The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has today updated its Questions and Answers (Q&As) regarding the implementation of the Central Securities Depository Regulation (CSDR).
The updated Q&As provide answers to questions regarding practical issues on the implementation of the new CSDR regime. The latest batch of CSDR Q&As covers the following topics:
- Provision of services in another Member State:
- the first Q&A confirms that the “programme of operations” to be provided by the Central Securities Depository (CSD) should cover both the core and ancillary services it intends to provide in the host Member State;
- the second Q&A clarifies that, where relevant, the CSD should provide an assessment of the measures it intends to take to allow its users to comply with the applicable law at least for each type of financial instruments for which it intends to provide the services.
- Settlement Discipline: the new Q&As relate to the calculation of cash penalties:
- the first Q&A clarifies that the cash rate should be applied if the reason for the settlement fail is applicable to the leg of the transaction which delivers the cash, while the securities rate should be applied in case the reason for the fail is applicable to the leg of the transaction which delivers the securities;
- the second Q&A confirms that cash penalties should be applied in the case of settlement fails where the instructions are put on hold by the receiving participant;
- the final Q&A clarifies that the, more lenient, penalty rates for SME growth market instruments should only apply if the particular trade has actually taken place on an SME growth market.
Background
The aim of the CSDR is to harmonise certain aspects of the settlement cycle and settlement discipline and to provide a set of common requirements for CSDs operating securities settlement systems across the EU. ESMA will continue to develop Q&As on the CSDR in the coming months and will review and update them where required.
Q&As are an important tool to promote common supervisory approaches and practices in the application of CSDR. This document is aimed at national competent authorities under the Regulation to ensure that, in their supervisory activities, their actions are converging along the lines of the responses adopted by ESMA. It should also help investors and other market participants by providing clarity on CSDR requirements.