At a brokerage, trading firm, or financial-services back office, you handle over-the-counter (OTC) transaction processing — typically for securities, derivatives, or commodities that trade OTC rather than on exchanges — supporting trade settlement, position reconciliation, and the OTC-specific operational work.
The work runs through OTC trade systems and counterparty confirmations — processing executed OTC trades, matching with counterparties, supporting settlement, reconciling positions against custodian records. You're often the operational hand on OTC trade settlement where the bilateral nature of OTC trading creates different operational patterns from exchange-traded products. Settlement timing and break resolution drive performance.
The harder part is often the counterparty-specific procedural variation — OTC trades settle bilaterally, and each counterparty may have specific procedures the clerk navigates. Variance across employers is wide: at major broker-dealers OTC clerk work is structured with deep settlement specialization; at smaller firms it blends with broader securities operations.
Clerks who do well tend to carry detail-orientation, settlement-deadline calm, and OTC-systems fluency. SIE, Series 99, and securities-operations credentials anchor advancement. The trade-off is the back-office invisibility of OTC clerk work — visible mainly when settlement breaks surface in audit or risk monitoring.
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Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Admin & Office roles →At a brokerage, trading firm, or financial-services back office, you handle over-the-counter (OTC) transaction processing — typically for securities, derivatives, or commodities that trade OTC rather than on exchanges — supporting trade settlement, position reconciliation, and the OTC-specific operational work.
Median pay for an OTC Clerk (Over the Counter Clerk) is about $63K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $48K to $92K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Speaking, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Time Management, and Critical Thinking.
Most people in this role hold a bachelor's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to decline about 9.5% through 2034, with roughly 40,090 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Sales Assistant, Account Administrator, and Securities Clerk.
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