Title 15, Commerce and TradeRelease 119-110
§78fff–4 Direct Payment Procedure
Title 15 › CHAPTER 2B–1 — SECURITIES INVESTOR PROTECTION › § 78fff–4
Summary
SIPC may pay a failed broker’s customers directly instead of opening a formal liquidation if certain conditions are met. Those conditions include: the firm has failed or is likely to fail; other required conditions exist; every customer’s claim is within SIPC protection limits; all customer claims together are less than $250,000; paying customers directly will cost SIPC less than a liquidation; and the firm’s broker-dealer registration has ended or the firm agreed to direct payments. A firm that stopped being a member within the last 180 days is treated the same. When SIPC decides to use direct payments, it must publish a notice in newspapers and mail the same notice to anyone who had an open account with the firm in the past twelve months. The notice explains how to file a claim. The direct payment process starts on the first publication date, and customers must submit claims within six months from that date. SIPC must quickly deliver securities or pay cash based on the firm’s records, valuing securities at the close of business on the publication date. SIPC may require forms, affidavits, releases, or assignments, and if SIPC pays money it takes over the customer’s rights against the firm. Customers may still take claims to a federal bankruptcy court within six months after SIPC mails its decision, and SIPC can stop the direct-payment process later and start a liquidation; any payments or decisions already made will still count in that liquidation.
Full Legal Text
Title 15, §78fff–4
Commerce and Trade, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Determination regarding direct payments
If SIPC determines that—
(1)any member of SIPC (including a person who was a member within one hundred eighty days prior to such determination) has failed or is in danger of failing to meet its obligations to customers;
(2)one or more of the conditions specified in section 78eee(b)(1) of this title exist with respect to such member;
(3)the claim of each customer of the member is within the limits of protection provided in section 78fff–3(a) of this title;
(4)the claims of all customers of the member aggregate less than $250,000;
(5)the cost to SIPC of satisfying customer claims under this section will be less than the cost under a liquidation proceeding; and
(6)such member’s registration as a broker-dealer under section 78o(b) of this title has been terminated, or such member has consented to the use of the direct payment procedure set forth in this section,
SIPC may, in its discretion, use the direct payment procedure set forth in this section in lieu of instituting a liquidation proceeding with respect to such member.
(b)Notice
Promptly after a determination under subsection (a) that the direct payment procedure is to be used with respect to a member, SIPC shall cause notice of such direct payment procedure to be published in one or more newspapers of general circulation in a form and manner determined by SIPC, and at the same time shall cause to be mailed a copy of such notice to each person who appears, from the books and records of such member, to have been a customer of the member with an open account within the past twelve months, to the address of such person as it appears from the books and records of such member. Such notice shall state that SIPC will satisfy customer claims directly, without a liquidation proceeding, and shall set forth the form and manner in which claims may be presented. A direct payment procedure shall be deemed to commence on the date of first publication under this subsection and no claim by a customer shall be paid or otherwise satisfied by SIPC unless received within the six-month period beginning on such date, except that SIPC shall, upon application within such period, and for cause shown, grant a reasonable, fixed extension of time for the filing of a claim by the United States, by a State or political subdivision thereof, or by an infant or incompetent person without a guardian.
(c)Payments to customers
SIPC shall promptly satisfy all obligations of the member to each of its customers relating to, or net equity claims based upon, securities or cash by the delivery of securities or the effecting of payments to such customer (subject to the provisions of section 78fff–2(d) of this title and section 78fff–3(a) of this title insofar as such obligations are ascertainable from the books and records of the member or are otherwise established to the satisfaction of SIPC. For purposes of distributing securities to customers, all securities shall be valued as of the close of business on the date of publication under subsection (b). Any payment or delivery of securities pursuant to this section may be conditioned upon the execution and delivery, in a form to be determined by SIPC, of appropriate receipts, supporting affidavits, releases, and assignments. To the extent moneys of SIPC are used to satisfy the claims of customers, in addition to all other rights it may have at law or in equity, SIPC shall be subrogated to the claims of such customers against the member.
(d)Effect on claims
Except as otherwise provided in this section, nothing in this section shall limit the right of any person, including any subrogee, to establish by formal proof or otherwise such claims as such person may have against the member, including claims for the payment of money and the delivery of specific securities, without resort to moneys of SIPC.
(e)Jurisdiction of Bankruptcy Courts
After SIPC has published notice of the institution of a direct payment procedure under this section, any person aggrieved by any determination of SIPC with respect to his claim under subsection (c) may, within six months following mailing by SIPC of its determination with respect to such claim, seek a final adjudication of such claim. The courts of the United States having jurisdiction over cases under title 11 shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction of any civil action for the adjudication of such claim. Any such action shall be brought in the judicial district where the head office of the debtor is located. Any determination of the rights of a customer under subsection (c) shall not prejudice any other right or remedy of the customer against the member.
(f)Discontinuance of direct payment procedures
If, at any time after the institution of a direct payment procedure with respect to a member, SIPC determines, in its discretion, that continuation of such direct payment procedure is not appropriate, SIPC may cease such direct payment procedure and, upon so doing, may seek a protective decree pursuant to section 78eee of this title. To the extent payments of cash, distributions of securities, or determinations with respect to the validity of a customer’s claim are made under this section, such payments, distributions, and determinations shall be recognized and given full effect in the event of any subsequent liquidation proceeding. Any action brought under subsection (e) and pending at the time of the appointment of a trustee under section 78eee(b)(3) of this title shall be permanently stayed by the court at the time of such appointment, and the court shall enter an order directing the transfer or removal to it of such suit. Upon such removal or transfer the complaint in such action shall constitute the plaintiff’s claim in the liquidation proceeding, if appropriate, and shall be deemed received by the trustee on the date of his appointment regardless of the date of actual transfer or removal of such action.
(g)References
For purposes of this section, any reference to the trustee in section 78fff–1(b)(1), 78fff–2(d), 78fff–2(f), 78fff–3(a), 78lll(5) and 78lll(12) of this title shall be deemed a reference to SIPC, and any reference to the date of publication of notice under section 78fff–2(a) of this title shall be deemed a reference to the publication of notice under this section.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
A prior section 10 of Pub. L. 91–598 was renumbered section 14 and is classified to section 78jjj of this title.
Amendments
1978—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 95–598, § 308(n)(3), which directed striking out “, without regard to the citizenship of the parties or the amount in the controversy”, was executed by striking out “, without regard to the citizenship of the parties or the amount in controversy” after “adjudication of such claim” to reflect the probable intent of Congress. Pub. L. 95–598, § 308(n)(1), (2), substituted “Bankruptcy Courts” for “District Courts” in heading and “courts of the United States having jurisdiction over cases under title 11” for “district courts of the United States” in text.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1978 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 95–598 effective Oct. 1, 1979, see section 402(a) of Pub. L. 95–598, set out as an
Effective Date
note preceding section 101 of Title 11, Bankruptcy.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
15 U.S.C. § 78fff–4
Title 15, Commerce and Trade
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110