Author: Irina Bussoli

The ECSDA Board elects Chair of the Corporate Event & Vice-Chair of the Policy WG

The ECSDA Board elects Chair of the Corporate Event & Vice-Chair of the Policy WG

On 4 July, the ECSDA Board elected Thomas Metier, Head of Nordic Business Operations at Euronext Securities, as Chair of the Corporate Event Working Group and Mireille Galeazzi, Director of Public Affairs at Euroclear as Vice-Chair of the Policy Working Group.

The Corporate Events Working Group aims to address the challenges resulting from unharmonised regulation and leading to different local practices, by developing and implementing standardized processes and protocols for CSD corporate event management. Under Mr Metier’s leadership, the working group will foster collaboration among key stakeholders and is commited to work toward a harmonized European capital market that is efficient, resilient, and globally competitive.

Mrs Galeazzi looks forward to act as Vice Chair of the Policy Working Group and engage in the new European regulatory and political agenda as per the recent European elections.

The Capital Markets Union(CMU), is expected to be an important component of the upcoming agenda with expectations on the post-trade environment including, CSDs to further foster deeper and efficient financial markets.
Together with the group’s Chair, she will strive to bring forward the European CSD’s contribution to these key topics.

Welcome to both of them!

Joint Associations’ letter – European Cybersecutity Certification Scheme for Cloud

Joint Associations’ letter – European Cybersecutity Certification Scheme for Cloud

The European Association of CCP Clearing Houses (EACH), the European Central Securities Depositories Association (ECSDA), and the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) (the co-signatories) welcome the progress made on the European Cybersecurity Certification Scheme for Cloud Services (EUCS) and ask for a swift adoption of the scheme. The associations support the direction of the latest EUCS proposal that maintains three assurance levels as foreseen by the Cybersecurity Act and reflects discussions across sectors and inputs from industry so far.

Read the full letter.

ECSDA elects its New Board Directors and Advisors to the Senior Council

ECSDA elects its New Board Directors and Advisors to the Senior Council

ECSDA is pleased to announce significant changes to its governance structure starting from the General Meeting held in Brussels on 14 May.

Following the earlier decision to change the governance, the ECSDA General Meeting elected a new reduced Board and appointed Advisors to the Senior Council, marking a pivotal moment in the organisation’s evolution.

The Board, comprising 14 members, reflects the diversity of the Association in terms of gender, geography and size of the CSD members. As many of the new directors have served on ECSDA’s Executive Committee, the new composition ensures a continuity in the direction of ECSDA’s vision and contribution to the securities communities its membership serves. Our directors bring a wealth of experience and leadership, and their dedication will surely steer ECSDA towards continued success in the dynamic European securities landscape supporting the European and global economies.

The Senior Industry Council will advise the Board and ECSDA’s member CSDs on the strategic positioning of the Association on the main industry challenges, the European harmonisation agenda and the ways in which we can best provide high levels of efficiency and safety to issuers and investors in Europe and beyond. The Council includes individuals with diverse expertise and a shared commitment to advancing the mission of ECSDA. ECSDA will be able to supplement the Senior CSD Industry Council with external observers deeply knowledgeable in post-trade in the coming months.

ECSDA is also preparing to open its Senior Industry Council to firms that are not CSDs but are active in the post-tarde segment who now will have the opportunity to join some meetings as affiliates, adding greater diversity and perspectives to the Association.

Key positions within the ECSDA Board:
Chairperson: Mark Gem, Managing Director, Clearstream Banking AG
Vice-Chair: Guillaume Eliet, CEO, Euroclear ESES CSDs
Vice-Chair: Olga Jordão, CEO of Euronext Securities | Porto
Treasurer: Georg Zinner, Managing Director, OeKB CSD

Other newly elected Board Directors:
Indars Aščuks, Chair of the Management Board, Nasdaq CSD SE
Francisco Béjar Nuñez, Managing Director, Iberclear/BME
Mira Dobreva-Hilton, Director of International Affairs and Strategic Projects, CDAD
Ondřej Dusílek, CEO, CSD Prague
Anne Pascale Malréchauffé, Managing Director, Clearstream Banking SA
Dora Matošić, President of the Management Board, SKDD
Alessio Mottola, CEO, Euronext Securities | Milan
Ilse Peeters, Head of Government Relationships & Public Affairs, Euroclear Bank
Florentin Soliva, Head of Public and Regulatory Affairs Post-Trade, SIX Group Services AG
Maciej Trybuchowski, President of the Management Board, KDPW group

Senior CSD Industry Council:
Simon Belser, Head International Custody Operations, SIX SIS AG
Jesús Benito, CEO, Iberclear
Silvia Buicanescu, CEO, Depozitarul Central
Marco Caligaris, CEO, LuxCSD
Chris Elms, CEO, Euroclear UK & International
Peter Felsinger, Managing Director, OeKB CSD
Vasil Golemanski, Executive Director, CDAD
Tomáš Lněnička, Deputy CEO, CSD Prague
Alessio Mottola, CEO, Euronext Securities | Milan
Ilse Peeters, Head of Government Relationships & Public Affairs, Euroclear Bank
Roger Storm, CEO, Euroclear Sweden
Hanna Vainio, CEO, Euroclear Finland
Igor Vojinović, CEO and Executive Director, CSC & CC Montenegro
Martin Wiedermann, Managing Director and Chair of the Board, CDCP SR
Sujata Wirsching, Head of Unit Government Relation Luxembourg and Lead Digital Finance, GRS, Deutsche Börse Group/Clearstream

Observers to the Council:
Ekrem Arikan, CEO and Board member, MKK
Darinka Damjanovic, Executive Director, CSD AD Skopje

The ECSDA Board and Senior Council are supported by the Secretary-General of ECSDA, Anna Kulik, leading the work of the ECSDA Secretariat.

Press release
ECSDA Board and Senior Council

ECSDA published its response to the targeted consultation on SRDs

ECSDA published its response to the targeted consultation on SRDs

On 31 January, ECSDA published its response to the targeted consultation on the Shareholder Rights Directives (SRDs), which is part of a study for the European Commission to assess the implementation and application of certain parts of the SRDs.

The consultation aims to cover a broader range of the provisions of the SRDs and potential changes in the future.

Read the full consultation.

ECSDA Publishes its Systemic Risk Indicators Report

ECSDA Publishes its Systemic Risk Indicators Report

FMIs, including CSDs, play a critical role in the financial system and the broader economy. While safe and efficient FMIs contribute to maintaining and promoting financial stability and economic growth, they also concentrate risk. If not properly managed, FMIs can thus be sources of financial shocks or a major channel through which these shocks are transmitted across domestic and international financial markets.

With the objective of contributing to safer financial markets, ECSDA Risk Management Working Group (RM WG) decided to set up a Task Force dedicated to deepening our understanding of systemic risk and the indicators allowing CSDs to identify, assess, measure, respond to, and report on systemic risk. From the outset, the Task Force focused on the potential exposures to macroeconomic stress for CSDs and the systemic risk implications of the interaction between CSDs and market participants for the financial ecosystem. The Task Force discussions revealed that systemic risk touches upon various other domains that deal with significant stress, disruption, or financial shocks, such as business continuity, disaster recovery, and recovery planning. It was, therefore, a challenge to approach some of these domains from a systemic risk perspective and leverage existing insights, while avoiding unnecessary overlap.

We concluded on a proposed set of indicators, structured in the form of a high-level systemic risk dashboard that is presented in the report. It was agreed that ECSDA RM WG Members will start using the proposed methodology, which may evolve and mature over time.

ECSDA and its Members would be pleased to exchange views with the relevant stakeholders on the occasion of this publication.

Link to the report

ECSDA Enhances Governance and Aligns Articles of Association with Belgian Company Code

ECSDA Enhances Governance and Aligns Articles of Association with Belgian Company Code

In a strategic move, during its General Meeting on Friday, 24 November 2023, ECSDA undertook significant changes to fortify its governance structure and bring its Articles of Association in line with the Belgian company code.

Governance Restructuring for Enhanced Efficiency
One of the notable changes includes the establishment of a more streamlined Board, comprising a maximum of 14 members (versus 30 in the past). This adjustment aims to enhance overall organizational efficiency and to align it with the best governance and decision-making practices.

Introduction of the Senior Council
To bring extensive expertise to the table for defining the CSD industry strategy, ECSDA has introduced a Senior Council of the CSD Industry, comprised of seasoned professionals known as Senior Advisors, and may invite experienced non-CSD observers to join its meetings.

These changes underscore ECSDA’s commitment to bolstering its leadership in driving the harmonisation and innovation of financial market infrastructure, rendering financial markets safer and more efficient in Europe and beyond.

Implementing these decisions, ECSDA will conduct Board elections, nominations to the Senior Council, and consideration of relevant non-CSD observers in the first half of 2024.

Link to the New ECSDA Articles of Association.