JP Morgan teams up with BNP Paribas for T2S access

JP Morgan will collaborate with BNP Paribas Securities Services to gain access to the ECB’s TARGET2-Securities (T2S) project.

Under the arrangement, JP Morgan will access the T2S platform for settlement and liquidity management with BNP Paribas providing asset servicing.

The move is aimed at enabling JP Morgan to manage its T2S settlements, hold its assets directly in a number of European central securities depositories (CSDs) and manage its liquidity in central bank money.

“We have been JP Morgan’s sub-custodian for more than 20 years and are delighted to have partnered on this project to ensure that JP Morgan gains the maximum benefit from the settlement harmonisation and improved liquidity that T2S brings to Europe’s post-trade landscape,” said Alain Pochet, global head of clearing custody and settlement at BNP Paribas.

JP Morgan will continue to receive local market asset and tax servicing from BNP Paribas in markets where BNP Paribas acts as its current European provider of sub-custody services.

This capability has already been implemented for JP Morgan Bank Luxembourg and JP Morgan Bank Ireland, providing access to the Italian market.

“T2S offers global institutions like JP Morgan the opportunity to gain direct access to European markets, and this partnership allows us to manage settlement and liquidity ourselves, and make best use of BNP Paribas’ experience as an asset servicing provider for core markets where we use them today,” said Chris Rowland, head of custody at JP Morgan.

“Most importantly, it will increase the efficiency and security of the end-to-end settlement chain supporting JP Morgan’s clients,” said Rowland.