EC Publishes Report On Securities Trading, Clearing and Settlement

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

04 August 2005

On Tuesday, the European Commission announced that it had published a report compiled for the services of the Competition Directorate General on securities trading, clearing and settlement arrangements for bonds and equities in the 25 EU countries.

In its first section, the report describes the main activities in the sector and identifies some key players. It also comments on some trends at the pan-European level. In the second section it presents the organised trading, clearing and settlement arrangements for cash equities and bonds in each of the EU 25 countries and documents the vertical arrangements between trading, clearing and settlement in each case.

On the basis of this report the Commission will work closely with national competition and regulatory authorities to ensure that possible barriers to cross-border competition are monitored and if necessary investigated.

In a statement, the EC explained that:

"The arrangements for these services are complex, varying from country to country, and this is the first authoritative analysis of the markets from a competition standpoint at the national and pan-European levels. The report will help the Commission, national authorities and market participants to understand the competitive dynamics in the sector, and in particular the current barriers to cross-border transactions."

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