Advancing transparency and harmonisation in corporate actions processing: Where are we now and where are we headed?

Abstract

If there is one area of the securities back office that is in need of better transparency and harmonisation, it is corporate actions processing. While the trading and settlement process has become highly automated with the introduction of electronic communication and automated processing during the past 25 years or more, the process of announcing corporate actions and dissemination of that data through the investment landscape has remained largely the same. This paper looks at some of the global trends that SWIFT is uniquely positioned to be able to observe and offer some hope that the industry is improving in this critical area.