DEPOSITORY TRUST COMPANY (D.T.C.)

D.T.C. is a user-owned securities depository which accepts deposits of eligible securities for custody, executes book-entry deliveries and records book-entry pledges of securities in its custody, and provides for withdrawals of securities from its custody. Used in the context of general equities. Central securities repository where stock and bond certificates are exchanged . Most of these exchanges now take place electronically, and few paper certificates actually change hands. The D.T.C. is a member of the Federal Reserve System and is owned by most of the brokerage houses on Wall Street and the N.Y.S.E.