Clearstream, the international central securities depository within the Deutsche Brse Group, has launched the Central Facility for Funds (CFF) with the first two pilot firms, Schroder Investment Management (Luxembourg) and Pictet & Cie (Europe). CFF offers a more efficient post trade application for investment funds domiciled in Luxembourg, the largest market in Europe for international funds with over € 1700 billion in assets under management.
All the investment fund shares handled by Schroder and Pictet, two transfer agents, have been transferred onto the new platform which provides DVP (delivery versus payment) settlement services based on synchronous exchange of cash and securities between fund distributors and transfer agents.
CFF offers for all participating firms (transfer agents, fund distributors and fund promoters) one single set of settlement and payment instructions for all eligible funds. The CFF service is fully integrated with Clearstream’s existing ICSD custody and settlement services on its Creation electronic settlement platform.
“We are very pleased to announce the launch of CFF,” says Jeffrey Tessler, the CEO of Clearstream. “The pilot phase is designed to test with volunteer pilot firms what we hope will be the state of the art solution for Luxembourg domiciled investment funds as well as for other fund markets similar to Luxembourg’s. Clearstream is particularly proud to put its expertise in other asset classes such as bonds or equities, at the service of the investment funds industry and to deliver on time a solution best adapted to the needs of market’s participants and best suited for the industry’s benefits.”