8.6. Account Transfers

Sometimes a customer will wish to transfer an account from one brokerage firm to another. The customer will initiate the process by filling out a Transfer Initiation Form (TIF) and sending it to the firm to which the customer wishes to transfer. The new firm is referred to as the receiving firm because it will be receiving the new customer.

The receiving firm must immediately send a request-to-transfer to the customer’s existing brokerage firm, known in this context as the carrying firm or the delivering firm. The request is entered into an automated account transfer system operated by the NSCC, the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS), which relays it to the delivering firm. Information in the request must include the customer’s name, Social Security number, and account number.

The carrying firm has one business day to either validate or take exception to the transfer. If it validates the transfer request, the carrying firm will send a list of the assets in the account to the receiving firm via