Both the Portuguese and Belgian central securities depositories (CSDs) have completed their migration to the Target2-Securities (T2S) platform, marking a successful wave two of the pan-European implementation plan.
Wave two saw the Portuguese CSD Interbolsa, a subsidiary of Euronext Lisbon, and NBB-SSS, the securities settlement system of the National Bank of Belgium, transfer to the settlement platform.
T2S is a harmonised platform for securities settlement, intended to reduce the cost of settlement and make cross-border transactions more efficient, while improving financial stability in Europe.
Euroclear’s Settlement of Euronext-zone Securities (ESES) CSDs were also originally scheduled to go live in wave two, but delayed to join with wave three in September 2016.
Wave one of implementation went live successfully on 22 June 2015, with the exception of the Italian CSD delaying its migration to 31 August 2015.
According to the National Bank of Belgium, NBB-SSS launched implemented the majority of it’s T2S functionalities and harmonisation in February 2015, addressing any teething problems well in advance and making for a smooth transition to the platform.
Lee Hodgkinson, head of markets and global sales at Euronext, called the Portuguese migration a “key milestone in securities settlement”.
Rui Matos, interim CEO of Interbolsa, added: “We are confident that this successful migration to T2S will bring unmatched benefits for all Interbolsa clients, in terms of harmonisation of processes and future solutions – efficient and secure – provided to the Portuguese market.”
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