Brussels, 14/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Commission has initiated public consultation lasting until Tuesday 1 March 2011 on central securities depositories (CSD). Reflection will be fuelled by the opinions expressed by interested parties with a view to a legislative proposal, announced for this summer, which will complete the proposal for a regulation on transactions involving financial derivatives (see EUROPE 10215).
The CSD, as systemic infrastructure, provide essential services on the financial markets such as the registration, safekeeping and settlement of financial securities. In an increasingly virtual environment, they ensure the safe and effective transfer of securities. Also, given the increasingly transnational nature of transactions, the Commission takes the view it is time to establish a European-level CSD framework.
Parties interested are asked to state the entities to be covered by or exempted from the future legislative initiative (for example: central banks, government agencies for the management of public deficit). The Commission wishes to know how many own funds the CSD should hold and how national regulators should register and control these entities. The European institution is also consulting on harmonisation of certain rules for post market operations, above all concerning security settlement discipline and period. The question of CSD penalties in the event of breach of financial legislation has also been raised. (M.B./transl.jl)