A 4796 - July 15, 1998
P&S 4358
TO: ALL PARTICIPANTS
ATTENTION:
MANAGER MUTUAL FUNDS OPERATIONS, MANAGER DATA PROCESSING, MANAGER CASHIERS, MANAGER P&S DEPARTMENT, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, MANAGER CUSTOMER ACCOUNT TRANSFER DEPARTMENTSUBJECT:
IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING FOR FUND PARTICIPANTS OF THE AUTOMATED CUSTOMER ACCOUNT TRANSFER SERVICE (ACATS) - FUND/SERV INTERFACENational Securities Clearing Corporation’s (NSCC) Fund/SERV system provides the mutual fund industry with an automated and centralized method for processing mutual fund orders, account registrations and centralized net settlement. The Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS) expedites the transfer of customer accounts from firm to firm. The ACATS-Fund/SERV interface facilitates the automated re-registration of mutual fund assets that are transferred through the ACATS system.
NSCC recently revised some of the dates associated with the conversion to the redesigned ACATS system. This Important Notice provides information for the funds about the ACATS-Fund/SERV interface, which will remain on schedule for implementation on Monday, November 16, 1998. The November 16th implementation will affect the record formats only; actual firm-provided ACATS redesign data will be available with the implementation of the ACATS redesign system. Please refer to Important Notice A4792 dated June 30, 1998, for information regarding the new ACATS redesign dates.
Subject to SEC approval, all ACATS redesign functionality for the firm side, originally scheduled for November 16, 1998, will be implemented on January 25, 1999. Monday, January 25, 1999, will be the first day that the redesigned ACATS data will be populated in the ACATS-Fund/SERV files. The funds will still be required to modify their systems to accommodate the new ACATS redesign record layouts as originally scheduled, on Monday, November 16, 1998. The last day for fund participants to input data in the current formats will be November 13th. Beginning Monday November 16th, all fund participants must be prepared to submit and receive data in the new ACATS-Fund/SERV formats. Processing of ACATS-Fund/SERV formats during the period from November 16, 1998, until January 25, 1999, will be explained in the following sections of this notice.
As part of NSCC’s Year 2000 policy, participants have an option for existing products to use an eight-digit contiguous date file format or remain at a six-digit date format. New products are only available in eight-digit date formats. The ACATS-Fund/SERV layouts are part of the existing Fund/SERV system and therefore are available in both six-digit and eight-digit date file formats. In April 1998, the Fund/SERV system was modified to accommodate new file structures that are year 2000 (Y2K) compliant with eight-digit dates, while still accepting the old six-digit date formats. These layouts can be found at www.y2000.org/nscc.
The eight-digit date ACATS-Fund/SERV layouts were modified in April to include the new ACATS-Fund/SERV data elements. Therefore, funds that have already implemented the eight-digit date formats prior to the ACATS redesign implementation will not have to make additional programming changes.
Whether funds will be changing to eight-digit date or staying with a six-digit date format, the last day for the old ACATS-Fund/SERV layouts will be November 13, 1998. Input and output on November 16, 1998, must be in the new ACATS-Fund/SERV formats.
The new ACATS-Fund/SERV formats were designed to be compatible with both the present ACATS system and the future ACATS redesign. In order to ensure that the fund only has to make programming changes once, the fund should allow for spaces in the new ACATS redesign fields. When the ACATS redesign project is implemented in January 1999, all the new fields may be populated with data (depending on input from ACATS participants). Prior to that time, all new fields will contain spaces, except as noted in Appendix A. See Appendix A for the specifics of the implementation strategy.
Testing
Originally, firm testing of the ACATS system was scheduled to begin in August 1998, with the funds participating in the testing of mutual fund re-registrations in September 1998. Due to the change in testing for the redesigned ACATS, NSCC will make available canned ACATS-Fund/SERV registration and reminder output to the funds beginning August 03, 1998. This will enable the funds to test the record layout changes prior to the November 16th implementation. See Appendix C for details about the canned data.
Overall firm participant testing of the ACATS redesign is now scheduled to begin November 16, 1998, with fund and firm participant testing of the mutual fund re-registrations scheduled to begin on December 14, 1998. The last day for participant testing will be January 21, 1999. The NSCC’s Participant Test (PT) region will be used by the mutual fund industry to test its changes to the ACATS-Fund/SERV link. See Appendix B for details about the participant test.
ACATS-Fund/SERV Redesign Information
NSCC has developed a User Guide to provide participants with a detailed description of the changes made to the ACATS-Fund/SERV interface resulting from the ACATS redesign project. The guide is designed to help the funds determine how to process the information coming from the firms via the ACATS-Fund/SERV link and the appropriate information to communicate back to the firms.
Please note that the ACATS-Fund/SERV User Guide has been updated as of July 10, 1998. The User Guide can be found on the NSCC Mutual Fund website at fundserv.nscc.com and on the ACATS redesign website at acats.nscc.com.
Schedule of Events
The following is a summary of the events described in this important notice:
| Date | Event | Participant Affected |
| August 03, 1998 | First day for canned output for funds. | Funds only |
| August 03, 1998 | First day for funds to contact the Participant Test Group for test setup. (See Appendix B) | Funds only |
| November 16, 1998 | First day of mandatory format changes for ACATS-Fund/SERV link | Funds only |
| November 16, 1998 | First day for firm participant testing of ACATS redesign. | Firms only |
| December 14, 1998 – January 21, 1999 |
Fund/firm testing of mutual fund re-registrations. | Funds and Firms |
| January 25, 1999 | First day for ACATS redesign. | First day of system changes for firm. First time for firm-inputted data in fund layouts. |
Related Important Notices
Details of the redesigned ACATS and ACATS Fund/SERV interface have been outlined in the following Important Notices:
- Important Notice A4649 dated September 12, 1997: Details of the redesigned ACATS and ACATS Fund/SERV Interface.
- Important Notice A4699 dated December 29, 1997: Further details regarding the ACATS-Fund/SERV interface.
- Important Notice A4726 dated February 27, 1998: Updates to the ACATS-Fund/SERV link.
- Important Notice A4736 dated March 17th, 1998: Updates to the ACATS layouts.
- Important Notice A4773 dated May 26, 1998: Detailed information on firm testing of the ACATS redesign.
- Important Notice A4792 dated June 30, 1998: Notification of the schedule change to the ACATS redesign.
All the Important Notices are available on NSCC’s website at http://www.nssc.com.
For more detailed information on the PT region (formerly known as Membership Test - MT) for testing of other Mutual Fund services, please refer to Important Notice A4770 dated May 15, 1998.
Any questions pertaining to this Important Notice can be directed to NSCC’s Participant Services at (212) 412-8432, the Mutual Fund Hotline at (212) 412-8893, your account manager, or the undersigned at (212) 412-8843.
Barbara Simon
Director, Marketing
Appendix A: Implementation Strategy
Until the ACATS implementation in January 1999, the ACATS redesign fields will be part of the layout, but most will not be populated. New fields that can be populated with data prior to January 25, 1999, will be handled as noted below in section I.c.
In order to ensure that the fund only has to make programming changes once, the fund should allow for spaces in the new ACATS redesign fields. When the ACATS redesign project is implemented in January 1999, all the new fields may be populated with data. Prior to that time, all new fields that require firm input will contain spaces.
This strategy had already been developed to enable eight-digit date format implementation prior to the ACATS redesign. This same strategy will now be applied for all funds implementing six-digit or eight-digit date formats on November 16, 1998.
The following describes how the ACATS-Fund/SERV files will be populated prior to the ACATS redesign implementation on January 25, 1999.
I. ACATS-Fund/SERV Transfer Re-Registration (Record Type 018)
New Fields That Require Input From Firms
The values for the fields listed below will be populated with spaces until the ACATS redesign implementation. The fund should allow for spaces in these fields.
Customer Name |
Network Control Indicator (Delivering Firm) |
Full/Partial Indicator |
Currency Indicator |
| Transfer Disbursement Option – Accruals |
| Transfer Disbursement Option – Fractional Cash-in-lieu |
| Transfer Disbursement Option – Residuals |
b) Existing Fields with Modified Values
The field listed below will be populated in the following manner:
| ACATS Control Number | Before 1/25/99: First 12 positions are current ACATS Control Number; next eight positions are spaces. After
1/25/99: |
Appendix A: Implementation Strategy (continued).
New Fields That May Be Populated Prior to January 25, 1999
| NEW FIELD NAME | DESCRIPTION |
Default Registration Indicator |
‘1’ if Account Representative Name is "ACATS Default", otherwise will be ‘0’. |
Customer Account Number at Firm (Receiver and Deliverer) |
Customer Account Number from registration if fund/firm indicator is ‘2’ (firm), otherwise will be populated from the ACATS asset transfer record. |
Customer Account Number at Fund (Receiver and Deliverer) |
Customer Account Number from registration if fund/firm indicator is ‘1’ (fund), otherwise spaces. |
| Settlement Date | Settlement date of the ACATS transfer. |
| Number of Payables | Field will be ‘00’ if there are no payables or ‘01’ if one payable exists. |
| Payable 1 Account Information | Payable Account Information if it exists. |
All Other Fields
All other fields will be populated in the new re-registration record as originally planned.
Please see the User Guide for more detailed information.
Note: From January 25, 1999 – February 3, 1999, funds should expect to process both existing transfers with the pre-redesign values and new transfers with the ACATS redesign values.
Appendix A: Implementation Strategy (continued).
II. ACATS-Fund/SERV Transfer Acknowledgment/Rejection (Record Type 019)
The fields listed below will be populated in the following manner:
| ACATS Control Number | Before 1/25/99: First 12 positions are current ACATS Control Number; next eight positions are spaces. After 1/25/99: All 20 positions will be filled: 14 for ACATS Control Number, six for Asset Sequence Number. For the first week of implementation there can be a mix of old and new control numbers. |
Transfer Disbursement Option – Accruals ** |
Spaces and all new redesign values will be accepted before and after 1/25/99. |
Transfer Disbursement Option – Fractional Cash-in-lieu ** |
Spaces and all new redesign values will be accepted before and after 1/25/99. |
Transfer Disbursement Option – Residuals ** |
Spaces and all new redesign values will be accepted before and after 1/25/99. |
Fund Reject Code ** |
Field expanded to three positions to correspond to Fund/SERV reject codes. Code 100 and over will be passed to the firms as 98 (other error) until the ACATS redesign implementation. |
** Funds can populate the data fields before the ACATS January 25, 1999 implementation. The new information will be passed to the firms via ACATS starting on January 25, 1999.
III. ACATS-Fund/SERV Transfer Reminder (Record Type 080)
The six-digit date Record Type 080 – Reminder file will remain unchanged.
The fields listed below will be populated in the eight-digit version in the following manner:
| ACATS TIF Number | Before 1/25/99: First 12 positions are current ACATS Control Number; next two positions are spaces. After 1/25/99: All 14 positions will be ACATS Control Number. For the first week of implementation there can be a mix of old and new control numbers. |
ACATS Asset Sequence Number |
Before 1/25/99: Field will be spaces. After 1/25/99: All 6 positions will be populated with ACATS Asset Sequence Number. For the first week of implementation there can be a mix of old and new. |
Appendix B: Participant Testing Information
1. Getting Started
To facilitate the testing process, the fund should identify a firm test partner. If you need help determining a firm test partner, please review the ACATS coordinator list found at acats.nscc.com and fundserv.nscc.com or contact your NSCC account manager for assistance.
The fund and firm will agree on the accounts and CUSIPS to be used in the test. The funds must ensure that the agreed upon CUSIPS are set up in the Participant Test (PT) region by filling out the CUSIP profile form. (See Appendix E). Funds should also ensure that their test systems are set up with the agreed upon account numbers.
Review Appendix B section 5 for the Fund/SERV DATATRAK SYSIDS and AutoRoute Product Ids that will be used for the ACATS-FUND/SERV participant test.
2. Participant Testing
Starting on December 14, 1998, firms are strongly encouraged to submit registration information (found on the ACATS FR record) that will be passed by ACATS into the Fund/SERV PT region. This information will be used to create the registration record (type 018) which will be passed to the funds from the PT region. The funds will submit acknowledgments (type 019) into the PT region, which will then be passed to the firms as ACATS Fund Statistics (F Record). The fund will receive reminders (type 080) for seven days if the ACATS transfer is not acknowledged.
3. Steps for Funds to Follow for ACATS-Fund/SERV Participant Testing
The fund participant must fill out the ACATS-Fund/SERV Test Member Profile and CUSIP forms (see Appendix D and Appendix E).
The fund participant must fax the form to PTG at (212) 383-5433.
PTG will notify the fund of the information needed to test and the date that testing can begin.
The fund should contact SIAC Enterprise Services Group at (212) 383-2906 with any questions that arise during the testing period.
Note: The default set up in the PT region is for a fund participant not to receive empty files on multi-cycle output when there is no applicable data for the participant. If the participant wants empty files, this can be indicated on the form. When the fund wants to stop the test and no longer wants to receive empty files, the participant should notify PTG at (212) 383-4891.
Appendix B: Participant Testing Information (continued)
4. Timing
The Fund/SERV system will operate in the PT region from 8 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. The end of the day is considered 5 PM. Therefore any input transmission occurring after 5 PM should contain the next business day date in the DATATRAK header record.
Sending the registration record to the fund depends on the timing of the ACATS system. Therefore, the registration that typically will get to the funds at approximately 8 PM in production can be part of either the last cycle of the day or the first cycle of the next day in the PT region.
Following is the ACATS-Fund/SERV Participant Test Region schedule.
| Input Time From To |
Extract Time |
AutoRoute File |
Cycle | Recipient Communicat. Level |
Data Included | ||
| 7:00 am | 8:00 am | 8:15 am | 02980361 | 1 |
Multi-batch | Registration, rejected ack | |
| 8:00 am | 9:15 am | 9:30 am | 02980361 | 2 |
Multi-batch | Registration, rejected ack | |
| 9:15 am | 11:00 am | 11:15 am | 02980361 | 14 |
Multi-batch | Registration, rejected ack | |
| 11:00 am | 12:30 pm | 12:45 pm | 02980361 | 15 |
Multi-batch | Registration, rejected ack | |
| 12:30 pm | 2:00 pm | 2:15 pm | 02980361 | 17 |
Multi-batch | Registration, rejected ack |
|
| 2:00 pm | 3:00 pm | 3:15 pm | 02980361 | 98 |
Multi-batch | Registration, rejected ack | |
| Single-batch | Registration, rejected ack | ||||||
| 3:20 pm | 02980362 | None |
Multi-batch | Registration, rejected ack, Reminders | |||
| Single- batch | Registration, rejected ack, Reminders | ||||||
| 3:00 pm | 4:00 pm | 4:15 pm | 02980363 | 1 |
Multi-batch | Registration, rejected ack | |
| 4:00 pm | 4:45 pm | 5:00 pm | 02980363 | 98 |
Multi-batch | Registration, rejected ack | |
| Single- batch | Registration, rejected ack | ||||||
Note: Column ‘Input Time From To‘ refers to multi-batch recipients only. Single batch recipients will get all the data (of the specified type) they haven’t gotten up to the specified output time.
Appendix B: Participant Testing Information (continued)
5. ACATS-Fund/SERV Participant Test Files
a. FUND/SERV INPUT FILES
| DATATRAK SYSID | FILE DESCRIPTIONS |
|
Fund Input – Fixed Length (Acknowledgment Record 019) |
|
Fund Input – Variable Length (Acknowledgment Record 019) |
b. FUND/SERV OUTPUT FILES
| AUTOROUTE PRODUCT (Same for Fixed or Variable) |
FILE DESCRIPTIONS |
|
Multi-batch Cycle 1,2,14,15,17, 98(last) (Registration Record 018, Rejected Record 019 Acknowledgments) |
|
Multi-batch Reminders Record 080, Registration Record 018, Rejected Record 019 Acknowledgments |
|
Late Multi-batch Cycle 1, 98(last) (Registration Record 018, Rejected Record 019 Acknowledgments) |
Appendix C: Canned data
Beginning August 3, 1998, funds can receive canned output data for ACATS-Fund/SERV Transfer Re-Registrations (Record Type 018) and for ACATS-Fund/SERV Transfer Reminders (Record Type 080). Please contact the Participant Test Group (PTG) at (212) 383-4891 to receive the canned data.
The canned data files are part of the Fund/SERV canned output that exists currently. The following examples will be provided:
Pre 1/25/99 Registration Record. This will be an example of a registration (type 018) record with spaces in the new ACATS redesigned fields.
Post 1/25/99 Registration Record. This will be an example of a registration (type 018) record populated with ACATS redesigned data.
Redesigned Default Registration Record. This will be an example of the new data passed in the default registration (type 018) record.
Six-digit date Reminder Record. This will be an example of a six-digit date (type 080) record. This record will be populated in the same manner before and after the ACATS redesign implementation on 1/25/99.
Pre 1/25/99 eight-digit date Y2K Record. This will be an example of an eight-digit date ACATS reminder (type 080) record prior to the redesign implementation.
Post 1/25/99 eight-digit date Y2K Record. This will be an example of an eight-digit date ACATS reminder (type 080) record after the redesign implementation.
Canned Output Files:
| AUTOROUTE PRODUCT (Same for Fixed or Variable) |
FILE DESCRIPTIONS |
|
Registration Record 018 data examples: Pre 1/25/99 (12-digit
control number), Post 1/25/99 (20-digit control number), Redesigned Default Registration |
|
Reminder Record 080 examples: Six-digit date reminder, Pre 1/25/99 eight-digit date Y2K, Post 1/25/99 eight-digit date Y2K |
Appendix D: (available on the web at fundserv.nssc.com)
ACATS Fund/SERV TEST
MEMBER PROFILE UPDATE
TO: SIAC Participant Test Group (PTG) TODAY’S DATE:
New York, NY 10041
(212) 383-4891
(212) 383-5433 (FAX)
Attn: Florence Santiago
| ADD MODIFY THE FIRM NUMBER SHOWN BELOW TO THE TEST PROFILE |
|
| MEMBER NUMBER: FUND |
DATE OF TEST: FROM
------------------- TO ------------------- |
| NAME OF MEMBER: | |
| INPUT: SINGLE MULTI INTERACTIVE DATATRAK SYSIDS: 41122 (6-digit date Fixed) 41126 (Y2K Fixed) 43122 (Variable – Y2k and 6-digit date) |
|
| OUTPUT: SINGLE MULTI INTERACTIVE AUTOROUTE PRODUCTS: 02980361 (6-digit date multi-cycle registrations) 02980362 (6-digit reminders) 02980363 (6-digit late file) 02982361 (Y2K multi-cycle registrations) 02982362 (Y2K reminders) 02982363 (Y2K late file) |
|
| TESTING PARTNER(S) NAMES & MEMBER NUMBER(S): | |
| PURPOSE OF TEST: ACATS–Fund/SERV Fund/Firm Participant Testing for ACATS Redesign | |
| RECEIVE EMPTY FILES: NO (NO
AUTOROUTE HEADERS) (This is the default setup) YES (INCLUDES AUTOROUTE HEADERS) |
|
| SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS:
|
|
Primary Contact: __________________________________________________________________
Telephone number: ________________________________________________________________
Appendix E: (available on the web at fundserv.nssc.com)
ACATS Fund/SERV TEST
CUSIP PROFILE UPDATE
TO: SIAC PTG TODAY’S DATE:
New York, NY 10041
(212) 383-4891
(212) 383-5433 (FAX)
Attn: Florence Santiago
| ADD DELETE MODIFY THE CUSIP NUMBER SHOWN BELOW TO THE PARTICIPANT TEST CUSIP PROFILE |
|
| CUSIP NUMBER: EXISTS IN PRODUCTION TEST CUSIP ONLY |
DATE OF TEST: FROM
------------------- TO ------------------- |
| NAME OF FUND (CUSIP) | |
| SECURITY TYPE LOAD FUND NO-LOAD FUND MONEY MARKET FUND UIT |
|
| CURRENCY TYPE USD (SAME DAY SETTLEMENT) USN (NEXT DAY SETTLEMENT) |
|
| SETTLEMENT CYCLE (IN BUSINESS DAYS) | |
| ORDERS DAYS FROM TRADE DATE |
CASH ADJUSTMENTS DAYS FROM CASH ADJ. INPUT |
| AS-OF ORDERS DAYS FROM CONFIRM DATE |
EXCHANGES DAYS FROM EXCH. INPUT |
| DISTRIBUTION TYPE MONTHLY QUARTERLY SEMI-ANNUAL ANNUAL OTHER |
|
| FUND DISTRIBUTOR/CLEARING NUMBER | |
| FUND DISTRIBUTOR/CLEARING NAME | |
| SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: | |
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Appendix E: (continued)
ACATS Fund/SERV TEST
CUSIP PROFILE UPDATE
| SPECIAL PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS |
| PROCESSING CUT-OFF TIME (NYT) FOR MONEY MARKET CUSIPS ONLY PURCHASES REDEMPTIONS |
| AS-OF PROCESSING RANGE (IN CALENDAR DAYS) |
| REGISTRATION PROCESS INDICATOR PEND TO SEND
WHEN SETTLEMENT RECEIVED |
| ACAT-FUND/SERV ELIGIBILITY INDICATOR YES NO |
| EXCHANGE INDICATOR YES NO |
| CROSS MEMBER EXCHANGE OPTION YES NO |
| CROSS EXCHANGE MEMBER NUMBER |
| CROSS EXCHANGE MEMBER NAME |
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Appendix E: (continued)
ACATS Fund/SERV TEST
CUSIP PROFILE UPDATE
| ALTERNATE ORDER SETTLEMENT INDICATOR YES NO |
|||
| ALTERNATE SETTLEMENT CYCLE (IN BUSINESS DAYS) | |||
| ALTERNATE SETTLEMENT FIRMS | |||
| CLEARING NUMBER |
FIRM NAME |
CLEARING NUMBER |
FIRM NAME |
| ALTERNATE TRANSFER AGENT OPTION YES NO |
|||
| ALTERNATE TRANSFER AGENT FIRMS/EXECUTING FIRMS | |||
| FIRM NAME OR SYMBOL |
FIRM NAME |
FIRM NUMBER OR SYMBOL | FIRM NAME |
Authorized signature: ___________________________________________________________________
Telephone number: ____________________________________________________________________
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