Riga /Tallinn/Vilnius, Baltic Market, September 26, 2013 – The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) announces that the Latvian Central Securities Depository, part of NASDAQ OMX group, signed the TARGET2 –Securities (T2S) Framework Agreement. This contract governs the legal relationship between the Eurosystem and each Central Securities Depository participating in T2S, the future securities settlement IT platform, which aims to make financial markets safer and more efficient, and to increase transparency in the post-trade environment.
The Latvian Central Securities Depository (LCSD) signed the T2S Framework Agreement with the European Central Bank on September 26, 2013.
T2S aims to bring a single integrated process across Europe for delivery-versus-payment settlement in euro central bank money. The signing of the T2S Framework Agreement is a key milestone in the T2S project. T2S is expected to begin operations in June 2015 with the first migration wave of CSDs. LCSD plans to start operations in T2S along with other two Baltic CSDs, in Estonia and Lithuania, on February 6, 2017.
“We, being a part of an integrated cross-border market operator, fully support and understand the economies of scale and benefits that shared and consolidated systems provide”, says Indars Aščuks, Chairman of the Management Board of the Latvian Central Securities Depository. “We are looking forward to enhancing our service offering based on the opportunities and network T2S may provide”.
LCSD joined a group of twenty-three CSDs committed to participating in T2S, including the Estonian Central Securities Depository and the Central Securities Depository of Lithuania, which signed up for T2S in June 2012. Almost all CSDs based in the euro area as well as 6 CSDs based outside the euro area have signed the T2S Framework Agreement.
About Latvian Central Securities Depository
Latvian Central Securities Depository (LCSD) is the sole central securities depository in Latvia and administers Latvian publicly issued securities central register. LCSD performs safe-custody of securities, clearing and settlement for securities trading and management of corporate actions, as well as provides other services related to securities. The cooperation agreements and the established securities transfer and settlement channels with the international securities depository Clearstream and central securities depositories of Lithuania and Estonia allow LCSD clients access to global securities – company shares, corporate, government and municipals debt securities, bonds and derivatives. LCSD has expertise in creating and maintaining highly complex national level electronic registers, such as individual accounts register for the second pillar of Latvian pension system, and in keeping shareholder registers for non-listed companies. LCSD is part of the NASDAQ OMX Group and is supervised by the Financial and Capital Markets Commission. LCSD is a member of the European Central Securities Depositories Association. For more information, visit http://www.nasdaqomxbaltic.com/en/csds/latvian-csd/services/
About NASDAQ OMX Group
The inventor of the electronic exchange, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., fuels economies and provides transformative technologies for the entire lifecycle of a trade - from risk management to trade to surveillance to clearing. In the U.S. and Europe, we own and operate 26 markets including 3 clearinghouses and 5 central securities depositories supporting equities, options, fixed income, derivatives, commodities, futures and structured products. Able to process more than 1 million messages per second at sub-55 microsecond speeds with 99.99% uptime, our technology drives more than 70 marketplaces in 50 developed and emerging countries into the future, powering 1 in 10 of the world’s securities transactions. Our award-winning data products and worldwide indexes are the benchmarks in the financial industry. Home to approximately 3,300 listed companies worth more than $6 trillion in market cap whose innovations shape our world, we give the ideas of tomorrow access to capital today. Welcome to where the world takes a big leap forward, daily. Welcome to the NASDAQ OMX Century. To learn more, visit www.nasdaqomx.com. Follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NASDAQ) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx). (Symbol: NDAQ and member of S&P 500)
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this communication contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. NASDAQ OMX cautions readers that any forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and that actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our capital return initiatives. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond NASDAQ OMX’s control. These factors include, but are not limited to, NASDAQ OMX’s ability to implement its strategic initiatives, economic, political and market conditions and fluctuations, government and industry regulation, interest rate risk, U.S. and global competition, and other factors detailed in NASDAQ OMX’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q which are available on NASDAQ OMX’s website at http://www.nasdaqomx.com and the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. NASDAQ OMX undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Media Relations Contact:
Audrone Ranonyte
+370 5 272 34 58
audrone.ranonyte@nasdaqomx.com