Euroclear has acquired the Nordic Central Securities Depository (NCSD) its subsidiaries, APK and VPC, the Finnish and Swedish CSDs, respectively, effective as of 31 October 2008. All regulatory and other approvals for NCSD to join the Euroclear group have been obtained.
APK will be renamed Euroclear Finland and VPC will become Euroclear Sweden. Once the platforms of these entities are integrated within the Euroclear group, it will be possible for clients of these CSDs to access the post-trade infrastructure covering all markets served by Euroclear as in their respective domestic markets. This will be accomplished by utilising a multi-jurisdictional model, whereby securities held under different legal regimes in different countries are accessible and transferable through the same infrastructure and single operational account.
The migration of the Finnish and Swedish transaction-processing activities to Euroclear’s single platform is scheduled immediately after completion of the new platform, planned for 2011. In the interim, Market Advisory Committees will be created in each country to, for example, lead local market consultations on proposed harmonised market rules and practices, and local market functionalities that will be required for migration to the single platform.
Effective immediately, Kjell Arvidsson, currently chief executive officer of NCSD, will become chairman of both APK and VPC. Seppo Rantanen will continue in his current position as chief executive officer of APK. Anso Thir, currently managing director and head of the global capital markets division at Euroclear SA/NV in Brussels, will relocate to Stockholm and become chief executive officer of VPC. Mr. Thir will also have responsibility for the integration of both Nordic CSDs within the Euroclear group.
“Finalisation of the agreement with NCSD demonstrates continued user- and market-led momentum for infrastructure reform that will achieve a more efficient, low-cost settlement environment in Europe,” says Pierre Francotte, chief executive officer of Euroclear SA/NV. “We look forward to working with our NCSD colleagues to share together with the Finnish and Swedish capital markets the benefits of a common settlement infrastructure for domestic and cross-border transactions based on harmonised market practices.”
The seven Euroclear group CSDs represent approximately 65% of the Eurotop 300 equity markets. When including Euroclear Bank, the international CSD, the new Euroclear group represents approximately 50% of all European domestic debt outstanding.