Competition: European Commission Publishes Report On EU Securities Trading, Clearing And Settlement Arrangements

The European Commission has published a report compiled for the services of the Competition Directorate General on securities trading, clearing and settlement arrangements for bonds and equities in the 25 EU countries. On the basis of this report the Commission will work closely with national competition and regulatory authorities to ensure that possible barriers to cross-border competition monitored and if necessary investigated. The arrangements for these services are complex, varying from country to country, and this is the first authoritative analysis of the markets from a competition standpoint at the national and pan-European levels. The report will help the Commission, national authorities and market participants to understand the competitive dynamics in the sector, and in particular the current barriers to cross-border transactions. This work will complement the wider regulatory debate on the optimal organisation of EU securities infrastructures. Better integrated financial markets are an important part of the Lisbon Strategy
EU securities trading, clearing and settlement markets have traditionally been organised along national lines, often as de facto monopolies and subject at most to only very limited competition. Progressively the sector is being liberalised and is migrating from a national to a pan-European perspective. The Commission has a long term commitment to proactively ensuring that competition rules in this sector are respected as was stated in the Commission Communication on Clearing and Settlement in 2004:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/financial-markets/clearing/index_en.htm. The present report contributes to this objective. It is an important tool for the Commission and also for market participants whether providers or users of services in this complex sector.
The report follows on from a consultation report which was published in August 2004. Comments received during the consultation are available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/general_info/securities/comments/.

In a first section the report describes the main activities in the sector and identifies some key players. It also comments on some trends at the pan-European level. In the second section it presents the organised trading, clearing and settlement arrangements for cash equities and bonds in each of the EU 25 countries and documents the vertical arrangements between trading, clearing and settlement in each case.
The report is published on DG Competition’s web site and can be accessed through the following link:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/general_info/securities/report_june_2005_en.pdf