Swiss central securities depository (CSD) SIX has become the latest to sign the TARGET2-Securities (T2S) framework agreement.
The move comes a week after Euroclear’s three Eurozone CSDs – Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear France and Euroclear Nederland signed the framework agreement and will see SIX, through SIX Securities Services, becoming the first non-EU central securities depository to offer access to the plan for a common technical platform for securities settlement in Europe.
It also comes despite the Swiss National Bank’s decision that the Swiss franc will not be available as a settlement currency in T2S, although it will enable Swiss financial institutions to access the envisaged centralised settlement platform.
Clients of SIX Securities Services will have direct access to the T2S platform. This will benefit firms with lower settlement volumes, for whom the costs of accessing T2S markets represent significant investment.
Currently, T2S markets represent over 50% of all cross-border transactions processed by SIX Securities Services – 15% of its total transaction volumes. The post trade service provider offers services in 65 countries.
Commenting on the decision, Thomas Zeeb, CEO Securities Services at SIX, explained: “This decision is the result of almost three years of discussions and consultations with our clients, with regulators from across Europe, and with other key stakeholders. We have carefully crafted service concepts and propositions that we believe will benefit both our Swiss, and our European clients. These include improved efficiencies, enhanced collateral management and a range of other new services.”
Reporting by Janet du Chenne, Global Custodian, an Asset International publication.