Stock, Bond Certificates in DTCC Vault Damaged by Sandy Flooding

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) Stock and bond certificates held in an underground Manhattan vault owned by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. were damaged by flooding in Hurricane Sandy, according to the DTCC.

The New York-based company that processes transactions in U.S. equities and government, municipal and corporate bonds said it’s too early to determine how many of the 1.3 million physical certificates can be restored, according to a statement. The 40- year-old vault was submerged when the Atlantic Ocean’s largest- ever tropical storm slammed New York City. DTCC has hired “disaster recovery and expert restoration firms” to work on the project, the firm said yesterday.

“Our analysis of the condition of the vault, once we were able to open it, was that significant flooding and water damage occurred throughout the facility,” DTCC said of the 10,000- square-foot storage chamber at 55 Water Street in lower Manhattan. “While it is premature to determine the full extent of the damage, it is essential to begin the restoration process to avoid further deterioration.”

Computerized ownership records for the company’s holdings of certificates are “robust,” DTCC said. The company called the effort of sorting through the damage “more of an administrative and logistical challenge than an economic issue” and said it’s talking to transfer agents about determining the process for issuing replacement certificates without requiring the originals, according to the statement. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-15/stock-bond-certificates-in-dtcc-vault-damaged-by-sandy-flooding.html

[PoliticAverse]

1. So having a below ground vault on 'water street' was a bad idea ? n/t