For too long, corporate actions mistakes have been treated as a cost of doing business - just another line item on the budget, absorbed and forgotten. Traditionally, firms have had time to patch errors. As the industry moves to shorter, almost real-time processing cycles, the margin for error is disappearing and it’s time to rethink both our mindset and our technology.

The compounding cost of broken processes

The “Broadening Asset Servicing 2025” report highlights a stark reality: while asset servicing volumes have increased by more than 25% year-on-year, budgets have not kept pace. This disparity is stretching operations to the point of failure.

On average, investors now face USD 14 million in direct annual costs per firm from corporate action errors. Indirect costs, from capital buffers to delayed settlements, drive the total operations bill even higher.

One reason is the sheer number of people involved. As many as 453 people across regions may touch a single event, often through fragmented or local-market processes. Each handoff is another opportunity for error.

Beyond the write-offs: The hidden costs

The financial impact cost is obvious, but the unseen costs are equally damaging.

• Capital inefficiency: Firms set aside reserves to cover anticipated errors and losses.
• Talent drain: Skilled professionals, especially younger hires, grow frustrated with outdated, manual workflows and leave for more modern environments.
• Lost opportunity: Time spent firefighting is not spent innovating.
• Client trust erosion: Missed or delayed entitlements damage both reputation and client relationships.

Research underscores another inefficiency: sourcing reliable corporate actions data often costs more than processing it. In fact, the ValueExchange 2025 report found that data sourcing and validation now accounts for 51% of total investor costs, underscoring how data complexity has become one of the largest cost drivers in the process.

From cost center to center of value

To stop budgeting for failure, firms must reframe corporate actions as a strategic risk and performance issue, rather than a back-office inevitability.

Key shifts include:

• Board-level visibility: Elevate corporate actions to a board-level risk and performance issue rather than a back-office fix.
• Data harmonization: Invest in harmonized, upstream data and standardization, so that accuracy starts at the source.
• Real-time oversight: Implement dashboards, alerts, and client-facing notification tools for transparency and faster issue resolution.
• Automation-first: Replace ad hoc manual fixes with sustainable, automated workflows built for resilience and scalability.

The opportunity for leaders

There is a genuine competitive edge available to those who act now. Firms that reduce errors and strengthen transparency will not only earn greater client trust, they will also free up resources previously tied up in reconciliation and remediation.

Moreover, with 67% of corporate action errors now traced to data-quality issues, modernizing infrastructure around better data is no longer optional. Firms that embed automation, validation, and real-time tracking across the lifecycle will be better positioned to deliver operational alpha and reduce compliance risk.

As Wood notes: “Clients no longer accept that ‘corporate actions are complicated.’ They expect accuracy – and accountability. Budgeting for errors can no longer be considered a strategy.”

Shifting from a mindset that tolerates failure to one that demands precision can turn corporate actions into a differentiator rather than a cost burden.

Finding the right partner to change the game

Transformation doesn’t require reinvention overnight – but it does require partnerships that scale.

Look for partners and internal collaborators with proven domain expertise, transparent data lineage capabilities, and auditable workflows. Firms investing in integrated, data-driven automation solutions are already seeing faster cycle times, improved client satisfaction, and measurable cost reductions.

For too long, firms have, literally, budgeted for failure. That era is ending - failures will become visible, costly, and impossible to explain away. The firms that act now to build end-to-end visibility and accountability won’t just survive and thrive; they will set the standard for the next phase of market efficiency.

^Sources

^{ValueExchange, Broadening Asset Servicing in 2025}

^{DTCC Connection, The Hidden Rising Cost of Corporate Actions, May 2024}

^{DTCC Connection, Automation Could Transform How Corporate Actions Are Announced — But We Need Standards, May 2025}

^{EY, How the Corporate Action Lifecycle Could Be Transformed, 2023}