Significant Improvement in Service Flexibility TDCC's VMU Service Takes a Giant Leap Forward
2024/12/30
Foreign participation in Taiwan's stock market continues to increase, with foreign investors now holding over 40% of the market's total value. Given that foreign securities firms and custodians have fully relied on the TDCC's institutional reconciliation system, TDCC has planned to extend the service hours of VMU(Virtual Matching Utilities) to further improve service quality and upgrade automation. The current service hours, from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, will be extended to 0:00 midnight. During the extended hours, STP (Straight-Through Processing) services and automated file receiving mechanism will be fully implemented. This upgraded service is expected to be available starting from the first trading day after the 2025 Chinese Lunar New Year.
TDCC's President, Daniel Chen, stated that since VMU was launched in 2004, the service volume has continuously hit new highs. Currently, approximately 6 million domestic and foreign institution transactions are processed through the system per year. The daily pre-settlement operations now reach a 99% of all transactions. Overall, the system's usage has been highly active. As VMU celebrates its 20th anniversary, the extension of service hours will help businesses complete reconciliations quickly and accurately after trading.
Moreover, by the end of 2025, VMU plans to introduce additional automated pre-settlement services during different time periods. This will help facilitate batch processing of pre-settlement of foreign institutional transactions during the extended hours. This upgrade not only enhances the efficiency of post-trade reconciliation and automation in the market but also increases the flexibility of market infrastructure, preparing for changes in settlement cycles in line with international trends.
For the past 35 years, TDCC has worked continuously to provide secure, efficient, and low-cost back-office solutions for the market. In alignment with favorable foreign investor policies and the needs of custodians, TDCC is committed to supporting the market's requirements. By optimizing VMU and standardizing and automating processes, TDCC significantly reduces the operational pressure that foreign securities firms and custodians face due to time zone differences. Moving forward, TDCC will continue to drive system upgrades and digital transformation to promote the long-term development of Taiwan's capital market.