DTCC hits historic milestone as its central securities depository subsidiary surpasses $100 trillion in assets under custody
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced that its central securities depository subsidiary, The Depository Trust Company (DTC), has surpassed a record-setting $100 trillion in assets under custody as overall U.S. market capitalization continues to rise.
When reviewing assets under custody, DTC saw growth across many asset classes from 2020 to 2025:
- Equities grew to $74.1 Trillion from $49.6 Trillion (+49%)
- Within those equities, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) doubled, to $11 Trillion from $5.5 Trillion (+100%)
- Money Market Instruments grew to $4.1 Trillion from $3.2 Trillion (+28%)
In total, DTC assets under custody increased to $100.3 Trillion (2025) from $73.5 Trillion (2020), representing growth of 37%.
DTC is the central securities depository for equities, corporate bonds, and municipal bonds in the U.S. capital markets, and is a critical link in the post-trade lifecycle. DTC holds securities on behalf of financial institutions, custodian banks and brokers, and provides safekeeping and asset servicing, underwriting, corporate actions processing, securities processing, global tax services and issuer services. DTC reduces market risk by ensuring the safekeeping of securities and facilitating timely and accurate settlement.
Today, DTC provides custody and asset servicing for over 1.44 million securities issues from over 170 countries and territories.
“As the financial services industry continues to grow, firms around the world continue to turn to DTC for the asset servicing of securities issued in the U.S.,” said Frank La Salla (pictured), DTCC President and CEO. “This milestone is more than a measure of scale; it’s testament to the trust the financial industry places in DTCC and our responsibility to soundness and safety.”
Over the past 50 years, DTCC has served as a galvanizing force, delivering automation and innovative capabilities that have secured and advanced financial markets for decades. From our work as the central clearing provider in the U.S. for equities and treasury transactions, to leading critical industry efforts such as T+1 and U.S. Treasury clearing, to facilitating the expansion of the digital asset ecosystem, DTCC remains committed to shaping the future of financial markets infrastructure.
“DTCC has played a critical role in the financial markets for decades, enabling it to scale and grow while ensuring resiliency and safety,” added Brian Steele, Managing Director and President, DTCC Clearing & Securities Services. “We are proud of our partnership with firms across the industry as they continue to place their traditional securities at DTC. The structural changes introduced through the creation of DTC resulted in our modern-day market structure that helped establish the U.S. equities market as one of the deepest, most liquid markets in the world. As we look to the future, we will be pioneering new digital asset solutions that we believe will be the next evolution of market structure, including DTC.”
Established in 1973, DTC was created to reduce costs and provide clearing and settlement efficiencies by immobilizing securities and making “book-entry” changes to ownership of the securities. Through its suite of securities processing services, DTC provides participant firms a range of safekeeping and processing services for various types of securities. Securities processing services deliver efficient and cost-effective solutions for deposits, withdrawals, electronic direct registration and custody. DTC’s corporate actions processing and settlement services significantly enhance market efficiency and reduce operational risk. By automating and centralizing the handling of events such as dividends, mergers and reorganizations, DTC ensures accurate, timely and transparent communication between issuers and investors. Its settlement services offer reliable and secure processing of securities transactions, helping financial institutions reduce costs and improve compliance across the trade lifecycle.
“As markets evolve, our commitment to stability, transparency and forward-looking innovation has never been stronger,” added La Salla. “As the industry enters a new era of digital transformation and continued growth across traditional markets, DTCC remains committed to driving initiatives that unlock new value.”
