Each custodian shall hold with itself or with a sub-custodian intermediated securities (available securities) in a quantity and of a kind at least equal to the total of intermediated securities credited to the securities accounts of its account holders (credited securities).
If the total number of available securities is less than the total number of credited securities, the custodian shall without delay acquire intermediated securities to the extent of the shortfall.
The following are deemed to be available securities:
intermediated securities credited to a securities account held by the custodian with a sub-custodian;
certificated securities, ledger-based securities or global certificates that the custodian holds directly, or uncertificated securities entered in its main register; and
readily available rights to delivery of intermediated securities from other custodians during the regulatory or customary settlement period for the corresponding market, provided that this period does not exceed eight days.