Brussels, 08/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 9 October, EU finance ministers will adopt conclusions on the clearing and compensation industry, indicating that it is becoming ever more vital to establish effective and secure systems at pan-European level for clearing and settlement, particularly for cross-border securities trading. The conclusions document will discuss current initiatives in the industry following the debate at the Porto meeting (see EUROPE 9504). The ECOFIN Council will hold a series of debates on the issue in the autumn of 2007 and the spring of 2008.
The finance ministers say progress is needed in several areas: price comparability for clearing and settlement operations under the voluntary code of conduct on clearing and settlement signed in November 2006 (see EUROPE 9470, 9301); the Commission should come forward with concrete action and a timetable for lifting the legal and fiscal obstacles identified in the Giovannini Report (see EUROPE 8446); the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) should work on the scope, legal basis and content of the rules being drawn up by the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) and the EFC should submit guidelines on this to the spring 2008 ECOFIN Council.
The finance ministers are delighted that the European Central Bank (ECB) is following their February recommendations on its Target2-Securities project of establishing a single technological platform for the payment of securities in the eurozone (see EUROPE 9372), and want to be kept informed ahead of any new decision by the ECB (expected in the spring of 2008). (mb)