As part of its initiative to support the dematerialisation of securities of all types, LuxCSD is cutting custody fees for equities by 50 percent, bringing equity fees in line with bond custody fees.
LuxCSD is jointly owned by the Banque centrale du Luxembourg (BCL) and Clearstream International S.A. It offers custodians and distributors across Europe custody and added value services.
The aim of slashing fees in half is to encourage corporations to dematerialise existing physical securities and to newly issue securities in dematerialised form, said the firm. “Custody of equities in dematerialised form significantly reduces inefficiencies, risks and costs for the industry and increases the level of transparency regarding the chain of holders of a Luxembourg security.”
In March 2014, LuxCSD handled its first dematerialisation of physical shares—the BIP Investment Partners Luxembourg equities with a volume of €400 million.
Patrick Georg, general manager of LuxCSD, said: “By cutting the custody fees for equities by 50 percent we aim to attract more corporates to dematerialise physical shares and to follow the example of BIP Investment Partners. We strongly support dematerialisation as best practice in securities custody and issuance.”
The change in Luxembourg law governing the dematerialisation of physical securities adopted in April 2013 is expected to further enhance the appeal of securities issued and dematerialised in Luxembourg.
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