New York, NY — March 4,2026— Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC, a capital markets fintech leader in global trading and data, and RQD* Clearing LLC (RQD), a leading clearing and custody firm, today announced a strategic partnership to explore and develop clearing and settlement capabilities for tokenized National Market System (NMS) equities. Blue Ocean ATS, LLC, the broker-dealer subsidiary of Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC, and RQD signed an MOU to set forth an initiative designed to align with DTCC’s emerging tokenized securities infrastructure and roadmap.

The collaboration positions both firms as early market infrastructure leaders in the evolution of tokenized U.S. equities, combining alternative trading system execution with institutional-grade clearing and settlement capabilities designed to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week including weekends and holidays. Blue Ocean ATS, LLC and RQD* are working together to define the next phase of U.S. equity market structure by enabling tokenized NMS equities supported by robust clearing and settlement frameworks. The initiative emphasizes operational resilience, regulatory alignment, and disciplined governance standards to foster institutional and regulatory confidence.

Brian Hyndman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC commented, “This partnership reflects our shared commitment to modernizing market infrastructure responsibly developing next generation market technology. By aligning innovation with strong compliance and risk controls, we aim to support sustainable, long-term adoption of tokenized equities,” Hyndman added.

Michael Sanocki, Chief Executive Officer of RQD*, said “Tokenized equities represent a structural evolution in U.S. market infrastructure. Clearing and settlement are the foundation of market integrity, and our responsibility is to ensure innovation is supported by resilient, compliant, and institutionally robust frameworks. Partnering with Blue Ocean ATS, LLC enables us to explore how tokenized NMS securities can operate within a disciplined clearing environment designed for continuous, 24/7 markets.”

About Blue Ocean Technologies:

Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC (BOT) is a unique capital markets fintech company empowering global investors by making trading possible during US overnight trading hours. Blue Ocean ATS, LLC, and its trading system Blue Ocean Alternative Trading System (BOATS), currently trades US National Market System (NMS) stocks from 8:00 pm to 4:00 am ET from Sunday – Thursday. Founded in 2019, Blue Ocean ATS, LLC is on a mission to transform US trading to Global trading via its flagship service, Blue Ocean Session, providing access and transparency to subscribers in all time zones during non-traditional US market hours.  Blue Ocean ATS, LLC is a member of FINRA and SIPC. For more information, visit www.blueocean-tech.io. Contact us at sales@blueoceanats.com.

About RQD* Clearing:

RQD* offers clearing, custody, and execution solutions designed to meet the needs of today’s dynamic market participants. Built entirely on cloud-native, real-time technology, RQD* can quickly and seamlessly enhance its platform, adapt to regulatory changes and offer a more efficient implementation that scales as clients grow. In addition to portfolio margin, RQD* supports U.S. equities, options, ETFs, and other securities, catering to broker-dealers and fintech’s that service retail, institutional, and active traders, foreign financial institutions, and proprietary trading firms. To learn more about RQD*’s clearing and custody solutions, please visit www.rqdclearing.com or contact us at sales@rqdclearing.com.

Media Contacts:
press@blueocean-tech.io
media@rqdclearing.com

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Move builds upon NSCC’s continued efforts to meet evolving client and industry needs while delivering increased value to member firms

New York/London/Hong Kong/Singapore/Sydney, March 18, 2025 ‒ The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced that its National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) subsidiary will increase clearing hours to support extended trading with implementation targeted for Q2 2026, subject to regulatory review and approval of any necessary rule changes. Extending clearing hours will deliver increased client value by maximizing liquidity and reducing counterparty risk as NSCC will be able to apply its central counterparty guarantee to overnight activity across different time zones for global participants.

NSCC implemented phase 1 of the new extended trading hours schedule in September 2024 by enabling market centers and trading platforms to submit trades at 1:30 AM ET, approximately 2.5 hours earlier. Under plans for phase 2, which will take effect in Q2 2026, NSCC will operate 24×5, from Sunday at 8:00 PM ET to Friday at 8:00 PM ET to support overnight trading activity from Alternative Trading Systems (ATS) and Exchanges. NSCC is aware that the industry has indicated a preference to establish standard operating hours across Exchange and ATS providers for the U.S. market, and NSCC will continue to work with SIFMA, regulators and the industry to support the alignment of extended trading hours and any required changes to post-trade processes.

“As interest in near round-the-clock trading of U.S. equities grows, we are meeting this demand by extending our clearing hours to support our clients and further strengthen the safety and soundness of the markets,” said Brian Steele, Managing Director, President of Clearing and Securities Services at DTCC. “DTCC is committed to leading large-scale, industry-wide initiatives that deliver positive change for the industry and the investing public. We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively across the industry towards a successful implementation. At the same time, we remain engaged with SIFMA to align to a consistent view of the U.S. trading day.”

“SIFMA is working across our membership on the proposed expansion of trading hours,” said Steve Byron, Managing Director, Head of Technology, Operations and Business Continuity at SIFMA. “SIFMA and its membership are supportive of the establishment of a consistent U.S. trading day across exchanges which enables increased access to U.S. markets for a global client base. The expansion of trading hours, however, presents several challenges for the industry that will need to be overcome to minimize disruption to firms and existing post-trade clearing and settlement processes.”

Dmitri Galinov, 24 Exchange CEO and Founder said, “This is a significant moment for round-the-clock trading that will provide immense global benefits. As the first national securities exchange in the U.S. that is approved to offer trading of U.S. securities 23 hours each workday, we applaud DTCC for further expanding the clearing hours offered through the NSCC. The move will support extended trading on the 24X National Exchange that we are currently building and will benefit the global broker-dealer institutions it will serve.”

“When Blue Ocean ATS officially launched, we recognized the void in the after-hours markets and set out to empower investors worldwide to trade stocks beyond traditional hours,” said Brian Hyndman, CEO of Blue Ocean Technologies. “Today, we are seeing success in our mission by affording investors more choices, tools, and data to trade while navigating volatile markets confidently, leveraging the extended NSCC hours that were introduced in September. We look forward to the additional advancements in 2026.”

“DTCC’s decision to extend NSCC’s clearing hours is a monumental advancement that underscores the growing legitimacy and demand from the investment community for continuous trading,” said Jason Wallach, CEO of Bruce Markets. “This move aligns with our vision at Bruce Markets to modernize U.S. equities trading by providing robust, secure, and dependable access during non-traditional hours. It highlights the growing demand and natural progression toward a 24-hour trading day, creating a more inclusive and responsive trading environment across global time zones.”

“Cboe has been a leader in expanding market access, offering overnight trading for SPX options and VIX options and futures, 24×5 trading in our FX markets, and early trading hours on our U.S. equities exchange,” said Oliver Sung, Head of North American Equities at Cboe Global Markets. “As we now look to leverage our global technology platform and proven market expertise to enable 24×5 trading for U.S. equities – subject to regulatory review – we are pleased to see DTCC’s support and commitment to providing the critical clearing infrastructure that will be an essential component to a successful implementation.”

“Overnight trading represents the next step in the evolution of the U.S. Equity markets, offering a pivotal opportunity to broaden investor access and redefine the trading ecosystem. We recognize the magnitude of this change and the need for the industry to come together to ensure a seamless transition for market participants,” said Kevin Kennedy, Executive Vice President and Head of North American Markets at Nasdaq. “As part of that collaboration, we are proud to partner with the DTCC and NSCC with the goal of providing extended clearing hours that support a robust trading environment.”

“The New York Stock Exchange is proud to be the first established equity exchange to file and receive SEC approval to extend trading hours for U.S. listed companies and funds, providing access to investors in various time zones worldwide,” said Kevin Tyrrell, Head of Markets at NYSE. “This initiative highlights the continued advancement of our capital markets and the increasing global demand for U.S. listed securities. We look forward to continuing to work with the DTCC and the broader industry to further this effort.”

“RQD is uniquely positioned with a flexible clearing platform that enabled us to quickly adopt the earlier clearing hours offered by NSCC,” said Michael Sanocki, CEO of RQD. “This capability positions us to be an example of the benefits that the shift in trading hours can bring to global market participants, such as executing trades seamlessly, efficiently, and securely.”

Steele added, “We are pleased to have worked with 24 Exchange, Blue Ocean Technologies, Bruce Markets, Cboe Global Markets, Nasdaq, NYSE and RQD, as well as SIFMA and other key stakeholders across the industry, as we extend NSCC’s clearing hours. Reducing the time between trade execution and NSCC’s trade clearance and guarantee process is critical in reducing counterparty risk and bringing increase safety and soundness to markets.”

For more information, please reach out to Sales@rqdclearing.com.

Media
Victoria Kwiatkowski
RQD Clearing, LLC
media@rqdclearing.com

Emily Kish
DTCC
ekish@dtcc.com

Eric Hazard
Vested, US
eric@fullyvested.com

Indre Hessant
Greentarget, Europe
indre.hessant@greentarget.co.uk

Corinne Lee
DTCC, Asia
clee2@dtcc.com

The post RQD* Clearing Leads the Way in Adopting NSCC’s Extended Clearing Hours to Support Longer Trading Sessions appeared first on RQD*.

While fractional shares themselves are not new, RQD’s modern back-office system provides one very important advantage – price. As the Chief Revenue Officer, Michael Lanyon of RQD points out, “Legacy clearing firms charge high transactional fees per fractional trade simply because they get charged per trade by their clearing technology vendor. By owning our clearing platform, we can create sustainable fee schedules enabling better margins for the broker dealers, foreign financial institutions, and registered investment advisers that are democratizing investing.”

For more information, please reach out to Sales@rqdclearing.com.

Media
Victoria Kwiatkowski
RQD Clearing, LLC
media@rqdclearing.com

The post RQD* Launches Fractional Shares appeared first on RQD*.

“RQD Clearing’s participation as a member in NSCC’s SFT clearing service will enable them to extend the benefits of central clearing to their clients,” said John Vinci, Managing Director and Head of Secured Funding and Collateral management. “As the industry continues to experience growth in SFTs, it is important that this area of the industry also benefits from the risk management and liquidity capabilities that central clearing provides.”

“We are thrilled to welcome RQD Clearing as a new member of our platform, the Aurora ATS,” said Matt Cohen, CEO of Provable Markets. “Their participation further enriches our ecosystem and underscores our commitment to providing innovative solutions to the securities lending market.” “We are excited to be part of NSCC’s SFT clearing service,” expressed Nicolas Louis, Chief Operating Officer at RQD Clearing. “Our membership in Aurora ATS and active participation in NSCC’s SFT clearing service further solidifies our dedication to delivering state-of-the-art securities lending solutions. Through these partnerships, we enable our clients to benefit from enhanced efficiency, transparency and risk management in their securities financing activities.”

For more information about RQD Clearing and its clearing services, please visit https://rqdclearing.com/

For more information about DTCC’s SFT services, please visit https://www.dtcc.com/clearing-services/equities-clearing-services/sft

For more information about Provable Markets and its Aurora ATS, please visit https://provablemarkets.com/

Media
Victoria Kwiatkowski
RQD Clearing, LLC
media@rqdclearing.com

The post RQD* Clearing Completes First Activity on Provable Markets Aurora as a Participant in DTCC’s NSCC SFT Clearing Service appeared first on RQD*.

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