The Cusip Service Bureau has introduced a financial software product, Cusip-db, aimed at speeding up the delivery of information on all types of securities in its data base.
Cusip, the Committee on Uniform Security Identification Procedures, is operated by the Standard & Poor's Corp. and is under contract to the American Bankers Association, its founder.
"The trading departments and back-office securities processing operations of banks will be able to quickly access the constantly updated Cusip data base of more than 1.5 million corporate, municipal, and government issues"' said James D. Taylor, vice president of Cusip.
Under recently mandated Securities and Exchange Commission rule T+3, the clearing and settlement of securities must be reduced from five days to three. The rule is scheduled to go into effect in June 1995.
"Banks using the Cusip-db software will be in a far better position to meet the deadline," Mr. Taylor said.
Every security that is publicly traded - except futures, options, and derivatives - requires a nine-character Cusip number carrying a brief description of the type of security, including date of issue and date of maturity.
An average of 500 Cusip numbers are issued daily to a wide variety of securities.
A Cusip number is considered critical for the accurate and efficient clearance and settlement of securities, as well as in back-office operations.
"Through instant access to securities information, banks trading in securities can serve their customers more efficiently with up-to-date market information"' Mr. Taylor said.
He added that banks could also "more effectively participate" in trading activity as well as develop their own securities offerings for clients more quickly.
The Cusip service Bureau ministers the securities systems in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
