VOLUME 21 - BULLETIN #197 Allocation and Claim Transaction System (ACT) Upgrade to 2.0

Effective Friday, October 19,2001, the Clearing Corporation is releasing ACT 2.0, an upgrade to the web-based Allocation and Claim Transaction system that currently processes EFPs (Exchange for Physical Transactions) using a one-sided entry format. This upgrade will provide for the processing of Misclears (TT=3), Transfers (TT=8), Money Transfers, APS give-ups, APS transfers (TT=8), and Give-ups. APS functionality will allow for the give-up and transfer of positions at an actual average price and rounded average plus residual. It will not perform average price calculations.

The following bullet points briefly describe the highlighted changes for the upgrade.

• All transaction types will be processed using the one-sided entry process. Business rules will determine the initiating firm for each transaction type. Opposing firms, after reviewing transaction detail, may accept or reject a transaction. When a transaction has been accepted, the status will instantly update to Matched.

• One generic screen has been created in order to process all transaction types. Pull-down menus will control which type of transaction is being entered/viewed at that time. Depending on the transaction type being processed, the screen will automatically skip fields that do not apply as you enter information and tab to the next field.

• A Summary Inquiry/Update screen has been incorporated into the ACT screens. The user will continue to enter the new transaction data into the Create Summary, but will use a Summary Inquiry/Update screen to edit or view them. This screen was added in order to separate the add and inquiry/edit abilities within the system.

• The creation and use of profiles within ACT has also been incorporated in ACT 2.0. The initiating and accepting firms may create profiles in order for transactions to be auto-allocated and auto claimed without back-office intervention.

The upgrade will be implemented in three phases in order to ensure customer satisfaction and system stability. Phase One will contain EFPs and EFP give-ups only. This will allow users to become familiar with the screens before the next phases are implemented. Phase Two will include Misclears, Transfers, Money Transfers, APS give-ups and APS transfers. Phase Three will cover give-up processing.

All current users of the ACT system will continue to have access. If a user does not currently have access to ACT, please contact a BSG representative to attain a password.

Training classes will be held by the Business Systems Group prior to the first phase of implementation and throughout all three phases. The early classes will focus on the screen changes and how to maneuver within ACT. The later classes will focus on the new transaction types and how they are processed. Additional bulletins will be distributed detailing more training information.

Both the initiating side (allocation) records and the accepting side (claim) records generated from the submission of transactions will be automatically transmitted to the firm's outbound MQM queue in the TREX format for purposes of processing in bookkeeping. However, we strongly urge firms to use the API messaging system in order to initiate and accept the transactions via the back office. Once give-up processing is moved to ACT, the Clearing Corporation no longer intends to support real time feeds of allocations and claims. All firms must be able to handle give-up allocation and claim messages generated from the API.

If your firm would like to participate in testing please call your BSG representative in order to receive access to the test system. If you would like to view the screens, a demo of the new version is on the BOTCC web site. Click on firm login and enter your web user ID and password to gain access. The direct link is:

For optimal performance, we recommend a 100MHz or higher Pentium-class machine. A 128-bit encrypted version of Netscape Communicator (4.7 or higher) or Microsoft Internet Explorer (5.1 or higher) is required.

Should you have any questions, please call or e-mail one of the following Business Systems Analysts: