By The Advocates

This week’s Distillery is brought to you by the SEC. That’s right, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission happened to provide us with the most interesting (and relevant) news piece this week! As of September 5th, 2017 broker-dealers (Schwab/TD Ameritrade, etc.) will be required to comply with the amended rule to shorten by one business day the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer securities transactions.

Currently, when a trade is placed for a stock or ETF, it takes cash, the Trade Date + 3 days to settle before you have access to your money. To put this in context, when you call in or email one of us here at The Advocates to request money, you’ve most likely experienced the following three successive communications. First, we’ll ask you when you need the money so that we know which securities to sell (soon based on the updated Trade + 2 Days settlement cycle). Second, we’ll give you an estimate of when the money will be available at your bank. And lastly, we send a confirmation email to you notifying that the money transfer has been initiated and when to expect it. In the future, we’ll still communicate in the same manner, just one day quicker!

Ultimately, this is a good thing, and means you’ll have access to your money faster. It also reflects a step in the right direction by the SEC in keeping pace with the industry’s modern advancements in technology and efficiency. You can read the full SEC press release here.