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THE STORY OF THE DEPOSITORY TRUST & CLEARING CORPORATION
had all of the old trades that had to be cleared and settled. We also had a lot of fiscal activity that was beginning to build up, with deposits coming in.” While the markets were closed for a week after 9/11, DTCC continued on, ultimately settling nearly $2 trillion in transactions. DTCC also served as a valuable backup for its industry colleagues, 13 of which were left homeless since their offices were in the World Trade Center. Much of the work was done at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, which had served as DTCC’s backup site and had been set up with an emergency vault. Making the transition was as seamless as possible because of DTCC’s crisis management planning after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. “We had various exercises that we would perform during normal times and had our agendas laid out in front of us,” Thompson said. “Everybody knew what they needed to do.”
A New Backup Plan Increases Resilience
Despite the success of Brooklyn as a backup site, the events of 9/11 had proven that DTCC needed additional contingency planning. While many financial institutions had moved to create computer system backups and locations, DTCC took things a step further, opening a new office in Upper Manhattan that would include a unique stipulation. Similar to the designated survivor who is held in an undisclosed area during the US President’s State of the Union address, one member of DTCC’s senior leadership needed to be present at the Upper Manhattan office at all times. The DTCC senior staff members who were selected for this role were constantly put through drill exercises that challenged them to anticipate how they would respond were they suddenly placed in charge of the entire firm. In hindsight, it was an obvious move, but one that no one else had considered, as Considine described:
DONALD DONAHUE: DTCC PRESIDENT AND CEO 2006–2012
Donald Donahue had a long and successful Wall Street career before joining The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation in 1986. He had worked for a small brokerage firm and then the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. When Donahue joined what was then known as The Depository Trust Company (DTC) as vice president of planning, he played a key role in launching the same-day funds settlement system. As vice president of operations, Donahue helped DTC make the move to a three-day settlement.
No matter what was going on, Donahue was likely to be present. “If there was a problem, Don Donahue was hanging around the areas that were doing the work,” said Jacob Feuchtwanger, former managing director and chief information officer. “He wasn’t up in the ivory tower saying, ‘All right. We’ll see what happens.’ He was there. If there was a problem with settlement, Don was always on top of it.”
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