TARGET2-Securities

t2s

The objective of the Eurosystem's TARGET2-Securities (T2S) initiative is to establish a common securities settlement platform. 

TARGET2-Securities shall be based on the TARGET2 platform. T2S will operate on a centralized engine enabling harmonized clearing and settlement services of securities in euro and in other currencies providing interest of non-euro area central banks.

T2S as a single platform for settling both cash and securities transactions in central bank money will centrally managed the cash accounts and the securities accounts.  The provision and management of sufficient liquidity on cash accounts in T2S will be under the responsibility of payment banks (including settlement banks). Liquidity used for securities settlement in T2S will be transferred from accounts held in RTGS systems of national central banks. For euro it will be TARGET2.

T2S will be only a settlement service for all types of securities. That means that custody and other services remain to be performed by central securities depositories. CSDs are the gateways through which market participants will be able to access T2S services. Participants will continue to contract with one or more CSDs for the settlement of securities eligible and collateral operations for such settlement. Moreover, it will be the CSDs - not market participants - that contract with the Eurosystem for T2S services. Each CSD is invited to agree to move its settlement to T2S and offer its clients borderless settlement of trading and collateral operations.

T2S is designed and will be operated by Deutsche Bundesbank, Banca d´Italia, Banque de France a Banco de Espana (4CB) on behalf of Eurosystem.

The Eurosystem´s T2S initiative started in 2006 with its feasibility study. It was followed by precise setting of user requirements, which are included now in User Requirements Documentation. Next envisaged phase is development phase. T2S is planned to open for production in September 2014.

Involving national market participants into the development of T2S is via National User Groups (NUG-s). In Slovakia was established NUG-SK.

Useful links:

http://www.ecb.int/paym/t2s/html/index.en.html