Euroclear Sweden, the Swedish central securities depository (CSD), has linked up to Euroclear Bank’s automated processing platform for cross-border and domestic funds (FundSettle).
In so doing, Swedish investment firms now have access to over 80,000 foreign funds from over 25 markets via Euroclear Sweden.
Swedish distributors, cross-border fund management companies and transfer agents now benefit from automated fund-transaction order routing between relevant parties on a straight-through processing basis at Euroclear Sweden.
Paul Brady, director at Franklin Templeton Investments, said: “We welcome this initiative as we strongly believe that we will continue to be able to deliver our funds to this important Nordic market, via a proven, safe and efficient distribution network.”
Anders Löfgren, head of product management at Euroclear Sweden, said: “Greater fund processing efficiency is an area where our infrastructure role is adding value by slashing back-office processing costs and risks through automation and standardisation. The Swedish fund market enjoyed a phenomenal 2013 in terms of net inflows, up SEK 430 billion (€484 million) on the previous year, according to Fondbolagens Föreningen (Swedish Investment Fund Association).”
“This strong trend of fund buying has continued into 2014, and spurred Euroclear to further strengthen its operational support to the Swedish investment industry by expanding the scope of possibilities and diversification opportunities to all relevant parties.”
In subsequent phases, Swedish fund companies which today manage roughly 1,400 funds worth SEK 2.4 trillion (€270 billion) are planned to be made available to non-Swedish investors, via FundSettle, for automated, electronic transaction processing in the coming year.
