The ACATS-Fund/SERV Interface is a communications link that enables distributors and fund companies to transfer and re-register book-entry mutual fund assets in a controlled, automated environment.  The ACATS-Fund/SERV Interface is a combination of two DTCC services:

• ACATS , the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service, automates and standardizes procedures for the transfer of assets in a customer account from one brokerage firm or bank to another.
  
• Fund/SERV®   is an automated, centralized processing system that standardizes mutual fund account registration procedures, reducing the time and cost of processing transactions. 
  

Benefits 
Combining the advantages of both the ACATS and Fund/SERV systems enables participants to:   

• Increase Efficiency
  Eliminate the manual processing associated with mutual fund transfers and re-registration. As a result, the time it takes to make a transfer on the fund’s books and change to the agent of record is reduced from approximately thirty days outside of ACATS-Fund/SERV to seven.
  
  
• Improve Customer Service
  Utilize the ACATS-Fund/SERV Interface to electronically link to more than 350 mutual fund families. The increased speed and accuracy for transferring assets   will enable distributors to better serve their customers and improve satisfaction. 
  
  
• Reduce Transfer Failures and Errors
  Minimize the opportunities for inaccuracies and reduce the length of time mutual fund assets remain ‘open fail liabilities’. The automated nature of the system delivers communications efficiently between brokers or banks and funds.  

Features
The ACATS-Fund/SERV Interface facilitates account transfers by electronically communicating mutual fund asset transfer information between distributors and funds. Features include: 

• Automated Reporting 
  The Interface provides an automated method of sending, receiving and tracking transfer instructions.  Reports on the status of mutual fund re-registrations are automatically delivered to funds and distributors.
  
  
• Standard Formats 
  Distributors and fund companies can move account information in more efficient and accurate manner by using standard formats.  
  
  
• A Safe, Controlled Environment  
  Distributors and fund companies can leverage DTCC’s highly reliable and secure network to transfer assets. 

How the ACATS-Fund/SERV Interface Works
Using a mainframe or Internet connection, distributors and fund companies can electronically update account registrations.  The following steps illustrate how distributors and fund companies utilize the ACATS-Fund/SERV Interface.

• To transfer mutual fund assets, distributors follow the same steps associated with the transfer of other positions and securities using ACATS.
  
• Distributors provide the necessary re-registration information to ACATS during the ‘Review Cycle’.
  
• DTCC takes the account information from ACATS and forwards it to the Fund/SERV system for distribution to the appropriate fund company.
  
• The fund company receives the account re-registration information from Fund/SERV. The fund company reviews the information and then acknowledges it, rejects it, or allows the transfer to ‘pend’ or wait for additional instructions.
  
• Transfers are acknowledged by the fund companies through Fund/SERV and sent back to distributors via ACATS.
  
• Items pending for more than four days will be deleted, and distributors will be required to handle these transfers outside of DTCC.  

Who can use the ACATS-Fund/SERV Interface
Full service broker/dealers, banks, trusts, and mutual fund companies can use the ACATS-Fund/SERV Interface. Participants must become members of The Depository Trust Company and National Securities Clearing Corporation in order to utilize the service.

Distributors* must be ACATS users in order to use the ACATS-Fund/SERV Interface. Fund companies utilizing the Fund/SERV system may elect to use the ACATS-Fund/SERV Interface.

*Eligibility for one service does not automatically mean eligibility for the other.