Owned 53.33% by the Central Bank of Hungary (CBH) and 46.67% by the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE), KELER provides wholesale services and infrastructure to the players and intermediaries of the Hungarian Capital Markets. It will migrate to TARGET2-Securities in the third phase planned for September 2016, and will be among the first central securities depositories (CSDs) in Central and Eastern Europe to access the platform directly.

SIA and Colt have recently completed the successful implementation of their connectivity solution. This will enable KELER to commence the functional test phase in line with the migration framework.

SIA and Colt’s value added network infrastructure enables CSDs, central banks in the Eurosystem and the leading banks operating in Europe to connect to the new European platform for the settlement of transactions in securities, guaranteeing total security and confidentiality in the transmission of data, along with the highest standards of reliability, performance and service continuity.

TARGET2-Securities, a project promoted by the ECB which will be managed by four central banks (Banca d’Italia, Deutsche Bundesbank, Banque de France and Banco de Espana), is one of the initiatives for the creation of the single European market following the Euro, TARGET2, SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) and PSD (Payment Services Directive). According to forecasts from the European Central Bank, TARGET2-Securities will be capable of handling a daily average of over 1 million securities transactions, also contributing to a significant reduction in cross-border settlement costs.

SIA and Colt were awarded one of the two Value Added Network Service Provider licenses for T2S by the European Central Bank (ECB), demonstrating their leadership in the financial services sector, strong network and service presence across Europe and proven experience in the supply and management of ‘mission critical’ solutions.