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Settlement transaction types

OWNI: Internal Account Transfer

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OWNI marks an internal account transfer: securities move between accounts that one instructing party holds with the same account servicer, with no trade behind the movement.

Code
OWNI

What OWNI means

OWNI is defined by who is involved: one sender of instructions and one account servicer. A typical case is an investment manager moving securities from one of its safekeeping accounts to another at the same custodian, for example from a trading account to a segregated account, sent as a delivery and a receipt that the custodian settles within its own books or at the CSD.

If more than one instructing party or more than one account servicer is involved, the transfer is OWNE. A move of a whole portfolio from one investment manager or custodian to another is PORT, and a move of stock into or out of a pooled account is INSP; the official definitions point out that these are often charged differently. Whether beneficial ownership changes is a separate indicator, :22F::BENE//NBEN or YBEN, which some markets require.

Some custodians never apply automatic partial settlement to this type: BNY lists SECL, SECB, SLRE, SBRE, OWNI, TURN and the repo codes among the transactions it always instructs with NPAR.

When you see it

  • On free of payment MT542 and MT540 pairs between two accounts of the same client at one custodian.
  • In Singapore, where LuxCSD’s 2014 notice lists OWNI among the accepted codes and maps it to a transfer with no change of beneficial ownership.

What to do next

  • Use OWNI only when one party instructs both sides at one account servicer. Sending an own-account move as TRAD can trigger trade-related charges, stamp duty checks or tax treatment that should not apply.
  • Give the beneficial ownership indicator where the market or your custodian asks for it; OWNI on its own does not say whether the owner changes.
  • In T2S markets the transaction type is not one of the matching fields, so the code on your instruction does not stop it matching. Some markets do match on it: Clearstream states that for KDPW (Poland) the SETR indicator is a mandatory matching criterion. There, agree the code with your counterparty, or both instructions stay unmatched with reason SETR (see unmatched settlement instructions).

Where it appears in MT and ISO 20022

MT (ISO 15022)

  • MT540, MT541, MT542 and MT543: sequence E (SETDET), field 22F, :22F::SETR//OWNI. The SETR qualifier is mandatory, so every instruction carries one code (format :4!c/[8c]/4!c; with a data source scheme a proprietary code may be sent instead).
  • Repeated in the confirmations MT544, MT545, MT546 and MT547 (sequence E, :22F::SETR//OWNI) and in the MT548 status advice (sequence B, where SETR is mandatory when the sequence is present).
  • Optional in the statements: MT536 subsequence B1a2 and MT537 subsequences B2b and C2.

MX (ISO 20022)

  • sese.023: SttlmParams/SctiesTxTp/Cd = OWNI (code list SecuritiesTransactionType23Code, unchanged in sese.023.001.09 to .013). SttlmParams/SctiesTxTp/Prtry carries a proprietary code instead.
  • Echoed in sese.024 at TxDtls/SttlmParams/SctiesTxTp/Cd and in sese.025 at SttlmParams/SctiesTxTp/Cd.

Questions

What is the difference between OWNI and OWNE?
OWNI is a transfer instructed by one party at one account servicer. OWNE is used when more than one instructing party or more than one account servicer is involved, for example a move from one custodian to another.
Does OWNI mean there is no change of beneficial ownership?
Not by itself. OWNI describes the parties to the transfer. Beneficial ownership is stated with :22F::BENE//NBEN (no change) or YBEN (change) where the market requires it.