In signing the agreement, SIX, through SIX Securities Services, will become the first non-EU central securities depository to offer access to the TARGET2-Securities (T2S) platform.

The decision taken by the SIX Board of Directors yesterday will enable the Swiss financial center to access Europe's envisaged centralized settlement platform, TARGET2-Securities, and in turn, the Eurozone markets. This is even more important for Swiss market participants given the decision made by the Swiss National Bank that the Swiss franc will not be available as a settlement currency.

The entire Swiss financial center and all clients of SIX Securities Services, the Swiss provider of post-trade services, stand to benefit from this move. They will have direct access to the T2S platform via SIX Securities Services. This will particularly benefit clients with lower settlement volumes, for whom the costs of accessing T2S markets represent significant investment.

Commenting on the decision, Thomas Zeeb, CEO Securities Services, explained, "This decision is the result of almost three years of discussions and consultations with our clients, with regulators from across Europe, and with other key stakeholders. We have carefully crafted service concepts and propositions that we believe will benefit both our Swiss, and our European clients. These include improved efficiencies, enhanced collateral management and a range of other new services."

Currently, T2S markets represent over 50% of all cross-border transactions processed by SIX Securities Services - 15% of its total transaction volumes.

Through a combination of direct access to foreign market infrastructure providers and an extensive range of partners, SIX Securities Services offers services in over 65 countries making it one of the most international of Europe's CSDs.