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respondent, all the actions that remain to be performed by
petitioner after the trade date are of a ministerial nature to
effectuate the mechanics of the transfer and are merely in
confirmation of the trade executed. We agree with respondent.
Petitioner is a member of all major U.S. securities
exchanges. The essential service that petitioner provides to its
customers is the execution of trades through its access to the
securities exchanges. It is through this access that the
customer acquires the ability to make a trade. Indeed,
petitioner’s statement of Terms and Conditions, which states the
agreement between petitioner and the customer, provides that
petitioner "executes orders for securities only and does not give
investment advice." There is no mention of posttrade services,
such as recording, confirmation, or booking.
Moreover, the price of the securities that a customer
purchases or sells and the amount of commission due to petitioner
are determined as of the trade date. If petitioner does not
receive payment on a purchase or sale order executed for the
customer, it liquidates the customer’s account to collect the
amount, including the commission, determined on the trade date.
Upon execution of a customer order, a written confirmation is
generated automatically and is sent to the customer on the next
business day following the trade date. The written confirmation
serves as an invoice and as written notification to the customer
of the trade. The confirmation statement itemizes the total cost
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