Euroclear Bank Congratulates Itself On Faultless Argentina Debt Swap Programme

Euroclear Bank says it has processed what it is calling "the largest single custody event ever" the debt swap programme for the Republic of Argentina. It has processed instructions equivalent to more than US$ 27 billion of the original principal

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Euroclear Bank says it has processed what it is calling “the largest single custody event ever”: the debt-swap programme for the Republic of Argentina. It has processed instructions equivalent to more than US$ 27 billion of the original principal amount of the estimated US$ 85 billion of debt that was eligible in Argentina’s debt-restructuring programme. It processed instructions representing more of the programme’s nominal value than any other settlement system involved with the offer, it says.

It commenced on Friday, 14 January 2005 and closed on Friday, 25 February 2005. Euroclear Bank processed more than 23,000 instructions from clients indicating their preferred swap option and the currency in which they wanted to receive their proceeds on settlement date.

“Our staff were very well prepared to cope with the operational challenges associated with this offer,” says Yves Poullet, Executive Director and head of the Operations & Network Management Division at Euroclear Bank.

“Although the vast majority (99.7%) of the instructions were processed on a straight-through basis, we created specialised help desks and hot lines to help clients with questions about the procedure, deadlines, and so forth.

The entire process ran smoothly due, in large part, to the excellent communication between Euroclear Bank, Argentina’s Ministry of Finance and central securities depository, Caja de Valores, and the programme’s lead managers and exchange agent.”

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