Report
Published 24 Sept 2025

Corporate actions - a team sport: whitepaper

A clearer view of the scale, cost and coordination challenge in US corporate actions processing.

Corporate actions - a team sport: whitepaper

In Partnership with

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Corporate actions processing continues to generate significant cost and risk across the US market. This whitepaper examines where inefficiencies are concentrated, how manual errors and poor communication increase exposure, and what a more coordinated operating model could save. 

US processing cost

Cost
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This figure quantifies the scale of the operational and financial burden — and shows how much value a more coordinated market could unlock.

The cost is concentrated in areas where fragmentation and manual processing remain highest.

Avoidable cost identified

Opportunity
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A single trusted source of event data is the most important enabler — without it, duplication and error persist regardless of other improvements.

The opportunity is addressable now through existing technology and stronger market coordination.

Per-event inefficiency

Action
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The report shows where costs and risk concentrate today — and what a lower-risk, more coordinated future state should look like.

Better coordination, not just better technology, is what separates incremental improvement from structural change.

Corporate actions remain one of the most persistent sources of cost and operational friction in post-trade. The challenge is not only the volume of activity, but the fragmented communication, manual processing and duplicated effort that continue to increase risk across the lifecycle. 

Where are the biggest frictions and costs in US corporate actions today? What would change if firms moved towards a more coordinated and standardised operating model?

The whitepaper examines the true scale of inefficiency in US corporate actions processing, where avoidable cost is concentrated and what an optimised lower-risk future state could look like. It explores friction points, manual error, profit and loss impact and the case for better coordination across the market.

The research, produced in partnership with Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), highlights:

  • The total yearly US industry cost of corporate actions processing is estimated at US dollar (USD) 58 billion

  • Better coordination and technology could remove USD 15 billion of corporate actions cost each year

  • The research points to a single trusted source of information as a critical enabler of a lower-risk and more efficient model

  • The paper identifies where costs and risk concentrate today and what an optimised future state should look like

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