ACAT Transfer of Assets Form (TOA)
An ACAT transfer form, also called a transfer of assets or TOA form, instructs a receiving firm to bring an account over from another firm. The receiving firm submits it through ACATS, the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service operated by NSCC, and the two firms move the positions between them. The form goes to the receiving firm, not to a regulator.
- Who handles it
- The client signs the transfer form at the receiving firm, and that firm initiates the transfer. Operations at both ends handles the exceptions: positions that will not transfer in kind, registrations that do not match, and residual balances that arrive after the account itself.
- Filed through
- Custodian (ACATS)
- Applies to
- SEC-registered RIA, State-registered RIA, Broker-dealer, Dually registered
What the form asks for
- Delivering firm name and the account number as held there
- Account registration and title exactly as the delivering firm carries it
- Full or partial transfer, and the positions named for a partial
- A recent statement from the delivering firm, attached
- Retirement account type matching, where the transfer is between IRAs
- Instructions for assets that will not transfer in kind
- Client signature, and trustee or spousal signatures the registration requires
The work behind the filing
Read the delivering statement instead of retyping it
A transfer form is largely a transcription of another firm's statement: account number, registration, and position by position detail for a partial transfer. The statement arrives as a PDF, so the transcription gets done by hand and a digit gets transposed. Caddi can extract the account and position detail out of the statement, populate the form, and flag holdings unlikely to transfer in kind.
Catch the mismatches that make a transfer reject
Transfers reject on small disagreements: a middle initial, an account title that reads differently at the delivering firm, a registration type that does not correspond, an account number off by one. Each rejection costs days and a second client conversation. Caddi can compare the form against the attached statement and the client record before anything is submitted.
Follow the transfer past submission, including residuals
A transfer is not finished when it is sent. Non transferable positions have to be resolved, residual dividends trail in for weeks, and someone has to notice that the account arrived at 90 percent and stopped. Caddi can track each transfer against what was requested and open the follow-up on what never landed.
Questions
What is an ACAT transfer?
An ACAT transfer moves a customer account from one firm to another through ACATS, the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service operated by NSCC. The client signs a transfer form at the receiving firm, and that firm initiates the transfer with the delivering firm.
What is the difference between an ACAT and a non-ACAT transfer?
ACATS handles account and asset types eligible for the automated service between participating firms. Anything outside it, including some account types and many alternative or proprietary positions, moves through a manual firm to firm process that is slower and driven by paper and follow-up.
Why do ACAT transfers reject?
Most rejections trace to a mismatch between the transfer form and the delivering firm's own record: name, account title, registration type, or account number. Others come from positions that cannot transfer in kind, or from a signature the registration required and did not get.
Can the transfer form be filled from the client's existing statement?
Yes, and that is most of the work. The delivering firm's statement carries the account number, the registration, and the positions, which is nearly everything the form asks for. Extracting those fields and populating the form is exactly the transcription work an agent can run start to finish, with a person reviewing before submission.
Can Caddi handle this paperwork end to end?
Caddi runs the work around it: pulling the client facts out of your CRM, plan, and document systems, producing the populated form, checking it against the client record before it goes out, routing it for signature, and writing the result back into every system that holds the same fact. A person reviews and submits. Caddi is not a custodian or a broker-dealer and does not act as one.
Related forms
The filing is the easy part
Caddi does not file forms. It runs the work around them: pulling the underlying data out of your portfolio, CRM, and document systems, reconciling it against the prior filing, and evidencing delivery. See it run on your own stack.
See the compliance specialistThis page describes what the form is and the work it creates. For requirements, deadlines, and whether any of it applies to your firm, see FINRA Rule 11870: Customer Account Transfer Contracts.