Euroclear Bank Simplifies Cross-border Settlement for Euronext and LSE Trades
Euroclear Bank, the international central securities depositary arm of Euroclear, will provide a new choice of settlement location for Euronext Amsterdam trades, cleared by LCH.Clearnet, with the launch on 6 September 2004 of a straight-through, book-entry service for cross-border transactions. Dutch shares traded on the London Stock Exchange, cleared by LCH.Clearnet, may also be settled at this time by Euroclear Bank. The service will allow Euroclear Bank clients, located in more than 80 countries, to settle their cross-border equity transactions on three Euronext markets and the London Stock Exchange in a single location. Euroclear Bank has also announced a further reduction in its tariff for French and UK equities. Settlement fees are being reduced by up to 20 per cent for UK equity transactions, as recent volume increases have enabled Euroclear Bank to pass on to clients the benefits of greater economies of scale. For French equities, safekeeping fees are being reduced by up to 50 per cent. This follows a 50 per cent average settlement-fee reduction that went into effect for off-exchange Belgian and French equity transactions in April 2004 and that will come into effect for off-exchange Dutch equity trades in October 2004. Euroclear is the settlement system for domestic and international securities transactions, while Euroclear Bank provides offers a single access point to securities services in over 25 equity markets and over 30 bond markets worldwide.