ACATS, the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service, is the system US brokerage firms use to move an investment account from one firm to another, usually transferring the holdings as they are rather than selling them.
You start the transfer at the new firm, not the old one, by signing a transfer form with your details exactly as they appear on your old statement. The new firm sends the request through ACATS. FINRA says the process generally takes about three to four business days; IRAs, custodial accounts, and accounts at banks, credit unions, or mutual fund companies can take longer.
Moving holdings in kind means nothing is sold, so the move itself creates no capital gains tax. Some holdings, such as funds the new firm doesn't offer, may not be able to transfer; the firm must tell you and explain your options. Ask about this, and about any exit fee at the old firm, before you start.
If the old firm doesn't act, or a problem isn't fixed within the set window, the request is purged from ACATS and the new firm has to resubmit it.
How to check
When the transfer is done, compare the first statement at the new firm with the last one from the old firm, holding by holding, and check that cost basis came across for each position.
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