ISITC Backgrounder

The International Securities Association for Institutional Trade Communication (ISITC) began informally in 1991 in Newport Beach, California. Twenty-five representatives of investment management firms and custodian banks came together to create a standard electronic template by which to trade mortgage securities. The goal was to eliminate then-current—and inefficient—methods relating to delivery: fax, Telex, and re-keying. After working three days a month for ten months, this group created a standard electronic message platform that was adopted by the represented companies and both saved them time and reduced errors. As a result, the electronic template was adopted industry-wide.

Group members realized that this initial effort represented a unique initiative in the financial services industry. They saw an opportunity to parlay their success into other trade processing developments across all industry sectors, as no other organization was equipped to address these issues. Shortly thereafter, this group officially became ISITC. Today, ISITC has 1,500 members representing 350 organizations including broker/dealers, custodians, investment managers, and vendors/utilities.