Nasdaq has merged its central securities depositories (CSDs) in the Baltics to create a new single CSD for the region.
Following the cross-border merger of its CSDs in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, it has also joined the securities settlement platform, TARGET2 Securities (T2S).
Nasdaq CSD and Spain’s Iberclear are among final CSDs to go live on the T2S platform, with Euroclear Finland as the last CSD to join due to a delay in its migration.
Nasdaq stated it is the first CSD in the EU to be reauthoriszed under the European CSD regulation (CSDR), allowing the post-trade unit to operate at a pan-European level.
“With the consolidation of the national CSDs, the migration of Nasdaq CSD to T2S, the new core CSD IT platform and the start of the operations under the CSDR regime, the Baltic securities market is undergoing one of the biggest transformations in its history,” said Indars Ascuks, head of the Nasdaq Baltic market and CEO of Nasdaq CSD.
“We believe that these changes will increase the competitiveness of the Baltic securities market and create valuable synergies for all participants.”
The consolidation of CSDs was widely speculated to be a side-effect of the T2S platform, as market participants will be able to settle transactions across Europe through a single CSD, as opposed to establishing relationships with national CSDs for settlement in each country.