Dutch CSD goes paperless 22 January 2013Amsterdam Reporter: Mark Dugdale
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Dutch central securities depository (CSD) Euroclear Nederland is doing its bit to achieve a paperless securities market in the Netherlands.
It recently completed the full-scale dematerialisation process of all Dutch securities classes (bonds, equities and depository receipts) for the Dutch capital market.
The process to eradicate physical certificates from being used for investment ownership began in the 1990s following a market-wide call to modernise and make the Dutch capital market safer and more efficient.
At the time, Euroclear Nederland’s vaults in Amsterdam held more than eight million pieces of paper representing client assets worth €800 billion.
Changes to Dutch securities law in 2000 allowed Euroclear Nederland to use a single global certificate to represent an entire issue, instead of printing an individual piece of paper for each certificate.
From 31 December 2012, all securities that were held in custody with the CSD had to be converted into either electronic book-entries or a global note.
Valerie Urbain, CEO of Euroclear Nederland, said: “I would like to thank all those involved in the dematerialisation process—it is testament to the exemplary co-operation and performance of our capital markets that we can successfully transform out-dated industry standards into better and safer processes. The legacy we are creating is one of security and ease—greatly benefitting all financial entities and their underlying clients by holding assets electronically.”
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