Broker-dealers must now manage customer cash daily and keep more of it

The US financial regulator now requires some broker-dealers to calculate their customer cash reserves every day, not just once a week. This means these firms must hold more actual cash on hand and manage it more tightly.

Broker-dealers used to have a week to adjust their books and manage their cash positions. Now they have a day. This reduces their ability to use customer money for short-term operations, even temporarily. It is part of a longer trend since the 2008 financial crisis to make financial institutions hold more capital and manage risk more tightly.