Position discrepancies may occur when reconciling trades for a number of different reasons. The majority of conflicts are typically the result of:
- Corporate actions (e.g. symbol change, split, merger/acquisition)
- Missing data from your clearing firm or execution provider (e.g. away trades, option exercises).
- Differences in ticker symbols
Below you will find explanations and steps to fix both common and edge case discrepancy issues.
After taking steps to resolve the discrepancy you will need to rerun the reconciliation process for the discrepancy to disappear.
Symbology Discrepancies
Symbols inconsistent with PropReports symbology
PropReports compares its internal positions against positions reported by your clearing firm or the DMA provider. Because various systems use different symbol naming standards PropReports attempts to "normalize" ticker symbols when matching positions. Discrepancies may occur during reconciliation when this normalization process fails. Below are two examples where the symbol used by PropReports does not match the symbol used by the clearing firm:
ABCXYZ (123)
BRK/A 300 --
BRK.A -- 300
LXP-PC 100 --
LXPPRC -- 100
In the example above, you can see that PropReports is reporting 300 shares long of "BRK/A" for account ABCXYZ whereas the other system is showing 300 shares for "BRK.A". The correct symbol should be BRK/A. The same issue exists for the LXP-PC / LXPPRC discrepancy (correct symbol is LXP-PC).
To reconcile this type of discrepancy, correct the ticker symbol via the "Audit > Symbols" page.
Alphanumeric code in place of ticker
When a vendor's symbol database is incomplete they can send an ISIN or some internally-generated code in place of a ticker. Below are two examples where a symbol is missing in the data received from the clearing firm:
ABCXYZ (123)
ASG 58,888 --
US5299904186 -- 58,888
AMD 5,000 --
A005767 -- 5,000
Reconcile this type of discrepancy by navigating to the "Audit > Symbols" page, searching for the code causing the discrepancy (e.g. A005767 or US5299904186 from the examples above) and correct the ticker symbol.
Corporate Actions
Symbol Change
Ticker symbols can change when companies merge, change names, get delisted or go bankrupt. For example, when AOL Time Warner dropped the AOL and became simply Time Warner, it changed its symbol from AOL to TWX. Here's what the discrepancy looks like:
ABCXYZ (123) TWX -- 123 AOL 123 --
To reconcile this type of discrepancy, navigate to the "Audit > Corporate Actions" page and select the "Symbol Change" action.
Stock Split
If a trader is holding a position for a stock that did a split or reverse split, a discrepancy will appear on the reconciliation report. The example below shows a discrepancy for symbol "ABTL". PropReports is reporting 19,000 shares, while the clearing firm is reporting only 3,800. This is because the stock has undergone a 1:5 stock split.
ABC123 (123)
ABTL 19,000 3,800
To reconcile this type of position discrepancy, navigate to the "Audit > Corporate Actions" page and select the "Stock Split" action.
Option Expiration
Below is an example of a position discrepancy caused by an option that needs to be expired. The option for security "JOSB" was set to expire on 07/21/2012, and came up as a discrepancy because the option matured without being closed out in PropReports.
ABC123 (123) +JOSB120721C00050000 1 --
To reconcile this type of discrepancy, visit the "Audit > Corporate Actions" page and select "Option Expiration" to close the position.
For more information on using the Option Expiration tool, click here.
Configuration Errors
Another common issue is incorrect or missing account names. Below are various examples of discrepancies caused by account name configuration errors.
Mismatched Clearing Id or Account Id
DEFXYZ (321) MSFT 1,500 -- ABC123 (123) MSFT -- 1,500
Clearing Id not set
MSFT 1,500 -- ABC123 (123) MSFT -- 1,500
Clearing Firm or Source not set or incorrect
ABC123 (123) MSFT -- 1,500
To fix these types of discrepancies, navigate to the Accounts / Overview page for the account holding the position and verify the account names are correctly set. If reconciling against the clearing firm, then the Clearing Id and Clearing Firm must be set and accurate. If reconciling against the DMA vendor, ensure the Account Id and Source match. For more information on account names, please click here.
