Multi-clearing isn't plumbing — it's operational edge when borrow tightens, margin gets recalculated, or one route congests at a critical moment. Borrow availability, margin formulas, route flexibility, and recall response all vary by clearer. Single-clearing = single point of failure.

A 100% annualized borrow rate is a 0.27%/day P&L tax. A 5-day hold burns 1.37%; a 21-day hold burns 5.75% — often the entire expected alpha. The complete framework for trading HTB names: borrow math, Reg SHO, term vs open borrow, recall risk, and the desk decision tree.

UPST sits at 32% short of float. BYND at 28%. AMC at 18%. One HTB vendor is a single point of failure on every one of these names. The operational case for four-vendor redundancy: the trade you're missing is the trade with the entire desk's prep behind it.