Effective monopoly as the sole clearinghouse serving the principal securities markets in the U.S. Strong financial safeguards and risk-management controls to protect against member default Mutuality of risk, which provides strong financial and business incentives for member support Implied support from the broader securities-markets community High degree of operating leverage Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' ratings on National Securities Clearing Corp. (NSCC) reflect the firm's effective monopoly and crucial role as the sole clearinghouse serving the principal securities markets in the U.S. Our ratings are also based on NSCC's robust risk-management controls and procedures, and the existence of safeguards that protect the clearing organization from member default. Given the importance of NSCC's function to the fabric of the U.S. securities
