DK

“DK” stands not, as the JC believed in some humiliating mondegreen until 2021, for “drop-kick”, but for “don’t know”. As in, “I do not, biblically, know this transaction”. To “DK” a trade “alleged” by an executing broker to a prime broker, is to refuse to take it, as is sometimes required by the SEC no-action letter.

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DK
/diː keɪ/ (v.)

To disown, deny, or feign ignorance, Saint Peter-style. Of a prime broker, to reject a transaction that an executing broker attempts to give up to it on behalf of one of its clients.

You might also describe the behaviour of a cherry-picking bankruptcy administrator as DKing a trade. But this doesn’t happen as often as you would think, given how much money and time people spend worrying about it.

See also

• Give-up
• Automatic Early Termination
• Netting
• SEC no-action letter