Clearstream has confirmed that its German and Luxembourgish central securities depositories (CSDs) will migrate to the T2S platform with wave four in February 2017, rather than in wave three, as originally planned.
Confirmation from the T2S CSD Steering Group comes after successful tests of wave-three participants on 30 and 31 January. Clearstream will also take part in wave-four testing in July, which it anticipates will run equally smoothly.
The change to migration date follows Euroclear’s announcement that its Settlement of Euronext-zone Securities (ESES) CSDs for Belgium, France and the Netherlands would not be ready to migrate with wave two, as scheduled. These CSDs were re-scheduled to migrate with wave three in September 2016.
Speaking at the Global Custody Forum in London in December 2015, Guido Wille, executive vice president and head of market development at Clearstream, expressed concern over the possibility of both Euroclear and Clearstream CSDs going live at the same time.
As Euroclear and Clearstream are two of the largest CSDs, Wille suggested that delays from one would affect the other, adding that although Clearstream was prepared to go live in wave three, any changes to the waves would require re-testing, “because we are stringent”.
He said: “We shouldn't underestimate the interdependency when it comes to testing.”
Under the new schedule, Euroclear will go live in wave three, alongside VP Securities in Denmark and VP Lux in Luxembourg. Clearstream’s CSDs in Germany and Luxembourg will be part of wave four, alongside the Hungarian, Slovenian, Slovakian and Austrian CSDs.
Wave two now includes only Interbolsa in Portugal and NBB-SSS in Belgium, which will migrate on 28 March.
The first migration wave took place in June 2015, with the CSDs of Greece, Malta, Romania, and Switzerland moving to the T2S network successfully. Monte Titoli, the Italian CSD, migrated on 31 August 2015.
The final composition of migration waves is expected to be confirmed by mid-March.
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