Transfers to Another Firm
A client who wishes to transfer an account from one firm to another will initiate an exacting process that will proceed in the following way.
The client will begin by filling out a Transfer Initiation Form (TIF) and sending it to the firm to which the client 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 client’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 the request to the delivering firm. Information in the request must include the client’s name, Social Security number, account number, and the customer signature (actual or electronic).
The delivering firm has one business day to either validate or take exception to the transfer of the account. It