Post-trade – ECSDA

Register for the ECSDA Conference 2024 in Brussels!

We are excited to announce that the registration for the ECSDA Conference 2024 is now open!

This year’s conference will take place on 19 November at the Auditorium of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) in Brussels, rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères 10, 1000 Brussels.

The ECSDA Annual Conference will capitalise upon the achievements of the WFC Meeting organised by ECSDA and CSD Prague in May 2023. It will bring together the CSD ecosystem thought leaders and visionaries, participants and most advanced technological suppliers helping the community in building the European and global financial markets. We will concert the views with the leading European policy-makers and regulators and advise them on the post-trade priorities for building a true single European capital market.
The topics of settlement efficiency and shortening of the settlement cycle, new CMU priorities, FMI interoperability on settlement of Digital Assets and others will be under the attention of the Conference speakers and participants.

For more details and to secure your spot, please visit the conference website. We look forward to welcoming you to Brussels in November!

ECSDA responds to the AMI-SeCo survey on remaining barriers to post-trade market integration

On 31 January 2024, ECSDA submitted its response to the AMI-SeCo survey on remaining barriers to post-trade market integration, adding another milestone in the efforts to identify and address the remaining barriers to post-trade integration

Read the full response.

ECSDA Welcomes the Commission Proposal for Simpler Withholding Tax procedures

The European Central Securities Depositories Association (ECSDA) welcomes the European Commission Proposal for a new EU system for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax abuse in the field of withholding tax. The proposal aims to simplify procedures for claiming cross-border withholding tax relief and eliminate tax barriers. These barriers have been highlighted in a variety of post-trade industry reports as a major impediment to the proper functioning of the CMU, free movement of capital and prevention of tax abuse faced by financial investors and intermediaries.

In the context of fair taxation in the EU and the fight against tax fraud, inefficient and burdensome withholding tax relief procedures are a barrier to cross-border investments and limit the EU’s efforts in removing barriers to completing a Capital Markets Union (CMU).

ECSDA salutes the intentions of:

Enhancing EU competitiveness by a better functioning Single Market, thereby attracting investors;
Reducing antiquated paper-based processes due to the digitalisation of withholding tax relief procedures;
Reducing regulatory costs for investors as well as intermediaries thanks to the harmonisation of relief procedures; and
Eliminating tax abuse by simplifying cumbersome, lengthy and resource-intensive processes that aim to avoid double taxation.

As one of the main barriers that deters investment across borders and deepening integration of the EU CMU, ECSDA looks forward to engaging with public and private stakeholders in sharing insights from CSDs.

Legal text of the Proposal for Council Directive
Annex to the Proposal for Council Directive