ECB moves to next phase of TARGET2-Securities project

08 March 2007




The Governing Council of the ECB decided to go ahead with the next phase of the T2S project, namely the definition of user requirements on the basis of market contributions. The scope of the project will be determined by taking into account the results of a public consultation. The Governing Council will then decide on the subsequent development phase.

The blueprint describes TARGET2-Securities, which is a proposal for central securities depositories to use a common technical service that would execute settlement instructions. T2S would provide delivery versus payment for securities against central bank money. CSDs would maintain their relationships with intermediaries, investors and issuers, as well as their asset servicing function.

  • By end-April 2007 governance arrangements of the project will be specified, balancing the views of CSDs and their users with the need for adequate control of the project by the Eurosystem.
  • By end-April 2007 a public consultation will be launched to obtain input regarding the user requirements.
  • By the end of 2007 the Governing Council of the ECB intends to hold another public consultation requesting comments on fully articulated user requirements.
  • By early 2008 and only after this public consultation has taken place, the Governing Council will decide on the development phase.

    Furthermore, the Governing Council decided that T2S will be developed and operated within the Eurosystem on the TARGET2 platform in order to exploit synergies to the fullest extent. Four Eurosystem national central banks, Deutsche Bundesbank, Banco de España, Banque de France and Banca d’Italia, are ready to develop and operate T2S.

    The Governing Council also decided to review the current Eurosystem collateral management handling procedures, in particular, the Correspondent Central Banking Model (CCBM). In the coming weeks, market participants will also be invited to contribute to the definition of the user requirements for this new procedure.

    Press release
    Blueprint
    Operational feasibility study
    Technical feasibility study
    Economic feasibility study
    Legal feasibility study

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