Subscription processing, in the investment funds industry, is the work of handling an investor's order to buy units or shares in a fund. It is carried out by the fund's transfer agent or administrator as part of transfer agency. The agent receives the order, checks that it is complete and that the investor has passed identity and anti-money-laundering checks, and records the time of receipt. Orders received before the fund dealing cut-off are dealt at the next price; later orders wait for the following dealing day.
Once the net asset value calculation for the dealing day is complete, the agent works out how many units the investment buys, issues them, updates the investor register and sends a contract note. Payment is matched to the order and passed to the fund's account at its depositary. The fund manager is told the net inflow so that the money can be invested. The reverse flow is redemption processing.