The Finnish central securities depository (CSD), Euroclear Finland has begun the process of replacing its entire securities processing infrastructure.
Named Infinity, the new system is designed to bring the Finnish market a step closer to T2S, and will be released progressively in three stages. The first release was completed successfully on 2 February.
Mats Råstedt, chairman of the Finnish market advisory committee, said: “Implementing the Infinity system for the fixed income market has been a tremendous effort for the whole market. Close cooperation and coordination between Euroclear Finland and the market participants has made this transition possible.”
“This is an important milestone on the Finnish market’s roadmap to T2S, and at the same time aligns the Finnish fixed income market with the new European harmonisation standards”
The first release replaces the CSDs previous fixed-income system, Ramses.
The second stage is scheduled for May 2016 and will replace the current equity transaction processing systems, HEXClear, and the central register.
The final release will connect the Finnish market to T2S in the scheduled migration in 2017.
Yannic Weber, CEO of Euroclear in Finland Sweden, said: “Euroclear is making a significant multi-year investment to substantially improve the post-trade infrastructure in the Finnish market.”
“Upgrading the core CSD systems brings us closer to readiness for T2S. This remarkable market change has been carried out in very close co-operation with our participants. Our continuing objective is to offer better services and flexibility to accommodate the rapidly changing needs of all types of clients.”
Hanna Vainio, deputy CEO of Euroclear Finland and sponsor of the Infinity programme, said: “We are very pleased that the launch has been such a success. Going live took us less than two years which is a major achievement.”
“Infinity itself is a major upgrade that enhances our CSD service offering while supporting the latest European harmonisation standards. These new features will allow clients to streamline their back-office operations, which will significantly ease their pan-European post-trade processing.”
