
Joint Self-Regulatory Organization Plan Governing the Collection, 
Consolidation and Dissemination of Quotation and Transaction 
Information for Nasdaq-Listed Securities Traded on Exchanges on an 
Unlisted Trading Privileges Basis).
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    There are also several ATSs offering overnight trading in U.S. 
equities during the hours of 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., including Blue 
Ocean Technologies, LLC's Blue Ocean ATS,\17\ OTC Markets Group's MOON 
ATS,\18\ and Bruce Markets' Bruce ATS.\19\ Moreover, NSCC understands 
that there are additional ATSs working to expand trading hours to 
include overnight trading sessions.
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    \17\ See Blue Ocean ATS Session hours on the Blue Ocean 
Technologies, LLC website, available at https://blueocean-tech.io.
    \18\ See MOON ATS operating hours on the OTC Markets Group 
website, available at www.otcmarkets.com/otc-link/moon-ats.
    \19\ See Bruce Markets ATS operating hours on the Bruce Markets 
website, available at www.brucemarkets.com.
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    With respect to industry engagement, NSCC has held discussions 
concerning extended trading hours with advisory councils of DTCC's 
subsidiary clearing agencies NSCC, Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, 
and The Depository Trust Company (``DTC'') (collectively, the 
``Clearing Agencies''), which are made up of representatives of the 
Clearing Agencies' participants and other relevant stakeholders,\20\ as 
well as with certain working groups focusing on issues related to 
extended trading hours. The advisory councils and working groups were 
supportive of NSCC's proposal to extend its hours to accommodate 
extended trading hours.
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    \20\ The Clearing Agencies have established various advisory 
councils to ensure appropriate stakeholders are consulted for 
different types of material developments at the Clearing Agencies, 
which include an NSCC and DTC Clearance and Settlement Advisory 
Council, to facilitate compliance with Rule 17ad-25(j) under the 
Act. See 17 CFR 240.17ad-25(j). See also Securities Exchange Act 
Release No. 101764 (Nov. 26, 2024), 89 FR 95843, 95845 (Dec. 3, 
2024) (SR-DTC-2024-009, SR-FICC-2024-010, SR-NSCC-2024-006).
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    SIFMA has also convened task forces made up of industry subject-
matter experts to evaluate the operational and market impacts across 
the equities industry as markets move toward broader adoption of 
extended trading hours. SIFMA and the industry, in collaboration with 
DTCC and the Exchanges, have convened additional working group sessions 
in the areas of clearing and settlement, market structure, corporate 
actions, volatility mechanisms, and margin, among others. These working 
group sessions include a broad representation across market 
participants, including broker-dealers, asset managers, data vendors 
and service providers.\21\
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    \21\ See https://www.sifma.org/issues/market-structure/extended-trading-hours.
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    In response to these industry initiatives and growing demand for 
24-hour trading, NSCC proposes to extend its UTC operating and clearing 
hours to reduce the time between trade execution and the clearance and 
guarantee of overnight trades. NSCC would operate on a ``24x5'' basis 
from Sunday at 8:00 p.m. to Friday at 8:00 p.m. to support overnight 
trading activity from Exchanges and QSRs submitting on behalf of an 
ATS. NSCC's extended clearing hours will facilitate the trade clearance 
and guarantee of overnight activity across different time zones for 
global industry participants and mitigate counterparty risk across the 
industry. The proposed rule change is discussed in detail below.
Proposed Changes
    NSCC proposes to amend the NSCC Rules to provide additional clarity 
regarding (i) NSCC's ability to support industry efforts to extend 
trading hours for the U.S. equity markets and (ii) general timeframes, 
deadlines or cutoff times related to NSCC's core trade acceptance, 
clearing, settlement and risk management processes.
Trade Acceptance and Processing
    NSCC proposes to amend NSCC Rule 1 (Definitions and Descriptions) 
and Procedure II (Trade Comparison and Recording Service) of the NSCC 
Rules to add new defined terms and to describe trade acceptance and 
processing for Exchange and QSR/ATS market trading sessions.
    NSCC proposes to add new definitions to NSCC Rule 1 for the terms 
``Market Trading Session'' and ``Trade Processing Date.'' The term 
``Market Trading Session'' would be defined to mean ``any market 
trading hours established or agreed upon by (i) self-regulatory 
organizations, (ii) automated execution systems (or alternative trading 
systems) for which transactions are submitted on a locked-in basis by 
Qualified Special Representatives, and/or (iii) securities information 
processors, which may include, but are not limited to, any pre-market 
trading sessions, core trading sessions, post-market trading sessions 
or overnight trading sessions.'' The term ``Trade Processing Date'' 
would be defined to mean ``the business date for which a trade is 
expected to be cleared by [NSCC].'' These new defined terms would be 
used in the proposed changes to Procedure II of the NSCC Rules, which 
are further described below.
    NSCC proposes to adopt new subsection G of Procedure II to describe 
trade acceptance and processing for locked-in trades submitted during 
SRO (i.e., Exchange) and QSR/ATS Market Trading Sessions, including 
those submitted during extended trading hours. The proposed rule would 
provide that NSCC may accept locked-in trade data for any Market 
Trading Sessions, provided that such trades shall be accepted and 
processed within the operating hours of NSCC's trade capture system. 
NSCC proposes to move to a ``24x5'' operating model where UTC would be 
open for accepting trades for any valid trade date from Sunday at 8:00 
p.m. to Friday at 8:00 p.m. to support all Market Trading Sessions 
during those times.\22\ The proposed 24x5 operating hours would allow 
NSCC to accommodate trading activity currently anticipated from 
Exchanges and QSR/ATSs, including any pre-market trading sessions, core 
trading sessions, post-market trading sessions, and overnight trading 
sessions that they may offer during NSCC's proposed 24x5 hours. The 
proposed 24x5 operating hours would be communicated to Members, SROs, 
ATSs and the general public in a schedule of timeframes maintained on 
the NSCC website (as described in further detail below).
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    \22\ Next day trades will not be accepted the night before a 
non-U.S. trading day for equity markets.
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    NSCC would also adopt new rule text in proposed subsection G of 
Procedure II to require that SROs and QSRs submitting locked-in trade 
data for overnight trading sessions include such indicators as NSCC may 
determine to designate such transactions as overnight trading session 
activity. The proposed rule change would help to ensure that all trades 
submitted for the overnight session are properly identified so that 
NSCC can verify Special Representative trading relationships (discussed 
below)

[[Page 20510]]

and perform appropriate trade validations for the overnight session.
    NSCC would also adopt rules in proposed subsection G of Procedure 
II to describe the process for Exchanges and QSRs to close out their 
trading activity for each Trade Processing Date. Under NSCC's current 
trade processing operations, at the end of each Trade Processing Date, 
trading markets and other sending entities (e.g., Exchanges and QSRs) 
send a ``Good Night Message'' to UTC to close out their trading day, 
which includes trade totals for each trading market. UTC balances these 
totals with each trading market and sends a confirmation message to 
each sending entity. UTC then sends a Good Night Message to NSCC 
Members indicating trade totals as of each trading market close. When 
all trading markets are closed, UTC sends a final Good Night Message to 
Members indicating UTC is closed for the Trade Processing Date. This 
process is critical to ensure that (i) NSCC and trade submitters can 
reconcile their trade submission information for each Trade Processing 
Date; (ii) NSCC can communicate trade totals and the close of each 
trading market and Trade Processing Date to its Members; and (iii) NSCC 
can roll its trade capture and risk systems to the next Trade 
Processing Date.
    NSCC therefore proposes to adopt new rules in proposed subsection G 
of Procedure II to provide that, each business day, each SRO and QSR 
shall submit a message to NSCC, in such form and at such times 
established by NSCC, confirming the conclusion of trading activity for 
the current Trade Processing Date (i.e., the ``Good Night Message''). 
The proposed rule would further provide that, in the event that an SRO 
or QSR does not submit a Good Night Message for any Trade Processing 
Date, NSCC would have the authority to issue a Good Night Message on 
behalf of such SRO or QSR. NSCC believes it is important to clarify 
this process, and particularly its authority to issue Good Night 
Messages on behalf of SROs or QSRs who fail to submit such messages, so 
that NSCC can close UTC for all activity for a given Trade Processing 
Date in a timely manner and facilitate the end of day reporting, 
reconciliation and UTC processing tasks described above.
    In connection with the move to 24x5, NSCC also proposes to adopt 
new rules in proposed subsection G of Procedure II to provide that SROs 
and QSRs shall not submit locked-in trade data for the next trade date 
prior to (i) NSCC processing a Good Night Message to close out the 
current Trade Processing Date for such submitter and (ii) NSCC's 
designated time for accepting trades for the next Trade Processing 
Date, which NSCC currently expects to occur around 8:00 p.m. These 
times would be communicated to Members, SROs, ATSs and the general 
public in a schedule of timeframes maintained on the NSCC website, as 
described in further detail below. The proposed rule change is intended 
to reflect industry alignment around standardized start and end times 
for the trading day, and the beginning of overnight trading sessions, 
as reflected in Exchange proposals, ATS operating hours, and the SIP 
Plan Amendments discussed above. Standardizing the trading day allows 
the industry to address a range of implementation considerations and 
operational complexities necessary to support the expansion of trading 
hours, including but limited to issues related to settlement processes, 
corporate actions, risk management, technology infrastructure and 
industry coordination.
    Finally, NSCC would amend proposed subsection G of Procedure II to 
state that NSCC will make available on its public website a schedule of 
timeframes containing information concerning: (i) the operating hours 
of NSCC's equity trade capture system (i.e., UTC); (ii) NSCC's time for 
accepting locked-in trades for the next Trade Processing Date; and 
(iii) the expected timelines and deadlines for the inclusion of locked-
in trades in NSCC's (a) CNS night and day cycles, (b) trade reporting 
and outputs to Members, and (c) Required Fund Deposit calculations. The 
proposed rule change would promote improved clarity and transparency 
around NSCC's trade acceptance, trade processing and risk management 
timelines to Members, SROs, ATSs and the general public.
Special Representative Relationships
    As noted above, a Special Representative is a Member that is 
authorized by one or more Member firms to act on their behalf, 
including for the submission of trades to NSCC.\23\ A QSR is a type of 
Special Representative that is authorized to submit trades executed on 
an automated trading platform (e.g., an ATS).\24\ Transactions 
submitted by Special Representatives and QSRs are treated by NSCC in 
the same manner as if both parties had agreed to the details of the 
transactions. Once a trade is submitted by a Special Representative or 
QSR, NSCC treats it as ``locked-in,'' meaning it is compared, 
validated, and guaranteed for settlement.
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    \23\ See supra note 4.
    \24\ Id.
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    Special Representatives and QSRs must establish and maintain their 
Special Representative relationships with NSCC. Special Representative 
relationships are bilateral agreements between firms that are governed 
by the NSCC Rules and cover both QSR and correspondent clearing 
arrangements. As described in Procedure IV.E of the NSCC Rules,\25\ 
NSCC provides an automated relationship management system through which 
Members may establish and ultimately retire these Special 
Representative relationships pursuant to the NSCC Rules.
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    \25\ See Procedure IV, Section E, supra note 3.
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    NSCC proposes to expand Special Representative relationships, and 
the relationship management system, to cover separate relationships for 
the overnight trading session. Accordingly, NSCC proposes to amend 
Procedure IV.E of the NSCC Rules to clarify that Members who wish to 
participate in overnight trading sessions must establish and maintain 
separate Special Representative and Qualified Special Representative 
relationships for overnight trading sessions. The proposed rule change 
would provide an additional control for Members to use to manage their 
overnight activity at NSCC.
Publication of Key Timeframes
    As part of the proposed rule change, NSCC would also modify the 
NSCC Rules concerning the maintenance of certain time schedules 
referenced in the NSCC Rules. Procedure XII of the NSCC Rules currently 
provides that the Procedures state that NSCC will receive and deliver 
information, data and other items at specified times, and the specified 
times may change from time to time. In addition, the Procedure states 
that Members may, upon request, obtain the time schedule then in 
effect, and that NSCC will notify Members of any change in the time 
schedule ten (10) days in advance of the change.
    NSCC proposes to delete existing rule text in Procedure XII and 
replace it with new text to provide that NSCC shall make available on 
its public website information concerning key timeframes, deadlines or 
cutoff times related to its core trade acceptance, clearing, settlement 
and risk management of transactions under the NSCC Rules.\26\ The 
proposed rule text would also clarify that all such times may be 
extended as needed by NSCC to (i)

[[Page 20511]]

address operational or other delays that would reasonably prevent 
Members or NSCC from meeting the deadline or timeframe, as applicable, 
or (ii) allow NSCC time to operationally exercise its existing rights 
under the NSCC Rules. In addition, the proposed rule would clarify that 
all times applicable to NSCC are standards and not deadlines, and that 
actual processing times may vary slightly, as necessary.
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    \26\ NSCC has included a draft version of the NSCC Schedule of 
Trade Processing Timeframes for Equity Clearing and Settlement in 
Exhibit 3 to this filing.
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    NSCC believes that making key timeframes available on its public 
website would improve Members' and the general public's understanding 
of the timeframes applicable to NSCC's core trade acceptance, clearing, 
settlement and risk management of transactions.
Risk Management and Operational Monitoring of Overnight Trades
Risk Management Overview
    NSCC is not currently proposing any changes to its risk management 
rules or margin/Clearing Fund methodology in connection with the move 
to 24x5. NSCC would manage additional trading activity received during 
overnight trading sessions through its existing risk management rules 
and margin/Clearing Fund methodology, similar to the risk management of 
overnight QSR/ATS activity and pre-market trading session activity 
currently cleared by NSCC.
    NSCC generally expects that overnight trading sessions would occur 
between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 a.m. for Exchanges and 8:00 
p.m. to 4:00 a.m. for QSR/ATS activity; however, NSCC notes that these 
timeframes are subject to change based on, for example, proposed rule 
change filings by the Exchanges and the approval of the SIP Plan 
Amendment necessary to implement extended trading hours. Under its 
current and future risk processing capabilities, NSCC accepts trades 
and incorporates those transactions into its start-of-day (``SOD'') 
risk margin calculations until UTC sends a final Good Night Message 
closing the Trade Processing Date for NSCC (approximately 12:00 a.m. 
each day). Accordingly, any overnight trades received prior to UTC 
closing out the current Trade Processing Date would be incorporated 
into NSCC's SOD risk margin calculations and Clearing Fund collection 
processes, as set forth in NSCC Rule 4 and Procedure XV of the NSCC 
Rules. Any overnight trades received after UTC has closed the current 
Trade Processing Date would be included in NSCC's intraday monitoring 
and margin process, as set forth in Section I.(B)(5) of Procedure 
XV.\27\
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    \27\ For example, a trade received at 11:00 p.m. on Monday would 
be included in NSCC's SOD margin/Clearing Fund calculations for 
collection on Tuesday morning, while a trade received at 1:30 a.m. 
on Tuesday would not be included in the SOD calculations for Tuesday 
but would be included in Tuesday's intraday risk monitoring and 
margin process.
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    NSCC believes its current risk management practices would 
adequately address the risk presented by the additional activity 
received during extended trading hours. NSCC calculates and collects 
Clearing Fund from its Members using a risk-based margin methodology 
that enables NSCC to identify the risks posed by a Member's unsettled 
portfolio and quickly adjust and collect additional deposits as needed 
to cover those risks. The margin requirement differential (``MRD'') 
charge (defined further below) is specifically designed to capture the 
risk of a Member's portfolio for the accumulated trades during the 
entire day, up to the UTC Good Night Message, to cover the day-over-day 
increase in the portfolio risk stemming from all trades during the day, 
including any overnight trading session. The MRD charge's design also 
uses a look-back period to capture the spikes in volumes and associated 
risk over the past 100 days. As discussed above, overnight trades 
received prior to UTC closing out the current Trade Processing Date 
would be incorporated into NSCC's SOD risk margin calculations and 
Clearing Fund collection processes and would be subject to the MRD 
charge. Any overnight trades received after UTC has closed the current 
Trade Processing Date would be included in NSCC's intraday monitoring 
and margin process to address additional risk exposures that may arise 
in the overnight session after the close of UTC.
    Additionally, trading activity submitted for the overnight trading 
session represents a small fraction of the overall trade volume cleared 
by NSCC. Based on feedback from industry outreach, NSCC believes that 
overnight trading volumes will increase gradually and steadily over the 
next few years as ATSs and Exchanges expand and normalize overnight 
trading hours as opposed to seeing an immediate significant increase in 
volumes upon the implementation of NSCC's 24x5 proposal.
    These risk management processes are described in further detail 
below.
Required Fund Deposits
    NSCC manages its credit exposure to its Members by determining the 
appropriate Required Fund Deposit to the Clearing Fund for each Member 
and by monitoring the sufficiency of such deposits, as provided for in 
the NSCC Rules.\28\ The objective of a Member's Required Fund Deposit 
is to mitigate potential losses to NSCC associated with liquidating a 
Member's portfolio in the event NSCC ceases to act for that Member 
(hereinafter referred to as a ``default'').\29\ Required Fund Deposits 
operate, individually, as the Member's margin, and the aggregate of all 
such Members' deposits is referred to, collectively, as the Clearing 
Fund, which operates as NSCC's default fund. NSCC would access the 
Clearing Fund should a defaulting Member's own Required Fund Deposit be 
insufficient to satisfy losses to NSCC caused by the liquidation of 
that Member's portfolio.
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    \28\ See NSCC Rule 4, supra note 3.
    \29\ The NSCC Rules identify when NSCC may cease to act for a 
Member and the types of actions NSCC may take. See NSCC Rule 46, 
supra note 3.
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    NSCC calculates and collects Clearing Fund from its Members (i.e., 
a Required Fund Deposit) on a daily basis using a risk-based margin 
methodology. A Member's Required Fund Deposit may vary daily and is 
generally based upon the Member's trading activity and current 
unsettled positions. Required Fund Deposit deficits are due to NSCC 
each business day, typically by 10:00 a.m. As noted above, transactions 
accepted by NSCC prior to UTC's final Good Night Message, which is 
expected to occur at approximately 12:00 a.m. each business day, would 
be factored into this SOD margin collection.
    Each Member's Required Fund Deposit amount consists of a number of 
applicable components, each of which is calculated to address specific 
risks faced by NSCC, as identified within the NSCC Rules. The major 
components of NSCC's Clearing Fund charges include, but are not limited 
to: (i) volatility charges for securities based on asset type and 
liquidity profile; (ii) mark-to-market charges; (iii) fail charges; 
(iv) a charge for Family-Issued Securities to mitigate wrong way risk; 
(v) a charge to mitigate day-over-day margin differentials (i.e., the 
margin requirement differential or ``MRD'' charge); (vi) a coverage 
component; (vii) a margin liquidity adjustment component; (viii) a 
backtesting charge; and (ix) an excess capital premium charge.\30\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \30\ See Procedure XV, supra note 3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The MRD charge, specifically, addresses potential market risk based 
on portfolio fluctuations as a Member executes trades throughout the 
day, which would include portfolio

[[Page 20512]]

fluctuations that occur during extended/overnight trading hours. 
Pursuant to Addendum K of the NSCC Rules, NSCC's central counterparty 
(``CCP'') trade guaranty generally attaches immediately upon trade 
validation, which may occur before the time that NSCC has collected the 
Member's Required Fund Deposit at the start of each day. As a result, 
NSCC may be exposed to large un-margined intraday portfolio 
fluctuations before NSCC has collected the Member's Clearing Fund 
requirement the following morning.
    The MRD charge is calculated based on the day-over-day positive 
changes in the Member's SOD volatility charge and mark-to-market 
(``MTM'') charge components, which are calculated based on the 
overnight or end-of-day positions.\31\ The MRD charge is designed to 
mitigate the risks posed to NSCC by day-over-day fluctuations in a 
Member's portfolio by forecasting future changes in a Member's 
portfolio based on a historical look-back at each Member's portfolio 
over a given time period. Since the MRD charge captures the risk of the 
portfolio for the accumulated trades during the entire day, up to the 
UTC Good Night Message at approximately 12:00 a.m., the day-over-day 
increase in the portfolio risk stemming from all trades during the day, 
including any overnight trading session, would be reflected in the MRD 
calculation. Given the MRD's design to use a look-back period, the 
spikes in volumes and associated risk over the past 100 days are 
already captured in the MRD calculation each day. Members that present 
NSCC with larger increases in day-over-day value-at-risk (``VaR'') and 
MTM also have larger MRD amounts. In this way, NSCC believes the MRD 
charge will capture credit exposures that may arise from its 
participants related to overnight trading activity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \31\ See Section I.(A)(1)(e) and I.(A)(2)(d) of Procedure XV, 
supra note 3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Moreover, NSCC's Clearing Fund methodology, including the MRD 
component, is subject to regular periodic model performance monitoring 
reviews under the Clearing Agency Model Risk Management Framework and 
associated policies and procedures, both in the aggregate and at the 
Member-level. Any model performance issues, if found attributable to 
the extended trading activities, will lead to further analysis, 
escalation, and remediation.
Intraday Monitoring and Margin Collection
    NSCC may also collect payments from Members on an intraday basis 
based on changes in its risk exposures (an ``Intraday Margin Charge''), 
including when certain risk thresholds are breached or when the 
products cleared or markets served display elevated volatility.\32\ 
Intraday Margin Charges include charges based on NSCC's re-calculated 
intraday mark-to-market exposures (``Intraday MTM Charge'') \33\ and 
intraday volatility exposures (``Intraday Volatility Charge'') \34\ for 
each Member. As noted above, any overnight trades received after UTC 
has closed the current Trade Processing Date would be included in these 
intraday monitoring and margin processes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \32\ See Section I.(B)(5) of Procedure XV, supra note 3.
    \33\ See Section I.(B)(5)(a) of Procedure XV, supra note 3.
    \34\ See Section I.(B)(5)(b) of Procedure XV, supra note 3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Intraday MTM Charge is based on the difference between the last 
marked-to-market price of a Member's net CNS and Balance Order 
positions (including CNS fails) and the most recently observed market 
price for such positions.\35\ An Intraday MTM Charge may generally be 
imposed if the difference of this calculation meets or exceeds 80 
percent of the ``volatility charge'' component of the Member's start of 
day Clearing Fund requirement (``Intraday MTM Threshold'').\36\ NSCC 
may reduce the Intraday MTM Threshold during volatile market conditions 
if it determines that a reduction of the threshold is appropriate to 
mitigate risks to NSCC.\37\ NSCC also has the authority to reduce the 
threshold for an individual Member or group of Members if NSCC 
determines it to be necessary to protect itself and its Members in 
response to factors such as market conditions or financial or 
operational capabilities affecting such Member(s), which may be used to 
account for specific risks posed by a Member's activity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \35\ See Section I.(B)(5) of Procedure XV, supra note 3.
    \36\ The ``volatility charge'' component of each Member's 
Required Fund Deposit is designed to measure market price volatility 
of the start-of-day portfolio and is calculated for Members' net 
unsettled positions. See Procedure XV, Section I.(A)(1)(a) for CNS 
Transactions and Section I.(A)(2)(a) for Balance Order Transactions, 
supra note 3.
    \37\ Examples of market conditions that NSCC may consider with 
respect to reducing the Intraday MTM Threshold may include, but 
shall not be limited to, the occurrence of large price changes in a 
major benchmark equity index.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Intraday Volatility Charge is based on the difference between a 
Member's start of day volatility charge and intraday volatility charges 
calculated with respect to its net unsettled CNS and Balance Order 
positions.\38\ An Intraday Volatility Charge may generally be imposed 
if the difference of this calculation meets or exceeds 100 percent, and 
the amount that would be collected is greater than $250,000 (``Intraday 
Volatility Threshold''). NSCC may reduce the Intraday Volatility 
Threshold, for example during volatile market conditions or market 
events that cause increases in trading volumes, if NSCC determines that 
a reduction of the threshold is appropriate to mitigate risks to 
NSCC.\39\ NSCC also has the authority to reduce the Intraday Volatility 
Threshold for an individual Member or group of Members if NSCC 
determines it to be necessary to protect itself and its Members in 
response to factors such as market conditions or financial or 
operational capabilities affecting such Member(s), which may be used to 
account for specific risks posed by a Member's activity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \38\ See Section I.(B)(5)(b) of Procedure XV, supra note 3. The 
amount of the charge is reduced by the portion of the margin 
requirement differential charge that represents the volatility 
component collected at the start of the day and excludes the amount 
calculated for long positions in Family Issued Securities and shares 
delivered to or received by the Member to satisfy all or any portion 
of a short or long position.
    \39\ Examples of market conditions that NSCC may consider with 
respect to reducing the Intraday Volatility Threshold may include, 
but shall not be limited to, ETF index rebalancing periods or the 
occurrence of large price changes in a major benchmark equity index.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NSCC risk systems generate and monitor intraday volatility and 
mark-to-market exposures on a 15-minute basis between 6:00 a.m. and 
11:00 p.m. each business day. NSCC generally conducts intraday 
monitoring of its exposures for purposes of assessing Intraday Margin 
Charges at 15-minute intervals between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:30 
p.m.; however, NSCC maintains authority and operational capacity to 
collect Intraday Margin Charges at any time during the system 
monitoring window if circumstances warrant.\40\ Furthermore, NSCC notes 
that it is currently working to expand its 15-minute monitoring 
capability beyond the current hours of 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \40\ Additional information concerning NSCC's margin methodology 
and intraday risk management processes can be found in the NSCC Risk 
Margin Component Guide, available at https://dtcclearning.com/products-and-services/equities-clearing/nscc-risk-management.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NSCC also plans to expand its offshore time zone footprint beyond 
existing locations with continuous training to be provided to offshore 
teams, with U.S.-based staff remaining

[[Page 20513]]

available for escalation support to ensure continuity and oversight.
Operational Monitoring and Support
    In addition to the risk management framework described above, NSCC 
also has additional operational monitoring and support capabilities to 
support extended trading hours. NSCC would leverage DTCC's existing 
global footprint to ensure continuous support coverage and monitoring 
from Sunday at 8:00 p.m. through Friday at 8:00 p.m. without expanding 
infrastructure or concentrating risk in any single region. NSCC 
currently operates with a 24x7 technology/application support model and 
24x6.5 client/trade submitter support hours (currently from Sunday at 
7:00 a.m. to Saturday at 4:00 p.m.) to monitor and address issues 
during extended trading hours, with trained staffing around the globe 
to support these functions and address significant incidents.\41\ NSCC 
is also enhancing its trade capture platform by developing data 
observability dashboards to provide detective anomaly controls to 
assist in identifying potentially erroneous submissions in UTC. 
Further, all transaction monitoring protocols used during core trading 
hours (9:30 a.m.--4:00 p.m.) would be extended to the overnight 
session.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \41\ This includes client/trade submitter support across three 
(3) shifts that would be covered from the U.S. (Jersey City, Boston, 
Dallas and Tampa), Philippines (Manilla), United Kingdom (London), 
Singapore (Singapore), and India (Chennai and Hyderabad).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DTCC's Enterprise Resiliency Office (``ERO'') also plays a central 
role in the Clearing Agencies' coordination and facilitation of the 
incident management and reporting processes. ERO has implemented a 24x7 
``follow-the-sun'' coverage model to appropriately identify, assess, 
and manage incidents or potential incidents that may impact NSCC's 
ability to deliver products or services, including those that may occur 
during the overnight trading session.
Additional Risk Management Enhancements
    Following implementation of this proposed rule change, NSCC will 
continue to monitor and evaluate trading volumes and risk exposures 
during the overnight trading session, and determine whether additional 
margin or risk management enhancements are necessary to address the 
additional risks presented by overnight trading. Such risk management 
enhancements could include changes to NSCC's margin methodology or 
Clearing Fund requirements, Intraday Margin Charge requirements, or 
ongoing membership requirements concerning financial or operational 
capability related to the 24x5 operating model. Based on its assessment 
of any additional risks presented by overnight trading, NSCC will 
propose and file further rule changes pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of 
the Act,\42\ and the rules thereunder, prior to accepting overnight 
trades from Exchanges, if NSCC determines that additional risk 
management enhancements are necessary to address additional risks 
presented by overnight trading. NSCC would file such proposed rule 
change(s) with the objective of seeking regulatory approval and 
implementation of any proposed enhancements to risk management prior to 
Exchanges going live with 24x5 trading.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \42\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Implementation Timeframe
    Subject to approval by the Commission, NSCC would implement the 
proposed rule change on June 28, 2026.
2. Statutory Basis
    NSCC believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the 
requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations thereunder 
applicable to a registered clearing agency. Specifically, NSCC believes 
that the proposed changes are consistent with Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of 
the Act \43\ and Rules 17ad-22(e)(4)(i), (6)(iii) and (21) thereunder 
\44\ for the reasons set forth below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \43\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(F).
    \44\ 17 CFR 240.17ad-22(e)(4)(i), (6)(iii) and (21).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of Act \45\ requires, in part, that the rules 
of a clearing agency be designed to promote the prompt and accurate 
clearance and settlement of securities transactions, to assure the 
safeguarding of securities and funds which are in the custody or 
control of the clearing agency or for which it is responsible, and, in 
general, to protect investors and the public interest. The proposed 
rule change would describe NSCC's ability to support extended trading 
hours for the U.S. equity markets and provide improved clarity around 
relevant processing times for its equity clearing services. The 
extension of NSCC's UTC operating and clearing hours would enable NSCC 
to promptly and accurately clear, guarantee, risk manage, and settle 
trades executed during extended trading hours, particularly those 
trades executed during overnight trading sessions, which are not fully 
covered by NSCC's existing operating model.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \45\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(F).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Under the proposed rule change, NSCC would operate on a ``24 x 5'' 
basis from Sunday at 8:00 p.m. to Friday at 8:00 p.m., with its UTC 
system open to accept trades submitted at any time during its 24 x 5 
hours for a valid trade date. NSCC believes that the proposed 24 x 5 
model is effectively designed to accommodate the various proposals and 
industry-wide initiatives to extend trading hours for the U.S. equity 
markets, as discussed above. The proposed 24 x 5 operating model would 
enable NSCC to promptly and accurately clear and apply its CCP trade 
guaranty to trades executed during extended trading hours, particularly 
overnight trading sessions occurring across different time zones for 
global industry participants. In this way, NSCC believes the proposed 
rule change is designed to promote the prompt and accurate clearance 
and settlement of securities transactions.
    NSCC would manage the risk from the activity cleared during 
extended trading hours using its existing risk management framework. 
NSCC uses a risk-based margin and Clearing Fund methodology to 
calculate and collect SOD margin requirements each day from Members to 
cover NSCC's potential exposures and to monitor and address intraday 
exposures through the Intraday MTM Charge and Intraday Volatility 
Charge. NSCC's margin methodology also includes an MRD charge 
specifically designed to mitigate the risks posed to NSCC by day-over-
day fluctuations in a Member's portfolio by forecasting future changes 
in a Member's portfolio based on a historical look-back at each 
Member's portfolio over a given time period, which would capture 
fluctuations in NSCC's risk exposure during overnight trading sessions. 
NSCC believes its existing risk management framework would enable it to 
identify, measure, monitor, and manage the potential credit exposures 
that may arise from its participants related to overnight trading 
activity. NSCC uses the margin and Clearing Fund it collects to 
mitigate potential losses to NSCC (and, through loss allocation, to its 
Members) associated with liquidating a defaulting Member's portfolio 
and to continue to effect the prompt and accurate clearance and 
settlement of securities transactions in the event NSCC ceases to act 
for a Member, thereby assuring the safeguarding of securities and funds 
which are in the custody or control of NSCC or for which it is 
responsible and, in general, protecting investors and the public 
interest.

[[Page 20514]]

    The proposed rule change would also require NSCC to maintain a 
schedule of its key equity clearing and settlement processes on its 
public website. NSCC believes maintaining such a schedule on its 
website would improve Members' understanding of the key timeframes 
applicable to NSCC's core trade acceptance, clearing, settlement and 
risk management of transactions. This, in turn, would help Members 
understand their potential obligations to NSCC, facilitating the prompt 
and accurate clearance and settlement of securities transactions.
    For these reasons, NSCC believes the propose rule change is 
designed to promote the prompt and accurate clearance and settlement of 
securities transactions, to assure the safeguarding of securities and 
funds which are in its custody or control or for which it is 
responsible, and, in general, to protect investors and the public 
interest, consistent with the requirements of Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of 
Act.
    Rule 17ad-22(e)(4)(i) \46\ under the Act requires that a covered 
clearing agency establish, implement, maintain, and enforce written 
policies and procedures reasonably designed to effectively identify, 
measure, monitor, and manage its credit exposures to participants and 
those arising from its payment, clearing, and settlement processes, 
including by maintaining sufficient financial resources to cover its 
credit exposure to each participant fully with a high degree of 
confidence. Rule 17ad-22(e)(6)(iii) \47\ under the Act further requires 
that a covered clearing agency that provides CCP services establish, 
implement, maintain, and enforce written policies and procedures 
reasonably designed to cover its credit exposures to its participants 
by establishing a risk-based margin system that calculates margin 
sufficient to cover its potential future exposure to participants in 
the interval between the last margin collection and the close out of 
positions following a participant default.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \46\ 17 CFR 240.17ad-22(e)(4)(i).
    \47\ 17 CFR 240.17ad-22(e)(6)(iii).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As described above, NSCC would manage the risk from the activity 
cleared during extended trading hours using its existing risk 
management framework. NSCC uses a risk-based margin and Clearing Fund 
methodology to calculate and collect SOD margin requirements each day 
from Members to cover its potential exposures and to monitor and 
address intraday exposures through the Intraday MTM Charge and Intraday 
Volatility Charge. NSCC's margin methodology includes an MRD charge 
specifically designed to mitigate the risks posed to NSCC by day-over-
day fluctuations in a Member's portfolio by forecasting future changes 
in a Member's portfolio based on a historical look-back at each 
Member's portfolio over a given time period, which would capture 
fluctuations in NSCC's risk exposure during overnight trading sessions. 
Since the MRD charge captures the risk of the portfolio for the 
accumulated trades during the entire day, up to the UTC Good Night 
Message at approximately 12:00 a.m., the day-over-day increase in the 
portfolio risk stemming from all trades during the day, including any 
overnight trading session, would be reflected in the MRD calculation. 
Given the MRD's design to use a look-back period, the spikes in volumes 
and associated risk over the past 100 days are already captured in the 
MRD calculation each day. Members that present NSCC with larger 
increases in day-over-day VaR and MTM also have larger MRD amounts. As 
discussed above, overnight trades received prior to UTC closing out the 
current Trade Processing Date would be incorporated into NSCC's SOD 
risk margin calculations and Clearing Fund collection processes and 
would be subject to the MRD charge. Additionally, any overnight trades 
received after UTC has closed the current Trade Processing Date would 
be included in NSCC's intraday monitoring and margin process to address 
additional risk exposures that may arise in the overnight session after 
the close of UTC. Furthermore, trading activity submitted for the 
overnight trading session represents a small fraction of the overall 
trade volume cleared by NSCC. Based on feedback from industry outreach, 
NSCC believes that overnight trading volumes will increase gradually 
and steadily over the next few years as ATSs and Exchanges expand and 
normalize overnight trading hours as opposed to seeing an immediate 
significant increase in volumes upon the implementation of NSCC's 24 x 
5 proposal. For these reasons, NSCC believes its existing risk 
management framework is reasonably designed to enable NSCC to identify, 
measure, monitor, and manage the potential credit exposures that may 
arise from its participants related to overnight trading activity, and 
to calculate and collect margin sufficient to cover its potential 
future exposure to participants in accordance with the requirements of 
Rules 17ad-22(e)(4)(i) and (6)(iii) under the Act.
    Finally, Rule 17ad-22(e)(21) \48\ under the Act requires, in part, 
that a covered clearing agency establish, implement, maintain, and 
enforce written policies and procedures reasonably designed to be 
efficient and effective in meeting the requirements of its participants 
and the markets it serves. As described above, the industry is 
currently working on a number of initiatives to expand trading hours 
for the U.S. equity markets due to growing interest in 24-hour trading, 
particularly from retail investors. This includes initiatives by 
Exchanges, QSRs and ATS operators, and the SIPs, as well as industry 
coordination through task forces and working groups organized by DTCC 
and SIFMA. The proposed 24 x 5 operating model is designed to 
accommodate these industry efforts and would enable NSCC to promptly 
and accurately clear and apply its CCP trade guaranty to trades 
executed during extended trading hours, particularly overnight trading 
sessions occurring across different time zones for global industry 
participants. In this way, NSCC believes the proposal is reasonably 
designed to efficiently and effectively meet the requirements of its 
participants and the markets it serves in accordance with Rule 17ad-
22(e)(21).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \48\ 17 CFR 240.17ad-22(e)(21).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For the reasons set forth above, NSCC believes the proposed rule 
change is consistent with Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act and Rules 
17ad-22(e)(4)(i), (6)(iii) and (21) thereunder.

(B) Clearing Agency's Statement on Burden on Competition

    Section 17A(b)(3)(I) of Act \49\ requires that the rules of a 
clearing agency do not impose any burden on competition not necessary 
or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. NSCC does not 
believe the proposed rule change would present any burden or have any 
impact on competition. The proposed rule change would apply to all 
Members and trading markets equally and would not advantage or 
disadvantage any particular participant or user of NSCC's services or 
unfairly inhibit access to its services. NSCC's proposal to operate on 
a ``24 x 5'' basis is designed generally to accommodate efforts across 
the industry to support overnight trading and is not designed to favor 
the operating hours or proposals of any specific trading market. 
Therefore, NSCC does not believe that the proposed rule changes would 
impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \49\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(I).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 20515]]

(C) Clearing Agency's Statement on Comments on the Proposed Rule Change 
Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    NSCC has not received or solicited any written comments relating to 
this proposal. If any written comments are received, NSCC will amend 
this filing to publicly file such comments as an Exhibit 2 to this 
filing, as required by Form 19b-4 and the General Instructions thereto.
    Persons submitting comments are cautioned that, according to 
Section IV (Solicitation of Comments) of the Exhibit 1A in the General 
Instructions to Form 19b-4, the Commission does not edit personal 
identifying information from comment submissions. Commenters should 
submit only information that they wish to make available publicly, 
including their name, email address, and any other identifying 
information.
    All prospective commenters should follow the Commission's 
instructions on how to submit comments, available at www.sec.gov/rules-regulations/how-submit-comment. General questions regarding the rule 
filing process or logistical questions regarding this filing should be 
directed to the Main Office of the Commission's Division of Trading and 
Markets at tradingandmarkets@sec.gov or 202-551-5777.
    NSCC reserves the right not to respond to any comments received.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change, and Timing for 
Commission Action

    Within 45 days of the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register or within such longer period up to 90 days (i) as the 
Commission may designate if it finds such longer period to be 
appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding or (ii) as to 
which the self-regulatory organization consents, the Commission will:
    (A) by order approve or disapprove such proposed rule change, or
    (B) institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule 
change should be disapproved.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule 
change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of 
the following methods:

Electronic Comments

      Use the Commission's internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
      Send an email to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include 
file number SR-NSCC-2026-006 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

      Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities 
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549.

All submissions should refer to file number SR-NSCC-2026-006. This file 
number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To help 
the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently, 
please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on 
the Commission's internet website (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the filing will be available for inspection and 
copying at the principal office of NSCC and on DTCC's website (https://dtcc.com/legal/sec-rule-filings.aspx). Do not include personal 
identifiable information in submissions; you should submit only 
information that you wish to make available publicly. We may redact in 
part or withhold entirely from publication submitted material that is 
obscene or subject to copyright protection. All submissions should 
refer to file number SR-NSCC-2026-006 and should be submitted on or 
before May 7, 2026.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\50\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \50\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-07344 Filed 4-15-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


Legal Citation

Federal Register Citation

Use this for formal legal and research references to the published document.

91 FR 20507

Web Citation

Suggested Web Citation

Use this when citing the archival web version of the document.

“Self-Regulatory Organizations; National Securities Clearing Corporation; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change Concerning NSCC's Ability To Support Industry Efforts To Extend Trading Hours for the U.S. Equity Markets,” thefederalregister.org (April 16, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2026-07344/self-regulatory-organizations-national-securities-clearing-corporation-notice-of-filing-of-proposed-rule-change-concerni.