Euroclear Bank is taking a regional approach in helping clients to access local counterparties and securities in Central and Eastern Europe.
Clients active in Central and Eastern European markets with which Euroclear Bank has created a link to the local central securities depository, will benefit from having a single settlement tariff to apply to all eligible markets and securities. In addition, safekeeping fees will be determined based on the aggregated holdings of all Central and Eastern European domestic securities. The model applies to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, and will be extended to other Central and Eastern European countries in the future. The new structure results in an average safekeeping fee reduction of 62%. A similar approach was implemented by Euroclear Bank for Euro-zone markets in 2008.
In addition, Euroclear Bank is improving service levels by adding withholding tax services where applicable and DVP cross-border settlement for Central and Eastern European securities. Enhancements have already been implemented for Slovenian and Polish securities transactions.
Euroclear aims at providing a simple, single access point to Central and Eastern European markets for our clients worldwide. In line with client demand, we intend to increase our coverage of these markets while developing new benchmarks in service quality at competitive prices. All Euroclear Bank services will be made available for these securities as local regulations allow, including added-value services like collateral management and securities lending, says Olivier Grimonpont, director and head of product management for fixed-income securities and collateral services, Euroclear.