Kevin Burns
Senior Manager, Industry Relations
You know Computershare as a global provider of share registry and transfer agency, corporate actions, annual meetings, M&A, IPO services and more to public and private companies. We are also actively involved in the broader financial industry, playing a significant role in a range of working groups and committees to help ensure any proposed changes meet clear objectives, will not increase costs or risk to our issuer clients, and do not conflict with regulations.
A recent example is our preparation for the launch of a one-day settlement cycle or T+1 in North America. We established an in-house project management team early in the process and participated in various industry groups, working together toward a smooth transition. The roll-out of T+1 in the US market (May 28) and Canada (May 27) was successful, with no issues reported in the industry or by Computershare. Our Global Capital Management team continues to be engaged in industry dialogue in other regions of the world as they discuss the move to T+1.
Participation in the Securities Transfer Association
The Securities Transfer Association, Inc. (STA) is the national professional association of transfer agents. Founded in 1911, its membership includes almost 100 transfer agents who collectively, on behalf of over 15,000 corporate issuers, maintain the records of more than 100 million registered shareholders.
Computershare is well-represented in this association in a variety of roles:
- Peter Duggan, President, Board of Directors
- Kevin Burns, Co-Chair, Operations Committee
- Andrea Manning, Co-Chair, Legal Committee
- Andrea Malangone, Co-Chair, Proxy Committee
- Pamela Wentz, Co-Chair, Unclaimed Property Committee
- Peter Kuhnly, Co-Chair, Debt Securities Committee
- Sajoo Samuel, Chair, Blockchain Committee
As part of our participation in the STA, we are often involved in industry discussions to help make sure process changes meet the needs of all parties and do not create challenges for our issuer clients or agents. DTCC’s current modernization initiative is a great example of this engagement in action.
DTCC modernization initiative
DTCC has launched a multi-year, multi-phased modernization program of Depository Services, leveraging new technologies with the goal of moving beyond legacy mainframe computing and evolving into distributed technology. Computershare is participating in this program to assist with testing and roll-out, and to help avoid service disruptions.
Phase 1 included the launch of DTCC’s Securities Processing Application (SPA) on March 31, 2023. This provided a centralized web-based user experience, as well as standardization for transfer agents, custody participants and business resumption, with the anticipation of retiring DTCC legacy systems.
Phase 2 involved a build-out of electronic transactions. Modernizing the Deposit and Withdrawal at Custodian (DWAC) transactions was implemented in the first quarter of 2024. A Computershare team with DWAC experience assisted with hands-on testing to identify any issues before the system went live.
DTCC has targeted upgrading the Direct Registration System (DRS) as Phase 3 for the second quarter of 2025, and the Withdrawal by Transfer (WT) is slated for the fourth quarter of 2025. The proposed system enhancements are intended to improve navigation, inquiry and downloading capabilities. Computershare employees with experience in these areas will also be involved in testing and implementation to help ensure a seamless implementation without disruption for our issuer clients.
DTCC has indicated that additional phases are planned and will be expanded upon moving into 2025. Computershare will continue to take an active role in both designing and testing new systems and processes.
If you would like to learn more about Computershare’s participation and advocacy in the financial industry or the projects outlined above, feel free to contact me at Kevin.Burns@computershare.com.
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